Abbott Elementary cast appears in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The highly anticipated crossover between ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and FX’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” just got bigger. Although it was already revealed that the ‘Sunny’ characters will appear on ‘Abbott’ this season, Variety has confirmed that, as part of a two-episode event, the teachers from “Abbott” will also appear in “Sunny” to hang out with the gang at Paddy’s Pub.
Earlier this month, “Abbott” creator and star Quinta Brunson and “Sunny” star/co-creator Rob McElhenney revealed that the two shows would be joining comedic forces for a very special episode of “Abbott” (which Brunson had previously hinted at San Diego Comic-Con). The mash-up made sense, as both shows are set in Philadelphia and both air on Disney-owned networks. (“Abbott” is produced by Warner Bros. TV.)
The cast of “Sunny” — McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson and Danny DeVito — has already shot their scenes for episode 409 of “Abbott,” in a storyline that will take up the entire half-hour. Olson revealed the crossover on the red carpet on Thursday at Variety Power of Women event.
“It was a lot of fun,” Olson said of filming the “Abbott” episode, adding, “And in a few weeks they will be entering our world, which is very exciting. So it was a lot of fun for both of our casts to be able to do, them a cable show and us a network show.
Ever since “Abbott” star Lisa Ann Walter (who plays tough teacher Melissa Schemmenti) talked Variety that she asked Brunson to write her scenes with Olson’s Dee Reynolds, we asked what requests the “Sunny” star had made.
“I was just excited to just get them down and dirty,” Olson replied. “They can’t do that at school; They can do that in the bar.”
The “Sunny-on-Abbott” episode will air first, and executive producers Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker revealed that Day’s character will have a “pretty major storyline.”
“At first it was a joke that the two shows would cross paths. On paper it feels like they are a real tonal mash-up,” Schumacker shared Variety about breaking the story. “But then Rob and Charlie came to our writers’ room and we worked out some really broad ideas. From there we emailed beat sheets back and forth and then an outline. They were super game for everything. Any concerns we had about the tone of the shows clashing were put to rest once we started filming Charlie.
However, it’s unclear what the “Sunny” team has in store for the “Abbott” characters on their show. Writing for Season 17 of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” took place this fall, and production on the season’s eight episodes has just begun (targeting a 2025 return). “Sunny” has had to work around the busy schedules of its stars, including Olson for the new ABC breakout hit “High Potential” and Howerton for the Netflix series “Sirens.”
