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It was Rob McElhenney who first let it slip — via social media — that a long-rumored crossover between “Abbott Elementary” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” was in the works. And in the first teaser spot for that episode (scroll down to watch), “Abbott” star and creator Quinta Brunson is letting McElhenney have it.
That episode 409, directed by “Abbott” EP Randall Einhorn and written by Garrett Werner, airs Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 8:30 p.m. ET as “Abbott Elementary’s” midseason premiere. The actual logline remains under wraps.
“It feels like we’ve been keeping this secret for so long,” McElhenney says in the spot, set to air Wednesday night on ABC. “So long?” Brunson responds. “Because you.. posted a photo spoiling our crossover episode.”
Indeed, it was McElhenney who first made it official via his social media account, posting photos of him and “Abbott” star Quinta Brunson, along with Tyler James Williams and William Stanford Davis from “Abbott” and “Sunny’s” Charlie Day and Danny DeVito outside the Warner Bros. lot studio for “Abbott.”
“Oh, was I not supposed to do that?” McElhenney sheepishly adds in the new promo.
Back in October, exec producers Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker spoke with Variety about some of this season’s themes and storylines — including the crossover with “It’s Aways Sunny in Philadelphia.”
Halpern and Schumacker confirmed that the entire “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” cast will appear in episode 409, and the storyline will take up the full half hour. “We got the whole gang, the ‘A’ story, ‘B’ story, ‘C,’ ‘D,’ it’s all them” Schumacker said at the time. That means Glenn Howerton (who’s was shooting Netflix’s “Sirens” this fall) and Kaitlin Olson, who’s starring in ABC’s “High Potential,” will also make an appearance.
“Charlie Day’s character 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.”
It made sense that Einhorn would direct this episode, as he is one of the common links between “Abbott” and “Sunny,” having directed on both shows.
Halpern and Schumacker credited Brunson for first coming up with the crossover idea after running into McElhenney at an event. The duo continued talking (and posting!) about it until it eventually became real.
Meanwhile, this is actually part one of the “Abbott”/”Sunny” crossover, as the “Abbott” characters will also appear on an episode of “Sunny” when that show returns in 2025. Here’s the look at tonight’s promo:
