Rob McElhenney Shares First Look at “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Abbott Elementary” Crossover

Both the FX and ABC comedy series are set in the City of Brotherly Love.

The comedy collaboration marks, potentially, the biggest TV crossover event of the year.

First Look:

  • Deadline reports that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator and star Rob McElhenney has shared photos of the series upcoming crossover with Abbott Elementary.
  • The actor wrote “School’s out y’all” in an Instagram post that featured himself and the FX series’ Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeDevio, Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day alongside the ABC comedy’s Jannelle James, Lisa Ann Walter, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Chris Perfetti, Tyler James Willaims and creator/star Quinta Brunson.

  • Season 4 of ABC’s Abbott Elementary is focusing heavily on gentrification in the school’s neighborhood. It’s Always Sunny’s upcoming season doesn’t premiere until next year, leaving details about the crossovers plot a mystery.
  • On a recent episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Brunson shared her excitement for the upcoming crossover.
  • During the interview, the Golden Globe winner shared that she connected with McElhenney after comparisons of the series began appearing on social media. She stated “Something came up online, and he was like, ‘Someone said this seems like a Sunny episode, this seems like an Abbott episode. And then we kind of connected over that. And then we really connected in person, and I just get along with him and his team so well, that we felt like we could actually do this.”
  • Brunson teased the crossover on Instagram earlier this month, captioning the post “Season 4 of Abbott Elementary gets real Sunny :).”

  • In addition to this momentous collaboration, the cast of It’s Always Sunny celebrated the 20th anniversary of shooting their pilot episode. Fans of the series will spot the original leather jacket worn in the pilot episode by McElhenney in the crossover image above.
  • Howerton, who developed the hit FX series with McElhenney, shared “20 years ago these three kids made a pilot for FX called It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Today… 20 years later we start filming season 17. These kids didn’t know what they were doing, but they had a vision. Thank you to FX for trusting that vision. Thank you to our fans who preached the gospel from the start. We are eternally grateful.”
  • No announcement of when fans can expect the crossover episode to release has been made.
  • Abbott Elementary premieres new episodes every Wednesday at 9:30PM/8:30PM CST on ABC with streaming available the next day on Hulu.
  • All 16 seasons of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia are available to stream on Hulu as well.

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Maxon Faber
Based in Los Angeles, California, Maxon is roller coaster and musical theatre nerd. His favorite dinosaur is the parasaurolophus, specifically the one in Jurassic World: The Ride.