After 21 Years, It's Always Sunny Threatens To Dethrone The Simpsons

Published Aug 21, 2026, 4:03 PM EDT Greg is a Lead TV Writer & Critic at Screen Rant with expertise in new streaming releases. He's published over 2800 articles at SR, including weekly recommendation guides and dozens of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. He previously worked in Development at ABC Television & Lawrence Bender Productions. Greg majored in Film Production at Chapman University's Dodge College. Greg also has years of broadcast TV production experience at major networks such as NBC, TNT, and ESPN. He currently lives in Greater Boston. More than two decades later, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the longest-running live-action comedy series in TV history, is on the verge of dethroning The Simpsons in an esteemed category. It's Always Sunny just debuted to a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score with its newly released 18th season, raising the bar even higher for the historic FX series. This is a notable improvement from season 17's score of 84%, continuing an epic streak that only a few other shows in TV history have ever achieved. 21 years after its series debut in 2005, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has earned a total of 9 perfectly rated 100% seasons on Rotten Tomatoes. This ties Supernatural as the 2nd-most perfect RT seasons of all time. Now Sunny only trails The Simpsons, which has a total of 10, the most-ever 100% RT seasons for one scripted show. If Sunny is renewed for season 19 and beyond, it could dethrone The Simpsons by this metric, which is likely because The Simpsons hasn't even registered an official RT critic score since season 31 earned an 80% rating in 2019. How Sunny & The Simpsons' Perfect Seasons Stack Up At this point, neither It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia nor The Simpsons have anything left to prove, as they are both two of the longest-running comedy shows in TV history. While each may be nearing a permanent end before the end of the 2020s, there is one more record that It's Always Sunny may be interested in claiming on Rotten Tomatoes before officially closing the doors of Paddy's Pub. Considering that three of the last four seasons have been rated 100% by critics, it's completely within the realm of possibility for It's Always Sunny to not only tie, but surpass, The Simpsons' record of 10 perfect seasons. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 19 has yet to be officially renewed but is more than likely to happen, given that season 18, which just premiered earlier this week, is already one of the most popular shows on Hulu and Disney+ right now. With new episodes set to drop weekly all the way through mid-October, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has now shown signs of slowing down, which would offer it plenty more opportunities to hit 10 or more perfect RT seasons. As for The Simpsons, which will release its season 38 premiere in September 2026, the iconic animated comedy series is already renewed through season 40, which would presumably drop in 2028. This would ostensibly give it the upper hand in holding its rare Rotten Tomatoes record against future seasons of It's Always Sunny​​​​​​. However, the fact that critics are choosing not to review The Simpsons on Rotten Tomatoes as of late may actually provide It's Always Sunny with a clear path to the top. What It Would Take For Sunny To Pass The Simpsons Comparing two comedy shows like the darkly funny It's Always Sunny and the traditional sitcom The Simpsons feels somewhat like apples and oranges, although they share the commonality that imagining either one of them being canceled is virtually impossible. That said, if we really are approaching the final runs of both legendary comedy series in the near future, then each would then be in contention for the greatest comedy series of all time. Having more critical acclaim than The Simpsons, especially in its later seasons, might tip the scales in It's Always Sunny's favor. The last time The Simpsons earned a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score was back in 2017. Last year's season 37 only received two critic reviews, which is not enough to generate an official RT score, but both were considered "fresh." On the other hand, season 36 only got one review, which was "rotten." Perhaps more critics will chime in on the upcoming 38th season, which could potentially extend The Simpsons' record to 11 perfect seasons. If not, It's Always Sunny's hot streak could very well continue throughout the decade and finally dethrone The Simpsons.