When news broke at San Diego Comic-Con this past summer that Abbott Elementary was orchestrating a secret crossover in Season 4, my CinemaBlend colleagues and I gathered at our press shooting suite started guessing what the match might be. Quickly, one series came to my mind... but it seemed like a pipe dream. As one can grasp from the title, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is set in the same city as the school-centric network show, and both are made under the umbrella of the same parent company (ABC and FXX are both part of the Walt Disney Company), but they are very, very different in terms of comedic sensibilities and tone.
Well, despite those contrasts, it seems like the impossible is happening: it looks like the Abbott Elementary/It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia crossover is going to be a thing.
This exciting development comes courtesy of It's Always Sunny creator Rob McElhenney, who has shared some fascinating social media posts on his personal accounts. The first to drop was on Instagram, which features a caption that reads "Oh. Hello" and features McElhenney with Sunny star Charlie Day and Abbott Elementary star Quinta Brunson on the set of her show (which is on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California):
One could look at that photo and think that it's perhaps just a fun photo opp, but Rob McElhenney's post to Twitter is more intriguing. It didn't come with a caption, but McElhenney, Day and Brunson are joined by It's Always Sunny star/TV legend Danny DeVito and Abbott Elementary's Tyler James Williams and William Stanford Davis.
pic.twitter.com/ymQTnjNE6iOctober 3, 2024
Technically there is still no confirmation that this is the Abbott Elementary Season 4 crossover that Quinta Brunson teased a few months ago, but there is logic in it (as noted above), and I can't wait to see what happens.
Of course, one big thing we don't know right now is the full scope of the crossover. Will characters from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia simply be appearing in an Abbott Elementary cold open? Or will there be an entire episode dedicated to their shenanigans? And given that It's Always Sunny Season 17 is in the works, is it too much to ask that there will be Abbott characters featured in upcoming episodes of the FXX show? In the wake of this awesome news, it's definitely taking some personal restraint not to be greedy in regards to how this all plays out.
While we wait for more news and an official statement, it should be noted that the start of Abbott Elementary Season 4 is almost here, with the first episode scheduled to air on ABC starting October 9 at 9:30pm ET (check out our 2024 TV Premiere Calendar to learn when your other favorite shows are starting up). In the meantime, you can stream all of Abbott Elementary Season 3 and get fully caught up on the latest developments in the up and down romantic relationship between Janine and Gregory.