In “The Gang Recycles Their Trash,” which isn’t available on streaming along with four other episodes because of racially insensitive material (a subplot involves Kaitlin Olson’s character Dee in brownface), Mac (McElhenney) and Dennis (Howerton) are talking to Charlie (Day) about something and he sort of zones out. They then have a side-bar discussion where they say that he’s not listening and doesn’t understand them, to which Charlie says “Yeah, he doesn’t even get us, man.” Originally Dennis had more to say, segueing into his next point, but Day’s improvisation was too good to toss. On the blooper reel for the season, the first take where Day used the improvised line makes Howerton and McElhenney look confused and taken aback for a second before bursting into laughter.
They ended up writing the line into the show, with Dennis trying to explain to Charlie that they’re actually talking about him, and it’s a riff that they’ve played on throughout the series any time Charlie isn’t totally paying attention. It’s not the first time that a bit of improv had a major impact on the show, though. A few seasons earlier, in the episode “Mac and Charlie Write a Movie,” Mac’s closeted homosexuality was all kicked off with an improvised line about how much he hates women. The “Sunny” gang manages to make good scripts great with their performances, and sometimes even change the whole course of the show.
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