Thread by @gauravsabnis

"Prof, I was watching Always Sunny recently and wonder if you have any marketing insights on why it hasn't been cancelled?"

Well, in literal terms, as in the network cancelling the show, it is too popular and keeps gaining younger fans, mostly educated upper middle class.

So in marketing terms, it really is a dream vehicle. You can see from the ads from the airings. The show's mostly liberal urban & suburban white collar viewership (like myself) is THE most lucrative segment. As long as the cast wants to make it, it'll keep going! 🤷🏽‍♂️

As to why it hasn't been "cancelled", well, the answer is complicated.

But first and foremost, Always Sunny hasn't been "cancelled" because #CancelCulture isn't really a thing. And the show avoiding widespread critique is kinda the evidence for that.

#CancelCulture is a thing made-up by people who get hurt when people criticize their work. Thin skinned snowflakes. All the supposed victims of cancel culture are thriving. They just love to whine.

The Always Sunny guys, they don't whine. They listen. They grow. You can see it.

Much of the cancel culture whining comes from centrist or somewhat liberal comedians who feel offended to be told that a lot of their material isn't funny in these times of greater sensitivity about race and gender and sexuality. It's literally just a big empty tantrum.

#AlwaysSunny also has advantage in its premise, in that the "gang" is always meant to be hated on a personal level. They have no redeeming qualities at all. And every character except them is shown as normal and kind and humane. Its pilot was about homophobia & racism!

Rob, Glenn, Charlie, Kaitlin, Danny have always been liberal in their politics. Especially on issues of race and gender, although many of the early episodes do make you cringe a bit. But you can then see that growth in later episodes. And the story arcs.

Basically, Always Sunny hasn't been "cancelled" because its creators haven't whined and moaned and claimed they have been "cancelled" like the Maher's & Chappelle's of the world. Nor tried to defend anything. Or rebut any criticism of some jokes or episodes.

On things like Mac's sexuality, they have gone from making it just a corny shallow dig at self loathing gay men into a sweeter kinder exploration, while still keeping him the flawed guy he is at his core. There's a very visible effort at learning and growing.

A couple of years ago when some streaming platform announced it would no longer host a bunch of episodes that used blackface or the N word, the show's wokephobe fans got upset. But the creators said nothing.

"Cancellation" only occurs in the mind of the "cancelled".