It’s official: “Abbott Elementary” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” are indeed planning a crossover episode, as has been hinted at in recent, cryptic social media posts by “Abbott” star/creator Quinta Brunson and “Sunny” star/co creator Rob McElhenney.
McElhenney revealed the news in a social media post, including a photo of him, “Sunny’s” Charlie Day and Brunson outside the Warner Bros. studio for “Abbott”:
Also on IG stories, McElhenney posted another shot, adding Danny DeVito of “Sunny” and Tyler James Williams and William Stanford Davis of “Abbott” to the mix:
McElhenney had previously teased on social media that an ‘Abbott’/’Sunny’ crossover would make sense, as both shows are set in Philadelphia. And although “Abbott” is produced by Warner Bros. TV, the show airs on Disney’s ABC, while “Sunny” airs on Disney’s FX network, so such a crossover seemed within the realm of possibility.
Brunson was initially coy about it, but earlier this summer on Variety’s “Awards Circuit Podcast” Brunson hinted that something was indeed in the works. Without specifying further, she had said a major crossover would happen – and when Variety suggested ‘Sunny’, she didn’t say no. “Agreements are being made. I want you to know that. I will say I’m really excited about it,” she said. “You want to find fun ways to shake things up without letting go of what you’ve built. And I’m excited about this crossover, which I won’t mention the name of the other project.
“I’m excited to shake things up like this,” she added. “I love TV, everyone knows that, but I love TV moments and I miss those big TV moments. I remember how exciting they were. Whatever I can do with ‘Abbott’ to keep the culture of fun TV alive, I will do it. So I think this will be fun TV.”
The idea came about in February, when McElhenney referred to the famous “Willy’s Chocolate Experience” disaster at an event in Glasgow. “Many of you are saying this feels like an episode of Sunny, but to me it feels more like an @alwayssunnt @AbbotElemABC crossover episode,” he wrote on X. Later, on Instagram, Brunson took a screenshot of McElhenney’s post and added added , “Just say the word @robmcelhenney. I love you.”
Something was clearly already afoot at this summer’s San Diego Comic-Con, when Brunson teased that there would be an upcoming crossover:
After the surprise on stage, Brunson and the cast came to visit Variety‘s Comic-Con Studio, where we made some educated guesses as to which show they would crossover with: Fox’s “The Simpsons,” FX’s “The Bear,” ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” or FX’s “Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”
“I think these are all ridiculous, crazy things to say,” Brunson replied, smiling, but keeping a straight face, so as not to give anything away. “I don’t know. I don’t know what it is. Even if you guess right, I wouldn’t tell you,” she added, as star Janelle James interjected, “Nice try, though.”
“Abbott Elementary” returns for season 4 next week, on October 9 at 9:30 p.m., on ABC. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is currently in the writers’ room, with an eye on shooting the eight episodes of season 17 later this fall.