Entertainment
How The Best Sitcom Of All Time Was Saved By An Unexpected Co-Star
By TeeJay Small
| Updated
The cast and crew behind It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia just finished filming their 18th season last week, and though we don’t have a release date yet, rumors are circulating that this will be the final season of the show. After more than 20 years of record-shattering programing, it’s crazy to look back on the legacy of Always Sunny and recall how the series began.
In fact, super-fans will note that the series narrowly avoided being cancelled after its very first season, all the way back in 2006. According to stories from the cast and creators, the sole reason that Always Sunny managed to continue past the first season was the inclusion of Danny DeVito.
DeVito Saved The Series From Certain Doom
As the story goes, co-creators Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, and Charlie Day lucked into getting the first season of Always Sunny greenlit after submitting a ramshackle pilot on a DVD. Since the series cost very little to produce, FX took a risk on the budding actors, and let them run wild with their trademark blend of bizarre, off-the-wall humor. Though the first season of Always Sunny offers a lot of laughs, the show didn’t pull in major ratings upon release, leaving hopes for a second season in limbo. Basically, the studio execs gave McElhenney and crew an ultimatum: bring in a ringer with some star power, or pack up the bar and turn down the lights.
During a 2013 profile in The Hollywood Reporter, Rob McElhenney described the process of bringing Danny DeVito on board during the second season. He stated “We knew that no one was watching the show, and the network said that we needed to bring in someone with cachet to draw attention. They didn’t really have the marketing budget at the time to blanket the airwaves … We bounced a few names around, but Danny just made a lot of sense. When I went to his house to talk about it, his kids ended up being huge fans of the show and he was good friends with [Chairman of FX Networks] John Landgraf.”
DeVito Knew The Assignment
In case you’re too young to have a full scope on DeVito’s resume, the veteran actor was already a huge name in television and film when It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia premiered. DeVito previously took home an Academy Award for his work on the hit TV series Taxi, and earned an Oscar nod for his appearance in 2001’s Erin Brockovich. He also had a filmography spanning over 100 credits as an actor, with a number of directorial efforts under his belt as well. While Danny DeVito might be a no-brainer for the oddball comedy in hindsight, his joining the cast was supremely unexpected at the time.
Luckily, Danny DeVito wasn’t keen on big-timing his costars with the air of Hollywood superiority you might expect from a big-name actor. Instead, he leaned heavily on Rob, Glenn, and Charlie to give him material that would resonate with a younger audience. When asked about his favorite aspect of filming the show, DeVito routinely references the most absurd scenes the writers can put him in. His favorite moments include being painted black to blend in with a shadowy wall, falling out a window into a dumpster, and climbing out of a leather couch butt-naked and drenched in sweat. Suffice is to say, DeVito and the rest of the Always Sunny gang turned out to be a match made in heaven.
A Show-Saving Addition
Adding the character of Frank Reynolds wasn’t just good for the production, either. It also added a brand new element to the actual narrative that felt natural and cohesive to the already existing stories. Frank never feels like a guest star or a distraction from the action. Instead, he’s so natural alongside the rest of the cast that the first season feels absent without him. In the decades since Frank shacked up with the crew, he’s become an integral part of what makes Paddy’s Pub function. Plus, his on-screen chemistry with Charlie Day has blossomed into one of the most hilarious and dysfunctional bromances in television history.
Whether Always Sunny closes down for good with season 18, or they continue for another 20 years, it’s worth examining how their humble origins helped to craft the show that we know and love today. In many ways, the series may not have existed past Season 1 without the assistance and open-mindedness of Danny DeVito.
Entertainment
How to watch Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt online for free
TL;DR: Live stream Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga for free on BBC iPlayer. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
After some incredibly tense Champions League action this week, the focus returns to domestic action over the weekend. There are a number of fascinating matchups in the Bundesliga over the next few days, starting with Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt.
The hosts are looking to secure second spot in the standings. They’ll face a tough test against Eintracht Frankfurt, a team that is gunning for European qualification. It should be an exciting contest in front of a passionate support at the Signal Iduna Park.
If you want to watch Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt?
Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga kicks off at 2:30 p.m. ET on May 8. This fixture takes place at the Signal Iduna Park.
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How to watch Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt for free
Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga is available to live stream for free on BBC iPlayer.
BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can unblock BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world.
Live stream Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt for free by following these simple steps:
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Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
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Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
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Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK
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Live stream Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt for free from anywhere in the world
$12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee)
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt without committing with your cash. This isn’t a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to live stream select fixtures from the Bundesliga before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for BBC iPlayer?
ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on BBC iPlayer, for a number of reasons:
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Live stream Borussia Dortmund vs. Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga for free with ExpressVPN.
Entertainment
Nintendo Switch 2 officially gets a $50 price hike in the US
After less than a year on the market, the Nintendo Switch 2 is going up in price.
The company announced in a press release on its website that the device is getting a price increase in every major region, including the United States. Customers in the U.S. will pay $50 more for the console, as its price is going from $449 to $499. Nintendo did not delve into specifics in the press release, citing only “changes in market conditions,” but this is almost certainly a response to the global memory shortage driven by high demand for AI data center construction.
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That same memory shortage was the culprit behind recent price hikes on PlayStation 5 consoles and Motorola phones, among other tech products. Even if the reasoning is understandable, it must be stated that video game consoles rarely rise in price over time in a normal economic environment. The opposite usually occurs, typically after at least a few years on the market. Nintendo having to hike the Switch 2’s price less than a year after its June 2025 launch is fairly unprecedented, at least in recent memory.
Nintendo said the changes go into effect on Sept. 1 of this year, so if you want a Switch 2, that’s your deadline to get one for $450.
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Entertainment
Christopher Nolan’s Latest Odyssey Trailer Looks More TV Drama Than Historical Epic
By Jennifer Asencio
| Published
The latest trailer for Christopher Nolan’s controversial The Odyssey was released on May 5, 2026, and revealed more of the director’s take on Homer’s epic. Like the other trailers and casting announcements, it drew equal parts controversy, criticism, and avid defenders.
This time, most of the action is focused on Ithaca, where Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and Telemachus (Tom Holland) deal with the numerous suitors trying to assume the throne by marrying the queen. Robert Pattinson lurks and smarms as Antinous, trying to woo Penelope, while cutaway footage shows the tribulations of Odysseus (Matt Damon) against Calypso (Charlize Theron), the whirlpool Charybdis, armored giants, and the Trojan War.
Ancient Accuracy Versus Anachronistic Angst
There are a lot of new problems with this trailer that echo issues people already have with Nolan’s vision. Previous complaints include ahistorical armor from a later Grecian period, boats that look more Viking longboat than bireme, and a plethora of miscast characters, such as Jon Bernthal as Menelaus and Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy.
One of the two main problems with the new trailer is Tom Holland. The actor who has been bringing Peter Parker to spectacular life in some of the rare good content from the Marvel Cinematic Universe looks like a lost child as Telemachus, and has been apparently directed to play the Greek hero that way. The parts of the trailer that aren’t Anne Hathaway angsting as Penelope feature Holland having plenty of angst of his own. Sure, Telemachus had some daddy issues, but Holland looks more like a kid looking for his mommy than a prince defending his father’s kingdom against overwhelming odds.
A large part of Holland’s failure in the new trailer is that the dialogue is extremely cringeworthy. At one point, Antonius actually says, “You’re pining for your daddy,” as though this is a CW teen drama and not a serious Homeric epic. “That world is gone!” Penelope cries with the appropriate amount of suffering and phony British accent.
The translation allegedly being used for the movie is based on the work of Emily Wilson, a feminist translator who felt that Homer’s epic didn’t have enough modern sensibilities. She simplified the poet’s gorgeous turns of phrase and literalized his abstract concepts, trying to take the focus away from the male point of view and focus on the women. Her translation has caused controversy among scholars. It is not confirmed that Nolan used this version to base his script on, but the quality of the dialogue is a poor rendition of modern Gen Z slang.
Follies In Formation
Another thing that stands out from this trailer is the battle scenes we are shown.
For one, Odysseus leads the Greeks in a very un-Grecian formation as he charges down a beach. The Greeks were known for their discipline and their deadly phalanx formation, not for charging into battle like a horde of barbarians. The scene looks more like a sword-and-board version of the opening of Saving Private Ryan than anything the Greeks would have actually done. That may sound like a nitpick, but the discipline of the Greek troops and their loyalty to their kings and to Greece is a huge theme of Homer’s duology.
The other is a ridiculous charge by a troupe of giants who are dressed in armor that looks like they salvaged it from the leftovers of a King Arthur movie than a Homerian epic. These silver-clad warriors look out of place and anachronistic in The Odyssey, another example of Nolan using spectacle and visual shorthand rather than something that actually reflects the source material.
Sure, the special effects look cool, with Charybdis a wide, gaping hole in the sea and the battle in Troy looking explosive. But so far, that’s the only thing The Odyssey has shown it has going for it. Between its snarky, modernized dialogue and its attempt to be a visual spectacle, the trailer looks more like Not Another Marvel Movie than it does a tribute to an important ancient epic.
While, I admit that I may be more sensitive to this vandalism of Homer because my family emigrated to America from Sparta, I can’t help but feeling affronted that my heritage as a Greek is being used by Nolan as a cynical Hollywood cash grab. This telling of Homer’s Trojan War sequel is looking more like a pageant of modernized filmmaking meant more to show that it, to paraphrase Ian Malcolm, could be done, regardless of if it should. Plus, the removal of the values Homer wrote about means that it is more like a presentist fanfiction than anything the Greeks may have written.
We will all find out when The Odyssey premiers in theaters on July 17, 2026.
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