What began as something of a joke has become reality now that two of the most unlikely shows have combined their respective ensembles to create one adorably off-kilter television episode. After months of excitement, the long-awaited crossover of Abbott Elementary and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is finally here. Someone with an aversion to fun may pose the question, “Aside from being set in the city of Philadelphia, what common ground could these two shows have?” As someone deeply familiar with both shows, my response can be boiled down to two words: unabiding desperation.
The educators at Abbott Elementary may not resort to the same levels of criminal mischief as the gang from Paddy’s Pub, but they’re not above a bit of skullduggery either. Hell, the pilot episode is resolved thanks to Melissa’s (Lisa Ann Walter) family connections and her colleagues’ willingness to accept new classroom furnishings that just so happened to ‘fall off a truck.’ We’ll never see the likes of Jacob (Chris Perfetti) or, heaven forbid, Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) attempt to scam the welfare system, only to accidentally wind up addicted to drugs, or Janine (Quinta Brunson) and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) making a mobile business that results in the kidnapping and theft of multiple victims, but these disparate groups are fully capable of seeing eye to eye at times. Well, at least when it comes to employing blackmail.
For fans of both series, the artistry from this collaboration—the fascinating origins of which are shared in this inside look from Vulture courtesy of Roxana Hadadi—can be seen in how the Sunny gang, who we later discover are volunteering at Abbott, not out of altruism (to the surprise of no one who’s seen a single episode of the long-running FX series) but because of a court order, are paired off with the school staff. Some of their commonalities unify them until, well, it doesn’t. When Janine takes Sweet Dee (Kaitlin Olson) on as a classroom assistant, they quickly bond over both attending Penn. Their camaraderie is short-lived, though, when Dee sets her laser sights on Gregory despite Janine’s protestations (Dee: “I see he likes big feet. Good. Mine are enormous”). Mac (Rob McElhenney) follows Ava (Janelle James) around, foolishly believing that he can somehow schmooze her enough to sign off early on their service forms, not realizing that a quid pro quo requires at least two parties to be successful. But his usefulness wins her over (“You’re the best free worker I ever had!”), after they successfully scam the golf course lawyer for a brand new scoreboard; unfortunately, Mac miscalculated Ava’s tolerance for emotionally placating teachers, thus destroying their alliance, likely for the benefit of all of Philadelphia.
The inspiration for Ava’s scam came from an unlikely source: Charlie (Charlie Day), whose illiteracy (one of Sunny’s many long-running gags) is quickly noticed by Jacob, who relays the information to a skeptical Melissa before Charlie proves his case after spelling the word “light” with two L’s. Barbara, veteran educator she is, takes it upon herself to teach Charlie some basic reading skills. He even learns enough to be awarded an honorary reading diploma, and his joyfulness is genuinely sweet, as is Jacob and Melissa’s applause (am I crazy or is that a look of pride on Dee’s face?).
If there was an Unhinged Pairing award, without a doubt it would go to Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) and Frank (Danny DeVito). Like two lab-tested roosters fighting for dominance, they were never going to work harmoniously. Mr. Johnson might have voted for Kanye West in the 2020 Presidential Election, but at least he’s not going to kill the school garden in the span of a day, unlike Frank, whose grasp of reality is tenuous at best (Gregory: “Compost is made of food waste, not batteries.” Frank: “No, no, batteries are robot food.”). The second Mr. Johnson announced the capture of the “huge” offending raccoon, Sunny fans were able to immediately clock the incoming visual gag, but even Abbott fans with no knowledge of the Gang found themselves in on the joke as well (Mr. Johnson: “You want to bash his [Frank] brains in, or should I?”).
This is where true success of this crossover experiment lies: the ability for fans of either show to enjoy the hell out of themselves without needing intimate knowledge of the other series. The hilarity of Janine getting hostile with Dee and calling her a “bird ass bird” doesn’t hinge on knowing that the guys at Paddy’s have long referenced Dee as such—though Sunny fans undoubtedly felt some variation of “She said the thing, she said the thing!”—it’s simply funny because how often do we ever see Janine ready to throw down? We’ve become so accustomed to homework being required to enjoy any sort of crossover [stares balefully at the MCU] that even if you haven’t seen a minute of one show or the other, it made for a delightful half hour of television. We’ll be able to consider it a full hour once the seventeenth season of Sunny airs later this year (no specific date as of yet), and we’re treated to an episode showing the crossover from the Gang’s perspective. Hopefully then we’ll discover what the heck Dennis (Glenn Howerton) was up to that whole day.
Abbott Elementary airs on ABC on Wednesdays, with episodes available to stream on Hulu on Thursdays. All sixteen seasons of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia can be viewed on Hulu.
Kaleena Rivera is the TV Editor for Pajiba. She can be found on Bluesky here.