Paddy's Pub Blog: Season 18: Everything We Know (so far)

Filming has wrapped!

There is currently no known airdate for Season 18, and it is near-impossible to speculate on one, as Season 17 aired 7 months after wrapping, while Season 15 aired only 2 months after wrapping. This page will be updated with that information (and anything more!) as soon as it's known!

Updates from filming (Feb 11 - April 16) are posted below in reverse chronological order (potential spoilers ahead)!

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April 17, 2026:

Kaitlin shared a photo to her Instagram story of herself as Dee with Glenn as Dennis!

It looks a lot like this was taken while filming the parade/street event (below) on the 15th!

April 15, 2026:

Video of the Fox Lot (where they shoot the show) today show a huge set up for some kind of street scene:

The video reveals a cannon float of some kind, decorated with the faces of Bonnie and Samantha:

This is... quite interesting! We do not know what episode is currently being filmed or what the context of this is, but given the street scenes, this could be related to the redacted script Rob shared, which features exterior street scenes and some kind of prop or set piece the writer's needed to provide an example of:

We also caught a glimpse of Samantha and Bonnie as "Big Head" Cutouts, which could also fall under something needing an example:

..In either case, whether this is all related to the script or not, it does seem pretty certain that this could be the explanation for the confetti graphic!

Falling under the heading of an easter egg, we are also able to spot a few posters on a barrier for the crowd of this celebration (?), one of which reads "TSUMA" the Tesla parody company from Season 16's Dennis Takes a Mental Health Day:

April 14, 2026:

NEW: Video from Rob's birthday celebration captures a fake beer company box (notably non-alcoholic) and someone on set wearing a shirt with the same fake logo:

This looks a lot like the beer being dumped out on the street during filming yesterday!

EARLIER: Lori Greiner posted a video on Instagram with Rob and Kaitlin, serving them a glass of Four Walls Whiskey. It's unclear whether this was just for promotion of RCG's alcohol or if she was on set for filming purposes, but given the outfits Rob and Kaitlin are in, we can definitely say this is a new look at Season 18 Mac and Dee!

April 13, 2026:

They once again filmed at the Paddy's exterior in downtown LA today, and a few fans on site reported seeing Cricket spraying water from a hose.

A fan shared photos of the cast on Google Reviews (lmao)

Another fan shared some photos from this moment, including a video of the Gang dumping out beer on the street:

April 10, 2026:

Jimmi Simpson, best known around here for playing Liam McPoyle, shared a photo with Nate Mooney and Guillermo del Toro:

Based on the outfits, it looks like they'll be in the Renaissance Faire episode!

He also shared a video of Danny DeVito and GDT racing in motorized wheelchairs, but that seems like the actors just having fun and not part of a plot (but you never know)!

April 9, 2026:

Today we got a new (full) look at Cricket for Season 18 as well as confirmation that Heath Cullens will be back directing (one but likely multiple episodes) this year, thanks to Matt Dickson who was shadowing direction on Season 18!

April 1, 2026:

Rob posted an April Fools Day prank to Instagram, which revealed an episode title: Dennis & Dee Don't Get Rich, as well as writers Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton, and director Todd Biermann:

The script is a full 30-page script, and while it's heavily redacted for the first 6 pages to form a joke, the remainder is much more obviously actual dialogue, and was confirmed to be real by Bryan Swarberg, a co-producer and the VP of Rob's company, More Better:

If you're interested in potentially major spoilers for #1802, check out the breakdown and speculation post on this script!

March 31, 2026:

While promoting the new Mario Movie, Charlie Day officially confirmed there will be 10 episodes in Season 18!

March 20, 2026:

A fan captured a minute and a half of filming yesterday at ELAC Baseball Stadium for the Little League episode, which includes a lot of dialogue from Mac and Charlie!

A transcript of what I can make out can be read here

We can also see in this video that Wolf Cola (Frank's bogus soda company) is the "Official Sponsor" of the baseball field:

How interesting...Looks like it's an entire Gang scheme!

March 19, 2026:

Today they're filming at East LA College Baseball Stadium (presumably for the Little League episode, though there are quite a lot of suits in the video @eljojo100 shared on Tiktok!)

We also got a little peak at the prop scoreboard, naming the fictional location as "South Philly Pulaski Park Field":

March 17, 2026:

On the Today Show, Charlie shared that they would be doing an episode about a Renaissance Fair and a "Little League" episode! He also hinted they would be doing an episode about A.I.

March 14, 2026:

NEW: They're filming today at Occidental College in Los Angeles! (This is presumably where they have been filming "A Tale of Two Charlies" the past week):

"Saturday's Office" - John Goodner (DP)

EARLIER: Charlie Day will be directing an episode this season, allegedly entitled "A Tale of Two Charlies"! Check out our latest blog post on this!

March 13, 2026:

While promoting his new movie, Kill Me, at South x South West, Charlie Day shared a bit about Season 18 in a Deadline interview!

“We’re right in the middle of the new season of Sunny right now. I’ve got to go back tonight and I’m going to film tomorrow,” he said. “We have the McPoyles coming back, and we also have Guillermo del Toro coming back, reprising his role of Pappy McPoyle. It’s going to be a great season.”
This time around, Day shared, “They’re all fairly large episodes. But I feel like Season 17, we got a bit of our fastball back, and we brought back the same room and had the same chemistry. So Season 18 here, I think, is going to just pick up right where we left off. I can guarantee there will be some episodes that people will love.”

I am loving the sound of "all fairly large episodes" and "the same [writers'] room" as Season 17! Charlie also seems to confirm in this quote that Season 18 will be continuous with where we left off with Season 17 (he loves to says "I think" as if he doesn't know)!

Also, Charlie filming "tomorrow" means they're filming on a Saturday, which is a bit unusual for Sunny, which normally shoots Monday-Friday... so perhaps we can expect to see something fun, given the fact that they're doing a lot of big episodes!

March 12, 2026:

Jimmi Simpson posted an Instagram story, revealing his character, Liam McPoyle, as well as Ryan McPoyle, are currently filming on the Fox Lot!

March 9, 2026:

A fan ran into Charlie Day on a college campus in LA... and he looks very much like Charlie Kelly in this wardrobe...!

March 4, 2026:

NEW: In a Tweet, Guillermo Del Toro shared that he is returning as Pappy McPoyle (last seen in Season 11)!

EARLIER: Much like the Waitress, Rickety Cricket has appeared in every Season since his introduction (in Season 2), and today we got confirmation he’s returning again! David Hornsby shared a few photos from hair and makeup, revealing Cricket is sticking with the dreads:

It's very likely today (March 4) he is on set filming!

EARLIER: The Waitress has been in every season so far, and it looks like Season 18 won’t be any different! Mary Elizabeth Ellis shared a series of pictures on Instagram for her 20th anniversary with Charlie Day, one of which was taken from Dee’s apartment!

It’s unclear as to whether or not this photo was taken today, but it was definitely taken recently (i.e. while filming Season 18). Charlie is clearly Day and not Kelly, so that begs the question, what’s The Waitress doing in Dee’s apartment? (The last (and only) time we’ve seen her there was wayyy back in Season 5 in The Waitress is Getting Married!)

March 2, 2026:

The Gang… Dies Hard!?

Rob shared the following photo on Instagram, revealing Danny and Charlie in grey jumpsuits with a photoshopped picture of the skyscraper, 2121 Avenue of the Stars, exploding in the background:

This building is most famously known as Nakatomi Plaza in the movie franchise Die Hard. Combined with the BTS discovered from on-location filming outside of the Paddy’s facade (below), and one can pretty confidently assume that we’re in for a Die Hard episode of some kind this Season. (Could it be a debate over whether or not the movie is a Christmas movie? Rob’s IG post also embedded a Christmas song! Or could the Gang be making their own Die Hard 6, just like they’ve attempted to carry on the Lethal Weapon series)

February 28, 2026:

A few videos were posted to Tiktok showing the entire Gang filming outside of the front of Paddy’s, relating to what we saw yesterday:

Transcript:

Mac: “You’re on a need-to-know basis, Dee and you don’t need to know!”
Charlie: “We put you on a need-to-know basis, Dee, okay?”
Dee: “Why!?”
Mac: “You don’t need to know!”
Charlie: “We wanted to do a cut with a little more physical prowess, right, so we’re doing [unintelligible] thing.”

We’re a little past Christmas, or way too early for Christmas, so Mac and Dennis’ outfits, along with the dialogue we can overhear, is quite intriguing…

February 27, 2026:

The crew are working at 544 Mateo Street today, the location used for the exterior Paddy’s building! They’ve set up the entire Paddy’s Pub facade in front of the building, something they haven’t done since Season 14! (Season 15, while having a scene taking place in front of Paddy's, superimposed the building in post-production.)

A video was also shared from set, which shows both Kaitlin (as Dee) and Charlie (as Charlie Kelly) preparing for a scene!

February 19, 2026:

Kaitlin posted to Rob’s Instagram story, revealing a very bloody Mac:

In the video she states she (Dee) has a fight scene with Mac, and then reveals his face covered in blood. The claim could be true or it could be a joke to lead in to the reveal of Rob’s makeup/Mac’s face… but either way, bloody Mac. Yum

February 17, 2026:

Rob shared a new photo to Instagram from the bar set!

His caption claims they’re filming different scenes. (Pairings and whether or not the different scenes are in the same episode or not remains to be seen.)

Interestingly, zooming in on Kaitlin/Dee’s phone seems to show a travel/transit app of some kind:

February 14, 2026:

Charlie and Glenn are revealed to be connected to a “puppet” plot and shown to be wearing dark outfits. Later on, Instagram photos reveal Rob, Charlie, and Glenn filming scenes in and around the Kelly House, with the puppet related thereto and seemingly connected to Uncle Jack (now confirmed to be in Season 18). Check out out blog post for theories on this! These photos also confirmed the return of Ms. Mac this season:

February 12, 2026:

NEW: Rob shares a photo of the guys in tuxes to recreate Season 1's Underage Drinking shot! (Could the tuxes this time around be related to the confetti theme? Frank’s proposal at the end of Season 17?)