The producers of Abbott Elementary have revealed what fans can expect from the series’ upcoming crossover episode with It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
The episode was confirmed by It’s Always Sunny star and co-creator Rob McElhenney in a social media post on Thursday (October 3), including a photo of him, his co-star Charlie Day and Abbott star/creator Quinta Brunson. The trio were pictured outside the Warner Bros. lot where Abbott is filmed.
McElhenney had previously teased on social media that a Sunny/Abbott crossover would make sense, given that both shows are set in Philadelphia. He also pointed out that Sunny airs on Disney’s FX network, while Abbott airs on Disney’s ABC, making such a crossover possible.
Now, executive producers Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker have explained more about what the crossover will involve to Variety. They have confirmed that the entire It’s Always Sunny cast will appear in the ninth episode of Abbott Elementary’s fourth season.
“We got the whole gang, the ‘A’ story, ‘B’ story, ‘C,’ ‘D,’ it’s all them,” Schumacker said. The episode hasn’t yet finished filming due to the schedules of actors Glenn Howerton and Kaitlin Olsen, who are starring in Netflix’s Sirens and ABC’s High Potential respectively.
“Charlie Day’s character has a pretty significant storyline in our episode,” Schumacker added. “It was kind of a joke at first, that the two shows should cross over. On paper, it feels like they’d be a real tonal mishmash. But then Rob and Charlie came to our writers room and we hashed out some real broad stroke ideas. From there, we emailed back and forth beat sheets and then an outline. They were super game for everything. All those concerns that we had about the tones of the shows butting against each other were alleviated the second we started filming with Charlie.”
He added that Abbot fans who aren’t familiar with It’s Always Sunny won’t feel left out. ” “It just kind of works in a vacuum,” he said. “They just feel like other guest stars on the show. Obviously, it’s going to have a much deeper meaning for Sunny fans.”
The idea for the crossover came about in February, when McElhenney waded into the discussion about the infamously disastrous Willy’s Chocolate Experience event in Glasgow. “A lot of you are saying this feels like an episode of Sunny, but to me it feels more like an @alwayssunnt @AbbotElemABC crossover episode,” he wrote on X.
Later, on Instagram, Brunson took a screenshot of McElhenney’s post and added: “Just say the word @robmcelhenney. I love you guys.”
At this summer’s San Diego Comic-Con, Brunson outright confirmed that a crossover of some description was in the works, but didn’t name Sunny as the other show.
“I’m not gonna tell you with who, or with what, or where, or when,” she said, as the crowd cheered. “But it’s really exciting and I think it’ll change television as we know it.”
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