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

Always Sunny/Abbott Elementary: McElhenney, Brunson on Crossover Start

Rob McElhenney and Quinta Brunson share how a social media exchange led to the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia/Abbott Elementary crossover.

We are getting dangerously close to "The Greatest Moment in Television History," when The Gang from FXX's Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, and Danny DeVito-starring It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia makes their way to ABC's Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and William Stanford Davis-starring Abbott Elementary for S04E09: "Volunteers." It's something that we've been obsessing over since February 2024 – in fact, we've included a timeline of how this upcoming on-screen miracle came to be. But now, we're getting a chance to hear from McElhenney and Brunson about the exchanges that resulted in the two-episode adventure coming to life.

Here's a look at McElhenney and Brunson discussing how the crossover came to be and much more – followed by a look back at what we know (so far) about the big event:

Always Sunny/Abbot Elementary Crossover Timeline

Back in February, all the world was buzzing about that "Willy Wonka Experience" over in Glasgow, Scotland, which was supposed to be an immersive experience but turned out to be less a "land of pure imagination" and more like a ground zero for all of your worst nightmares. Well, McElhenney caught wind of the story and reposted it on Twitter/X, adding that "a lot of you are saying this feels like an episode of 'Sunny,' but to me, it feels more like an [Always Sunny/Abbott Elementary] crossover episode." It turned out that Brunson liked the crossover idea, too…

Well, Brunson didn't waste much time letting McElhenney know that they're game if The Gang is – posting a screencap of McElhenney's initial tweet/x on Instagram Stories while adding, "Just say the word @RobMcElhenney [with a salute emoji]. I love you guys." McElhenney made sure to head back to Instagram to let Brunson know that "the feeling is mutual":

That brought us to ABC's Abbott Elementary panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 (SDCC 2024) in July, where Brunson dropped an interesting tease about a big crossover that would be hitting screens soon. "We will be doing an interesting crossover this season. I'm not gonna tell you with who or with what or where or when or how. But just know, it's very exciting, and I think it will change television as we know it," Brunson offered – and with that, our dumpster fires of random speculation began raging – with Halpern and Schumacker dumping even more fuel on those fires.

During an interview with EW, the EPs were asked if there were any hints or clues about the crossover that they could share. "I will just say that when she came to us with it, I was like, 'How are we going to make this work?' I was really excited about it, but I was like, 'I do not know how this is going to work.' But I think we're close to figuring it out," Halpern responded. "Without giving anything away, we were able to spend some time in the writers' room with some of the creative forces behind the other show that will remain unnamed. And we're all getting on the same page about what this could be on both sides. But the idea is that there will be an 'Abbott' episode, and there will be an episode of the other show that incorporates the 'Abbott' characters," Schumacker added, noting that the "Abbott" episode would run "after" the end-of-the-year break – "Possibly the first episode back from the holidays."

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.

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