Posted in: ABC, FX, TV | Tagged: abbott elementary, always sunny, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Abbott Elementary/Always Sunny Clip: Dennis Is No Fan of Being Filmed

Dennis isn't into being filmed in this sneak peek at tonight's crossover between It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Abbott Elementary.

FXX's Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, and Danny DeVito-starring It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. ABC's Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and William Stanford Davis-starring Abbott Elementary. Two great shows that are coming together tonight to present… "The Greatest Moment in Television History!" With only hours to go, we have a sneak preview to pass along that sees The Gang meeting the "Abbott" crew for the first time – and it's also when we get a better idea of why we don't see much of Dennis (Howerton). It turns out that Dennis has some issues with being filmed for the documentary ("I know quite a bit about filming and consent…") so he plans on staying behind the scenes with the camera crew. Hmmm. But before we get to that, Olson was kind enough to share an "Always Sunny" primer listing five episodes that would be great for Abbott Elementary fans to check out to get to know The Gang better.

"Hi! Are you a big 'Abbott Elementary' fan excited for the crossover episode but have never seen 'Sunny' and are excited to dive in? Great! Except…you might want to take some baby steps. It's not on network television for a reason. (Or, instead of baby steps, maybe stop being a baby and enjoy the wilder ones? Your call!) But if you'd like to watch it with your (older) kids or your grandma, maybe check out these ones first. They're just as hilarious but slightly tamer than others. (Please don't watch 'The Nightman Cometh' with your grandma.), Olson wrote as the intro to her rundown of episodes: "The Gang Hits the Road" (Season 5, Episode 2), "The Gang Buys a Boat" (Season 6, Episode 3), "Sweet Dee Gets Audited" (Season 7, Episode 4), "Charlie Work" (Season 10, Episode 4), and "The Gang Goes on Family Fight" (Season 10, Episode 8). You can check out Olson's reasons for those selections in the full AV Club article.

IASIP/Abbot Elementary Crossover Preview

Abbott Elementary Season 4 Episode 9 – "Volunteers" – Ava (Janelle James) announces the school district is sending a group of volunteers to help out at Abbott; however, when they arrive, things don't go as planned. Directed by Randall Einhorn and written by Garrett Werner.

Always Sunny/Abbott Elementary Crossover: "Dennis Is The Key" & More

In two sets of interviews promoting the event, McElhenney and Brunson tease why it seems like Dennis (Howerton) is a bit distracted in S04E09: "Volunteers" and at least one joke that McElhenney is still shocked made it into the episode of ABC's Emmy Award-winning sitcom. From there, they each share which characters from the other's show they would bring onto their comedy series.

The Dennis Reynolds Mystery Deepens: If it seems like Howerton's Dennis isn't as in the mix with The Gang in this episode, there's a reason – one that will play out during the "Always Sunny" Season 17 episode. "Dennis is the key," Brunson teases, with McElhenney adding, "Yes. So when you see the 'Sunny' episode, you'll realize why we did that with Dennis."

McElhenney Teases Joke He "Cannot Believe" Made It Into "Abbott Elementary" Episode: There's a joke in your episode that I cannot believe is going to make the final cut. Did I see the final cut?" McElhenney shared, with Brunson confirming that he had seen the final cut. "I cannot believe that that joke was made on your show," McElhenney responded – with Brunson piling on the teases with, "I wonder which one."

McElhenney Shares 2 "Abbott Elementary" Characters He Would Add to "Always Sunny" Cast: "I feel like it's a tie. No offense to Quinta at all, but Sheryl Lee [Ralph, who plays kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard] is just an American treasure. She so believes in the world of 'Abbott.' And it's so fantastic to watch because she's so funny. But she's not necessarily trying to be funny, based on what I can see. Yeah, she's really playing the truth of the moment. And that kind of thing really plays well on 'Sunny.' People think that what plays well on 'Sunny' is, like, loud, obnoxious comedy. It really doesn't work. What plays really well is when people believe that what they're trying to do will achieve their goal. Yeah, and, and Sheryl does that, and does it so well, and is so funny while she does it. Oh, man." In addition, McElhenney notes that James's Principal Ava Coleman would also have a place in Paddy's Pub ("Janelle [James], the principal, is just so comical") – with Brunson agreeing: "She just fits in that world."

Brunson Shares 2 "Always Sunny" Characters She Would Add to "Abbott Elementary" Cast: "I think Sweet Dee [Olson]. I don't know; something about her dynamic in that school blows me away. Just a chaos agent in our world that was just so fun for me to watch, to play against, to see. And then I think I would also steal Frank [DeVito] because he's just fun to react to in our world. For so many reasons, I still regret that we didn't have a scene of a kid just reacting to him. We didn't have time. There was a version of it where there was a kid just looking at him, but he's just fun to react to. And our show is based a lot on reactions to cameras. Although, we realized in our world, we had to keep him away from the children. But he's a riot.

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