Posted in: ABC, FX, TV | Tagged: abbott elementary, always sunny

Always Sunny: The Gang Officially Enrolls in Abbott Elementary

Crossover alert! Rob McElhenney shared a look at The Gang from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia posing with ABC's Abbott Elementary crew.

This was the moment we had been waiting for since it was first announced that FXX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and ABC's Abbott Elementary would be having a big crossover episode during the fourth season of the ABC series. We got the heads up that there would be some filming on it this week – and now, McElhenney is sharing a look at himself, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, and Danny DeVito joining Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti, and Sheryl Lee Ralph (no William Stanford Davis this time, dammit) in the hallways of the on-screen elementary school.

Here's a look at McElhenney's post from this afternoon showing a united #Phillyverse, followed by a look back at what we know about the crossover event so far:

Always Sunny: Abbot Elementary EPs Offer Crossover Details

Abbott Elementary EPs Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker (Max's Harley Quinn) had some serious red meat to throw out to the masses earlier this week- beginning with the crossover happening during the ninth episode of the ABC series's fourth season – and the crossover will be the focus of the entire episode. "We got the whole gang, the 'A' story, 'B' story, 'C,' 'D,' it's all them," Schumacker confirmed – and that means Howerton and Olson, too – even though they weren't featured in the images that were first released (with more scene being filmed next week). "Charlie Day's character [Charlie Kelly] has a pretty significant storyline in our episode," he 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," Schumacker added, noting that Abbott Elementary fans won't feel like they're being left out if this is their first time meeting The Gang from Paddy's. "It just kind of works in a vacuum. They just feel like other guest stars on the show. Obviously, it's going to have a much deeper meaning for 'Sunny' fans," he explained.

We guess that means that some of the folks from the ABC series will be making their way over to the pub responsible for cracking the Liberty Bell – right? "We can't say too much about that yet," Halpern teased. In fact, that's the same route that Schumacker went when asked about the possibility of Abbott Elementary visiting "Always Sunny" during Season 17 – carefully responding, "Great question! I don't know that we're allowed to answer that question right now."

IASIP/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."

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