Always Sunny Unaired Pilot vs Final Comparison (original Sweet Dee) 

Greatest cross-species casting in history. Replacing a human girl with a giant flightless bird was a stroke of genius.

this show literally would've been unbearable if they were just abusing a sweet, well rounded woman in every episode

Old Dee seems more like one of the people in the background that the gang ends up ruining their life in an episode.

As a woman, I’m so grateful Kaitlin Olsen pushed to make dee just as insane as the rest of the gang. We’ve had enough “voice of reason” female characters in tv. It made me like the show so much more.

Kaitlin Olson’s vision for Dee makes the show perfect. The gang would’ve been weird if there was a normal reasonable person hanging out with them.

I love how in the earlier episodes they actually at least pretended to do their job

appreciation for artemis tho, I have no idea how they found her but she is so perfect

Kaitlin saved the character (and possibly the show). Took Dee from being the generic, boring female character to being one of the best parts of the show and, in my opinion, one of the best female characters in comedy.

So glad kaitlin insisted on making Dee as deranged as the rest of the gang

Dude this was like a alternate reality where everyone is dialed wayyy back

i love how when kaitlin says “wow artemis that was amazing” she changed the meaning and she basically sounds sarcastic and the original dee sounded serious

In this scene (9:30) Jordan made it believable that Dee was actually helping Artemis and Dennis was only being annoying but Kaitlin Olsen really made Dee look like she actually did it for her own benefit and proving Dennis point and actually making the scene even funnier.

Old Dee would get eaten alive by The Gang once Frank starts getting weird with it. Only a true Bird can survive being locked in a cage with a Warthog, a Golden God, a Master of Karate, and a glue-huffing rat-bashing Dirtgrub.

Jordan's portrayal of Dee is calmer and reasonably more mature than the rest of the gang and she does capture the initial idea they had for the character. Kaitlin's version of Dee however is more manic and every bit as morally bankrupt as they are which is the better fit for the show.

This really illustrates how much Kaitlin brings to the show. She’s truly irreplaceable.

This made me realize how good of an actress Kaitlin really is. She IS Dee from head to toe. Also better comedic timing.

I can't imagine how could she pull off Kaitlin Olson screaming "God Damn it"

Old Dee seems like too much of a voice of reason. Final Dee fits the atmosphere better.

This doesnt get said often enough. Kaitlin Olson is a national treasure.

Kaitlin Olson is a brilliant comedy actor. Very few people can pull off her level of cringe/ craziness whilst also being watchable and believable. She's great!

Kaitlin is more believable as Glenn’s twin

Old Dee wasn’t a bad actress by any means, just wrong for the role. I think the difference is that Kaitlyn subtlety shows Dee’s overall lack of confidence.

I never realized how integral Sweet Dee's shrillness was to her character until now. It's just *chef's kiss*

It was so bold of this show to train a bird to be one of the main characters of the entire series.

Kaitlyns voice is a lot more shrill than the original dee. Original dee had a deep and smooth voice that is far too comforting.

love that they just used the same Dennis driving scene. No reason to reshoot when it was already great lol.

Kaitlin has that unmistakable and unexplainable IT factor that says she was meant to play Dee. She has amazing chemistry with the rest of the gang!

I'm impressed at how much Kaitlin Olson's performance adds to her character. The dialog is so similar in the two versions and yet, one comes off as way too flawless while the other feels much more like an average person and someone with a much better sense of humor!

It's funny to me that they had they're Artemis lined up the whole time, lol.

Old Dee seems like she was reading lines, our Bird that we love seems completely natural and like she is really living through each situation. She is also as crazy as the other guys which makes sense that she would keep hanging out with them, old Dee would have run away from that bar and her supposed brother. Too calm and mature.

Okay, obviously Kaitlin was the best addition but can we talk about how they already had Artemis Pebdani? Love her!

If you're really paying attention Dee has ALWAYS been the brains behind the gang. She's the fastest thinker in EVERY situation. And the driving catalyst behind most of the plots.

Kaitlyn Olson was such a better choice, little did Rob know he was casting his future wife and mother of his child

First girl got fired for not looking like a bird

I feel bad for the first D it must of been hard seeing this show successful. I hope she found a role for her.

i think the comments section is being too hard on jordan. dee was written as the voice of reason in the original script. she was just playing the part she was asked to. kaitlin took it up a notch and encouraged the guys to write dee's voice as gender neutral so she wasn't as dull. both did a good job but were playing totally different characters.

The thumbnail picture makes the other Dee look like a Skyrim NPC.

Even when Kaitlyn was being written as the voice of reason she absolutely killed it, she's always been such an expressive actress in this show. The other girl was good but she just didn't fit the vibe of the show at all

i love kaitlins dee, even in earlier seasons when the script made her more reasonable, we can still see how fake and performative her outer act is and the vain centre is inside

I think I nailed part of the problem with proto-Dee: she sounds judgemental in a way that deflates the situation, while new Dee just kind of sounds like "I know I make sense but you'll never listen to me so I might as well go along with it". And this isn't just the writing, it's the delivery. Olson has a natural instinct for sounding slightly unhinged, even while saying normal lines. There's more confidence in her, more personality. She sounds engaged in the situation, even when it's frustrating for her character. Proto-Dee is like a parent, trying to get reason into the picture, new Dee just flips out but lets the rest of the gang fail. She's a permanent Jackie Chan "wtf" meme. Better even, after a few episodes they allowed her to fail just as hard, which united them as a true force of ultimate chaos. Proto-Dee would never destroy Cricket, and then how tragic would that be?

They made the right choice.

I went into the comparison with an open mind... I definitely prefer Kaitlin Olson. She has so much expression and nuance in her line delivery, and I enjoy the small changes to the dialogue which appears to be improv. Regardless of the behind-the-scenes stuff, I'm completely satisfied with the decision to recast the part.

why is nobody commenting on the fact that kaitlen Olsen legitimately saved the show? if they went with the old Dee character, this show would have NEVER gotten as popular as it did. she is a comedic genius with legitimate talent

Old Dee is played by Jordan Reid. She wrote a piece online in the observer in 2016, citing she was Rob's ex, who was involved in co creating the show, but got dumped because of FX's all boys club. She took it pretty hard and it took many years to get over being recast.

You definitely see the importance of casting in this video. Old Dee was fine but Olson really made the character pop. A lot of shows are similarly sharply written but it's like it's missing some secret sauce. That's what it feels like watching the scenes with original Dee.

The last scene was such an improvement from the unaired pilot version. Have you gained a little weight is so random and out of character for Mac, it's so cliché for women being offended too. The "get me a beer" line ties in that Dee was complaining about being overworked in the bar. Fantastic series.

Fundamentally Kaitlin just has WAY better comic timing than old Dee. A skill you can't learn - lady is a natural! All hail sweet Dee!😍

Before people start comparing acting skills between the two actresses, keep in mind that one is a tape done amongst friends, probably in very few takes for each scene, while the other is after they've gotten the contract to run the show on TV, so they probably put a lot more effort into it, not to mention they were actually getting payed to do it as their job now. You can even see how the other characters are way more expressive (and funnier) in the final one.

Yeah this dee is a bit too nice... you’d feel too bad about her getting shit on all the time

Imagine how different Rob's life would have been if they hadn't recast Dee.

I did love how in this episode, the mention of the waitress wearing the bracelet is a massive hint that Charlie is making all of this up in the first place.

Old Dee is the wife in every shit run-of-the-mill sitcom on TV.

It really helps that they punched up the script a lot between the two versions.

Kaitlin version of Dee in this matchup has more deviant than the original version showing that she can match it up with the boys in their crazy plans at this early stage. The delivery of the line of "I've just solved all our problems except for Charlie and the whole cancer thing" is just gold.

So no one is going to talk about how Mac was dating old Dee and then ended up marrying new Dee?

Artemis is fantastic! I like how her performance is so much more heightened in the final show.

Could you imagine being Old Dee and seeing how successful the show became? That's gotta be tough

I mean, Olson is ACTUALLY cleaning the tables, changing ashtrays and shit while acting beautifully. She IS the funnies woman to me.

Is it possible that Olson playing Dee differently affected the way that Glenn played Dennis. It seems that when Dennis hatches his plan in the original scene he is way more enthusiastic about doing this to help Charlie in his final days. It is still an unhinged plan but his performance makes it feel earnest, like he means well by his friend. And well, that characterisation feels kinda out of kilter with how insane the plan is. However in the Olson scene, Dennis becomes way more cavalier in a way that makes the plan seem like a way to pawn Charlie off on some poor girl which is way more disturbing and funny. He also adds the line "what is the one thing Charlie never gets?" That little dig at Charlie's sex life while he is dying from cancer is the perfect callousness I would expect from Dennis. It makes the whole plan way funnier, because you can tell it comes from a different place in Dennis' head.

One thing I'll give the original actress is that she looked more like Dennis than Olson did, seeing as they're meant to be twins.

This is the story of the original actress who played "Sweet Dee" : At one point, one of the guys (I’m pretty sure it was Glenn, but I could be wrong) called a meeting in Rob’s trailer - no secondary cast members, no execs…just the four of us. The question on the table: “What if the network wants to pick up some of us, but not all of us?” I specifically remember someone - again, I think it was Glenn - saying that I had nothing to worry about, because I was “the pretty girl” (not to mention the only girl) and that Rob was clearly fine because he was the showrunner, but that he was scared that he and Charlie might be replaceable. And so this is what we did, sitting there in Rob’s trailer with paper plates of scrambled eggs from craft services balanced on our laps: we agreed, together, that the network would have to take all four of us…or none of us. We had been in this thing together for over a year now, and we simply wouldn’t allow them to split us up. We shook hands, and headed back to set. Around that time, my relationship with Rob began to unravel - and I started to sense that I was on unsteady footing, despite our “all for one” pact. One day I walked into the office that FX had set up for the show, and was surprised to find three desks: one for Rob, one for Glenn, and one for Charlie. They’d all been made executive producers. Very quickly - almost overnight - I went from being at the center of the project to standing on the periphery. I blamed my age; I blamed my inexperience; I blamed what I saw as my lack of talent…but the fact is - even though at the time I lacked the words or the conviction to say it - that to the people in charge, I was nothing more than another blonde actress. FX at the time was a cigar-smoking, whiskey-drinking old boys’ club, and I was welcome when I was the girlfriend of the creator - but once I wasn’t, my role in creating their new pet project was forgotten. I said nothing, not even to Rob. I was terrified of losing my job, and it seemed to me that the best course of action was to sit down, shut up, and be grateful for what I had. I didn’t want to ask why I hadn’t been made a producer - why, in fact, I hadn’t even been included in the conversation - because the answer was obvious: Rob, Glenn and Charlie (and the agents, managers, and execs that they had started going out for boys’ nights with) were The Guys - the masters of this little universe that they’d created - and me? I was just a girl - and a replaceable one, at that. The pilot wrapped, and shortly afterwards I ended my relationship with Rob. During one of our break-up conversations, he told me in no uncertain terms that if I did not stay in the relationship, I would be off the show. I broke up with him anyway, and moved into the house that we had been planning to share all by myself. When FX signed us on to the pilot, one of the first things I did was buy my parents a painting that I’d seen several months earlier and had thought they’d love, of a door hovering in the middle of a massive room. The door is cracked open, and you can see the ocean outside running right up to the frame, threatening to spill over. It arrived a couple of days after I was fired. I couldn’t afford it anymore, but I also couldn’t bring myself to return it, so that painting hangs in their apartment still. 📷 📷 📷 I can’t tell you how many people have asked me why I didn’t just stay in the relationship until the show was picked up and my contract was set in stone. The answer is that sleeping in a bed every night alongside a person I was not sure that I wanted to be sleeping with because there was money on the table felt like the worst kind of betrayal; a betrayal both of myself and of my relationship with a man who I loved still, despite the fact that we didn’t seem able to coexist under the same roof. Basically, I just felt like staying with someone under those kinds of pretenses was a shit thing to do. And besides, I honestly thought he was bluffing. I couldn’t even imagine how a person who’d helped to create a show could end up tossed off of it; it didn’t even seem like it could possibly be legal. I remembered that promise we’d made, and I knew Rob, Glenn and Charlie did, too. I trusted them, and I trusted that - despite the obvious tension - everyone would ultimately do what was right, because at 23 years old I still thought that was how things worked. A couple of months later, my agent and manager set up a conference call during which they let me know that while Rob, Glenn and Charlie had been picked up for the series, I hadn’t been. I got a small payout (the equivalent of one episode’s salary), my agent and manager fired me, Rob married the actress who he hired to replace me (Kaitlin Olson, who is lovely and talented and funnier than I could ever possibly be, and whose work I in no way intend to disparage by the writing of this piece), and I never heard from Glenn or Charlie again - not since the day my relationship came to an end. Oh god, was I ever angry. For such a long time. In a panic, I did things I’m not proud of - trying to use my cell phone to record damning conversations (which is a crap thing to do a person regardless of how you feel about them, in addition to being completely illegal); trying to make my next relationship into a Grand Love Affair when it very obviously wasn’t; trying to starve myself into thin air because maybe if I couldn’t feel anything I couldn’t feel the pain of what I’d lost, which felt like everything. I considered suing, of course. I made an appointment at a firm specializing in entertainment law, and I sat there in an enormous maple conference room in my best Banana Republic skirt suit listening to an attorney tell me that if I took on the case, I would be going to court against not only a person whom I still cared for - but also Three Arts Entertainment, FX, and the Fox Network. The case, he told me, would be long and expensive, and no sane casting director would touch me while I was embroiled in it. It was further likely, he told me, that the lawsuit would mean the end of my career as an actress. I would always be known as “that girl who sued FX.” You’ll never work in this town again. I thanked him for his time, and on my way out I stopped into the lobby bathroom to change into a pair of jeans for my next audition. 📷 📷 📷 This account is, I think, more cogently written than my original version, but that’s kinda besides the point; the more important answer to why I’m writing about this again now is that years have passed - years in which my life and self have changed in ways I never, ever saw coming, and certainly couldn’t have imagined as a young ex-actress struggling to figure out what in the world she was supposed to do - and I think this story matters for reasons I didn’t see back then. My friends did wrong by me; I think that’s obvious…but I get why they did what they did, and the wrong that was done was bigger than three men breaking a promise. I don’t blame them for taking advantage of their first big opportunity in a very tough industry. I do, however, blame the social values that created a situation in which a young woman was encouraged by nearly everyone she knew to trade sex and love for money “just for a little while” - because she had no other real recourse, no other way to ensure that she’d be compensated fairly for her work. This isn’t a fun story to tell (although I do think it’s an interesting one, and a meaningful one). It’s a story that makes people - myself included - look not especially honorable, but even beyond that: it’s a tricky thing, writing about an incident that so clearly paints me as the sad sack, the bitter ex-actress who coulda been a star! …and then wasn’t, and was instead relegated to a footnote in the storied history of a television show. I’m that guy who was almost on Friends instead of Matt LeBlanc. I’m the fifth Beatle. So how do I tell a story like this and not sound pathetic? How do I say the words “I feel good about the decision that I made” and have anyone in the world believe me, when the other choice would have meant becoming a massively wealthy star of a mega-successful show? I don’t know if it’s possible to convince most people on this point; there’s a hell of a lot of cultural baggage having to do with the value we place on fame and money involved here. But I also don’t think I care anymore whether I “seem” like a sad failed actress. I’m not an actress. I’m not sad. And I’m also not a failure. The one thing I always wanted more than anything else (and certainly wanted more than I wanted to be an actress) ended up happening: I wrote a book, and it was published. And then I wrote five more, and they were or are about to be published, too. The seventh is coming out next year. I’m living in the place in the world that I want to live in with the people I want to live with, and while I suppose it’d be nice to have a bunch more money, I’m good - great, even - with what I’ve got. I’m happy.

the original Dee reminds me of beth from rick and morty shes more of a suburban mum with a glass of wine type vibe

subtle changes they made are really important, they made dee's character louder, crazier and not an employee but a co-owner it turned from "your bar" to "our bar" and etc

I'm actually blown away by how much this shows what KO brings to her character. Absolutely brilliant.

Dee definitely makes me laugh. Just look at the different deliveries when they say "I'm sorry are you doing another scene?" 8:10

Original girl isn't bad by any means but when she talks it feels like 2 different shows idk how to explain it, it just dosent fit with the crew. Even when they had the same lines Kaitlins voice just fit with the shows vibe, she gave it extra touch of Sunny vibes.

Another interesting thing about the pilot versus the official episode is that Dennis seems wayyyy "softer" and more human in the original than he does in the final version. His dialogue and even his performances are completely different. I wonder what made them sort of alter things?

Man this really makes you appreciate the subtleties of Kaitlin's acting that just makes the character feel natural compared to someone memorising lines in a local play.

Dee completely makes this show.

Season one is so great but it’s definitely missing a super crazy person... Charlie is amazing but frank just ties the whole show together

This show simply wouldn't be even close to as amazing as it is if they went through with making Dee the "voice of reason" in the group. One of the things I love most about this show, and one of the things that makes it unique, is that ALL of the characters kind of take turns being lunatics and being the normal voice of reason lmao and they're all good at both roles.. though I must admit that Rob in particular manages to make his "voice of reason" moments even funnier than his crazy moments.

It's incredible how Kaitlin brings life to that character, no offense to the other girl but she did not have it, she dulled out the entire show, the lines didn't pop, lines have to pop, it just felt far less natural, it's so much brighter and livelier with Kaitlin, much better chemistry, I think without that casting decision the show wouldn't of made it past S2.

Kaitlyn is just so perfect for Dee, the difference is INSANE

It's honestly difficult to judge since all of their acting was better in the actual episode. So I assume old Dee would have also been better. Though I can't imagine that actress being able to pull off Season 3 and after Dee.

The thing that puts Olsen over Reid is not just how much better she's doing- look how much better Rob and Glenn are doing too. Olsen is a very giving actor and the production is very bloody lucky to have her.

Kaitlin Olsen took a job that probably didn’t need the effort she gave. But the effort she gave put her up there with one of the best characters in TV history.

Wow. Until Reid released these clips, none of her scenes in the pilot were ever released publicly.

It's crazy how similar they look. Rob definitely has a type.

AH! Thank you for this upload!!

The "get me a beer" is such an improvement hahahaha

Dennis in shorts.

Kaitlyn Olsen was the perfect choice for Sweet Dee. I can’t imagine another actress playing the part.

Kaitlin Olsen was acting whereas it felt like the other girl was just saying her lines

Thank you so much for this

She didn’t have the flare that Kaitlin has.

Yeah, it’s a good thing Kaitlin Olson came along to press the others to make Dee more like the rest of the group. The other actress played the part just fine as originally written, but the part itself needed work. Dee would have been totally out of place as the other characters got more intense if she’d remained a voice of reason.

i like how they changed the script about the grunt work from "no i'm not " to "shhh she'll hear you"

Watching this high as an always sunny fan is like falling into a different universe

She was pretty good tbh. Olson iwas obviously the right actress for the role tho

"You know what Dennis, we don't need her..." To original dee Little did she know what he really meant 😔

Jordan Reid’s story always makes me so sad. It’s always really bothered me that they completely erased her from the history of the show, so I’m pleased to see her scenes get to even exist on the internet. Everyone seems content in their lives now, though, and that’s all that really matters

I love that Glenn wore the same costume in both versions

I don't get the comments of "she was too attractive to play Dee." It would've been fine visually, but the thing that actually makes her less suited to the role is her line delivery. It's so boring & I legit zoned out everytime the first actress would speak. (feel bad for saying that because that actress got such a terrible deal in the end)

No lie dee is the funniest person on the show and it’s crazy because everyone else is just a millimeter behind

Artemis was with the gang that early on wow! She is one of my favorite character!! Wish they can discuss more about the dumpster behind Wendys

I can't believe we almost didn't get Kaitlin as Dee, my god. Every one of these characters is absolutely hilarious and I can't imagine not having one of them.

The actress playing Old Dee is skilled clearly, but she doesn't fit the show's vibe at all. (Anyone know if she ever did anything else?)

So glad they went with Kaitlin Olson,the first one was boring

Old Dee could have sunk the ship. Doing the "voice of reason" thing goes against the primary vision of the show... which is an inversion of the standard episodic formula. 1. Start with a happy family 2. Conflict emerges 3. Conflict is solved through ingenuity, understanding, or good luck 4. Moral lessons are learned 5. End where you started with a happy family The 'It's Always Sunny' even uses it's "Leave it to Beaver" type light orchestral soundtrack to emulate the well known episodic formula... but the actual formula of 'It's Always Sunny' is an inversion thereof. 1. Start with a bunch of dumb petty selfish losers and terrible people with terrible lives 2. Opportunity emerges 3. Opportunity is squandered through bad luck, stupidity, or incompetence 4. ZERO moral lessons are learned 5. End where you started with a bunch of dumb petty losers and terrible people with terrible lives The problem with Old Dee is... there's no room for a voice of reason in this formula. If she were to stay the original version of Dee, it would be a vestige of the standard episodic formula and undermine the parody. As a person with restraint, reason, wit, and even looks, there's just no way for her to participate in the bad life they are supposed to collectively share. They needed for Dee as the female lead to be just as much of a dumb petty selfish loser as the rest of them, and have a terrible life. Also, a major tweak that was very necessary throughout the series... is that Dee's 'compassion' is always self-serving or insincere and fairly transparently so. The first Dee seemed to be legitimately compassionate... and that would have ruined the formula (The show's formula is actually something of a commentary on Karmic Justice, so if you are going to have bad outcomes, you must have all bad people or it becomes a tragedy instead of a comedy).

Exciting fact: Dennis's part in the scene where he's driving was just re-used with different lighting.