Dennis joins up with an environmentalist group, but his altruistic intentions quickly sour when he's snubbed by the activists. Dee and Mac decide to raise a baby they find in the dumpster, but quickly find out that it's not nearly as fun as they thought it would be, and Frank and Charlie take the concept of recycling a bit too far.
WAR
58.3
Wins Above Replacement
“The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby” ranks #17 of 177 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 85.9 — Elite. The episode packs 47 scored jokes at 1.7 per minute, averaging 7.3 on craft and 7.2 on impact, with Dennis landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Charlie's Mom: Charlie's Mom: 'I had an abortion, it just didn't take.'
Dennis: Dennis at tanning salon: 'We just want to put him in there for a couple of minutes. Just to get a base.'
Dennis Dark/Subversive Absurdist ★ Rewatch Frank: Frank's immediate reaction: 'Put it back. It doesn't belong to you.'
Frank Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Mac: Mac: 'Let us cook him, and we'll be out of your hair.'
Mac Dark/Subversive Absurdist ★ Rewatch Charlie: Ransom note: 'Taked baby. Meet at later bar, night or day sometime.'
Charlie Character Comedy Wordplay/Pun All Jokes — 47 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Mac · Dennis: Mac calling An Inconvenient Truth 'boring' when Dennis says it's about the end of the world
Charlie · Dennis: Charlie: 'You're not good at that.' Dennis: 'I can do good. I am capable of doing good.'
Dennis: Dennis mid-speech about being a good person gets cut off by discovering the baby
Dennis Misdirection Visual Gag ★ Rewatch Dennis · Mac: 'Holy shit!' 'What?' 'There's a baby in this Dumpster.'
Charlie: Charlie's escalating rant about throwaway culture from Big Gulps to babies
Charlie: Charlie interrupting himself: 'I'd like to know whether or not I share a bed with my father!'
Charlie Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Frank: Frank's immediate reaction: 'Put it back. It doesn't belong to you.'
Frank Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Mac: Mac's elaborate theory ending with 'You just gave this baby full-blown AIDS!'
Mac Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Frank: Frank's aside: 'You see, he has no problem not calling me "Dad."'
Frank Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Sage: Activist calling Mac a 'narc' and describing his 'cashmere sweater' and 'moussed-up, hair-sprayed coif'
Sage Character Comedy Observational Frank: Frank's aggressive 'I'll take that, hippie!'
Frank Character Comedy Escalation Charlie: Charlie's sword description: 'You could chop a camel right in the hump and drink all of its milk right off the tip of this thing!'
Charlie Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Frank: Frank calling it 'an Ali Baba sword!' with enthusiasm
Frank Character Comedy Absurdist Mac: Mac repeating the activist's insults about 'mainline, cashmere, moussed coif hairspray'
Mac Callback Character Comedy Callback Mac: Mac: 'I think I just got punk'd out by a couple of hippies.'
Mac Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Dennis · Mac: Dennis: 'God damn this dumpster baby's heavy!' Mac: 'No, it's good for your back.'
Mac: Mac: 'Shit, this raising babies is easy.' then immediately 'Throw it in the bath.'
Mac Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Dennis: Dennis immediately wanting to 'kick back, grab a beer, and watch the Sixers' while Dee deals with crying baby
Dennis Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Dennis: Dennis's passive-aggressive manipulation: 'You gonna guilt me into staying? Okay, I guess I have to stay. For the sake of Dumpster baby.'
Dennis Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Charlie: Charlie: 'It's the sweet, sweet trash.'
Charlie: Charlie: 'People don't appreciate their trash, Frank.'
Charlie Character Comedy Observational Dennis: Dennis describing regurgitating his lunch to feed baby birds
Dennis Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Dennis: Dennis mentioning 'kine bud' to suddenly get the activists' attention
Dennis Character Comedy Misdirection Charlie · Frank: Charlie and Frank getting excited about 'Electrics!'
Charlie: Charlie's coat protection theory: 'This is the coat that's gonna protect my other coat.'
Charlie Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Dennis: Dennis's dramatic backstory about the waitress: 'The girl who ruined my life, by falling in love with my best friend and having sex with this guy right here.'
Dennis Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Mac: Mac: 'I haven't slept in 3 days. I don't have any thoughts anymore.'
Mac Deadpan/Understatement Cringe/Discomfort Mac · Dennis: Mac and Dennis deciding child stars 'are the happiest people on earth'
Mac: Mac's racist Mexican stereotype suggestions: 'pistols,' 'Mexican jumping bean,' 'chips and nacho cheese'
Mac Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Brenda: Agent suggesting changing 'the color of this baby's skin' as only solution
Brenda Dark/Subversive Absurdist Dennis: Dennis at tanning salon: 'We just want to put him in there for a couple of minutes. Just to get a base.'
Dennis Dark/Subversive Absurdist ★ Rewatch Mac: Mac: 'Let us cook him, and we'll be out of your hair.'
Mac Dark/Subversive Absurdist ★ Rewatch Dennis: Dennis: 'I guess the road to stardom is paved with hard knocks and orange assholes.'
Dennis Character Comedy Wordplay/Pun Dennis: Dennis proposing to chain himself to a tree to stop a bulldozer
Dennis Character Comedy Escalation Charlie: Charlie's philosophy: 'Frank, we start getting rid of this, we're gonna just like the wasters out there.'
Charlie · Frank: Charlie and Frank deciding to hide in the dumpster during rain
Frank: Frank: 'Charlie, I'm really sorry that I banged your girlfriend.'
Frank Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Charlie's Mom: Charlie's Mom: 'I had an abortion, it just didn't take.'
Charlie's Mom: Charlie's Mom explaining Charlie 'popped out, happy as a clam' after failed abortion
Charlie's Mom: Charlie's Mom: 'He would've made me throw you in a Dumpster.'
Charlie: Ransom note: 'Taked baby. Meet at later bar, night or day sometime.'
Charlie Character Comedy Wordplay/Pun Charlie: Charlie's complex theory about Frank and the waitress's 'love child' and his 'half brother'
Dee: Dee's simple math: 'Charlie, the incident with Frank happened three months ago. It takes nine months to make a baby.'
Dee Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Charlie: Charlie's rant: 'You threw your babies away! And you threw your swords away! You threw your golf clubs and your tasty treats!'
Charlie Escalation Character Comedy Callback Dennis: Dennis telling chained Sage: 'I banged your girlfriend.'
Dennis Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Charlie: Charlie's dramatic revelation: 'I'm an abortion survivor, Dad! I survived the abortion, Dad!'
Charlie Escalation Dark/Subversive Callback Frank: Frank's dismissive response: 'First of all, it takes nine months to have a baby. That is not my baby. Second of all, your mother is feeding you a line of crap.'
Frank Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Top Episodes — It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia