Abbott Elementary executive producers Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker have shared an exciting update about the show’s buzzed-about crossover with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Both sitcoms are set in the City of Brotherly Love and fans are eager to see how the two worlds will collide. The producers spoke to Variety about the upcoming episode and said one Always Sunny character will have a prominent storyline.
Season 4 of Quinta Brunson’s Emmy-winning ABC comedy series Abbott Elementary kicked off on Oct. 9 and is scheduled for 22 weekly episodes. The mockumentary-style sitcom follows the lives of teachers working at an underfunded public school in the inner city, while ‘Sunny’ centers on a group of friends who run a dive bar in South Philadelphia. The crossover will take place in Ep. 9, when Always Sunny stars Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Danny DeVito, and other cast members visit the school. Schumacker said Day’s character Charlie Kelly will play a major role in the episode.
“Charlie Day’s character has a pretty significant storyline in our episode. 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.”
McElhenney teased the crossover event on X/Twitter when he shared a photo of himself and Day alongside Abbott Elementary creator/series star Quinta Brunson. He captioned it simply: “Oh. Hello.” Brunso shared the same image with the caption: “Season 4 of Abbott Elementary gets real Sunny :).” Speaking about the collaboration with Variety, she said, “I’m excited to just shake things up in this way.”
‘Abbott Elementary’s’ Season 4 Crossover Episode Details
According to Halpern and Schumacker, Brunson came up with the crossover idea after having an inspiring conversation with McElhenney at an event. On Oct. 3, the actor shared an image on X(formally Twitter) featuring DeVito and Abbott Elementary stars Tyler James Williams and William Stanford Davis. Halpern told Variety:
“In most comedy writers rooms, you start the day by sh*tting on other shows that are on TV. But that’s not Quinta at all. Quinta comes in and talks about TV she loves. She has watched every sitcom, and she loves being excited about sitcoms. ‘Sunny’ is like a formative show for comedy writers, and so it was like the chance of, ‘one of the shows that we all love, we have a chance to play for a little bit in their sandbox.’ And it was born from Quinta loving sitcoms and being like, ‘I want to do stuff with other sitcoms that I think are so funny.’”
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While the full plot details have not been revealed, the entire Always Sunny crew—Mac (McElhenney), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), Charlie (Day), and Frank (DeVito)—will have featured roles in the upcoming Abbott Elementary crossover, not simply quick cameos. Their storylines will take up the full hour, Variety reports. Schumacker said, “We got the whole gang, the ‘A’ story, ‘B’ story, ‘C,’ ‘D,’ it’s all them.”
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia debuted in 2005 and quickly gained acclaim for its cast performances and dark humor. In 2020, FX renewed the long-running comedy for four additional seasons, extending its run to 18 seasons. With Season 17 now in the works, fans are curious if there might be another Abbott Elementary/Always Sunny crossover on FX. “I don’t know that we’re allowed to answer that question right now,” said Schumacker.
Seasons 1-2 of Abbott Elementary are available to stream on ABC.com or with the ABC app. New episodes air on Wednesdays on ABC at 9:30 PM ET and the next day on Hulu.
