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

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Gets The Kind of Honor It Deserves

FX Networks head John Landgraf honored FXX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in a very special and well-deserved way. Here's how...

Does FXX's Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, and Danny DeVito-starring It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia get the level of media attention it deserves, considering it's one of the best sitcoms to ever hit television screens? Nope. Has the show been royally screwed over by Emmy Awards voters for 16 seasons? Yup. But you know who's a huge fan of the record-breaking sitcom – and has been one from the start? FX Networks head John Landgraf – and he proved it once again this week. When The Paley Center for Media opened its new archive at the Beverly Hills Public Library, Landgraf was on hand – and to do more than cut a ribbon and drop a few words. The L.A. Collection serves as the home to a wide range of programming – including comedy, drama, sports, news, documentaries, reality, animation, children's/family programming, and more – and that now includes The Bear, Shōgun, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which Landgraf also announced.

"As someone who has spent my career in media and entertainment, I've seen first-hand how our industry constantly and rapidly evolves, but at its core and in all times, media has been a mirror reflecting our culture of the moment, our shared values, defining the moments of our time," Landgraf shared during the ceremony. "That's why The Paley Archive is important. It preserves the history of media and makes it accessible to everyone. The stories we tell today will inform and inspire future generations, making it essential to have a resource in Beverly Hills where these moments can be studied, shared, appreciated. The Paley Archive is exactly that – a living, breathing testament to the power of storytelling. It offers an experience that connects visitors to the voices, programs, and pivotal moments that have shaped our world."

Abbott Elementary EPs on "Always Sunny" Turn at Crossover & More

Speaking with EW, Abbott Elementary's Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker offered some insights into the upcoming Paddy's chapter of the crossover. In addition, the EPs discuss a Frank (DeVito)/Mr. Johnson (Davis) backstory that was cut, an ad-libbed joke from McElhenney that couldn't make the Abbott Elementary cut, and why we didn't get much Dennis (Howerton) during this chapter.

Halpern & Schumacker on "Always Sunny" Episode: "It's been written, it's been shot. I was present for quite a bit of it, and it's very cool. The ideal viewing experience will eventually be watching these two episodes back to back, even though I don't know if they've even solidified their date yet, but eventually, they're going to end up on Hulu together and it'll be very easy to access both of them back to back. They do very much play off of each other," Schumacker shared. "Their episode is what's happening in between our episode in the scenes that we're not showing. You're seeing what they're doing. It's really clever the way that they piece together their episode. It's really ambitious," Halpern added.

Frank & Mr. Johnson Have a Grudge Dating Back to High School: "We did at one point have a whole backstory between Frank and Mr. Johnson that they did know each other. It was that they went to high school together. They dated the same woman who was a canonical character in Sunny. That ended up falling away just as a function of, 'Hey, we can't tell that story. Maybe let's save it for another time.' 21 and a half minutes is not a lot of time to tell a story," Schumacker.

Schumacker on McElhenney's "Johnny Knoxville" Ad-Lib: "Ava [James] has a line about the white guys that she's into, and she names Johnny Knoxville and Johnny Bravo. I almost ruined a take off-camera cackling and spitting out my coffee because Rob ad-libbed, 'That Johnny Knoxville guy destroyed his penis. There's nothing there.' I was like, 'Okay, well, that one, we can't say on ABC.'"

Schumacker on Why We Didn't Get Much Dennis in "Volunteers": "Glenn [Howerton] had a show that he is a series regular on called 'Sirens.' It's the Netflix show, and it was shooting in New York. He flew in specifically to work on this and had to fly back. We had him for half a day, so we had to build that in. That was one of those ones where we didn't know if we had him, and so we had to stay a little bit nimble as far as breaking the story. But he's very heavy in their episode."

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