It's Always Sunny, but "The Nightman Cometh"

I have seen the end of the world. But it's nothing to worry about. In fact, it's tons of fun. It's "The Nightman Cometh," a stage version of a beloved episode of It's Always Sunny Philadelphia. (Think Lucy in the chocolate factory, or the Seinfelds mastering their domain.) For the broad-minded, natural or substance-aided, Sunny's one of the funniest shows in a long time.

"Nightman" is a whole different world, with a Rocky Horror Picture Show vibe -- rabid fans who sing along and so forth. The audience Thursday night at the Tower Theater was stoked. Only thing is, the TV show cast was even more primed for fun, performing the episode, and a bawdy, raucous musical within it, with glee, to keep things very TV up-to-the-minute.

While Sunny's fifth season premiered on FX, The Gang went through a script that includes sodomy, superheroes and a troll. The fans adored it, and also went wild when they saw a preview of one of this season's entire episodes. Before that, the house was rocked by a clip from the Christmas DVD (runs about 48 minutes, in stores in November). Mini-spoiler: It inolves a traumatic childhood, Santa, and vampires.

So you can all see what you missed. I asked Caitlin Olson (who plays Sweet Dee) why the road trip: Money, Publicity or Fun? "Ego," she smiled, and minutes later demonstrated why. Love and laughs dripped from the ornate decorations. "Definitely not money. That all went into our bus."

The gang's wrapping up a Northeast tour (Boston, New York, Philadelphia) before heading to the West Coast for Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Will they be flying the bus coast-to-coast, like NASA does with the Space Shuttle?

No, Olson said. "The bus flies."