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On “The Always Sunny Podcast,” hosted by Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day, and writer-producer Megan Ganz, the real-life gang revealed that Charlie and Dennis’ now-iconic scene wasn’t written into the original script. Howerton recalled, “I think in the script it was just like ‘We could play some board games,’ and you’re like ‘Nah, I’m not really into that’ or whatever.” However, when they got to set, Howerton and Day were inspired by the prop-board games lying around (which included Chinese Checkers and Connect Four) to build the scene into a bit.
All three men seemed to agree that the back-and-forth is among the best bits they’ve ever created for the series, though Howerton specifically credited some of its success to actor Jason Bateman. During the conversation, he admitted that he was “stealing some moves” from the “Arrested Development” star. McElhenney readily agreed, marveling that he even noticed the Bateman-esque mannerisms and vocal inflections while he was rewatching the episode on his own.
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“He really mastered the dry straight-man…” Day (who starred alongside Bateman in the 2011 comedy “Horrible Bosses”) revered with a smile. “So anytime you wanna go dry, it’s hard not to be like, ‘Oh, I’m slipping into a Bateman.'” Howerton also explained that he enjoyed playing Dennis in the style of Michael Bluth, as it provided a rare moment of contrast for Dennis’ regular cartoonishly sociopathic characterization. “I will fully admit it and give [Bateman] credit… for the way I played that scene with you.”
