For followers of each It’s All the time Sunny In Philadelphia and Abbott Elementary, that is in all probability their most extremely anticipated week on the 2025 TV schedule. That is as a result of the primary of two crossover episodes between the beloved Philly-based comedies will premiere right now (Jan. 8) on ABC. Nevertheless, if you’re nonetheless a bit puzzled as to how this crossover occasion got here to be, you aren’t the one one.
Regardless of each exhibits being set in Philly, and each creators Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) and Rob McElhenney (It’s All the time Sunny In Philadelphia) being from the realm, these two sitcoms couldn’t be extra completely different. Abbott is a family-friendly office mockumentary set in a college, whereas Sunny’s forged of characters personal a dive bar and incessantly commit petty crimes with R-rated dialogue. Nevertheless, Quinta Brunson instructed the LA Occasions all it took was a quick interplay for an thought to pop into her head for a crossover:
We met on the Emmys. And Rob and the entire ‘All the time Sunny’ group had simply completed doing a presentation. The theme was TV exhibits all through historical past. They went up there, which was actually unbelievable to see. I feel you guys made a joke about by no means having gained an Emmy.
Imagine it or not, it’s true. Actually, this was the primary time the Sunny gang had ever been invited to attend the distinguished TV award present collectively, and it was to current an award, not for a nomination. Nevertheless, having simply wrapped the record-setting seventeenth season of It is All the time Sunny, it’s fairly straightforward for the celebs of the raunchy FX comedy to step into their characters, and in true Sunny trend, they didn’t miss the possibility to roast the Emmys for persistently snubbing their present.
In fact, enjoying proper into the Sunny gang’s joke about shorter-running exhibits getting many extra awards than theirs, fellow Philly native Quinta Brunson picked up a well-deserved greatest actress award for Abbott Elementary that evening. She mentioned seeing the Paddy’s Pub homeowners backstage after their presentation and her award was the second the thought for a corssover actually clicked:
Then I gained an Emmy that evening, which was actually, actually cool. And the primary folks I see backstage was them, and it couldn’t have been extra becoming. The primary particular person I noticed was Bradley Cooper as a result of he FaceTimed me, and that was proper earlier than we have been going to movie his episode, to say congratulations. Then I run into them, and so I used to be simply having essentially the most Philly [night]. It was so stunning. I feel the Eagles have been enjoying at the moment. It simply was actually beautiful. By no means met them earlier than. Rob and Kaitlin [Olson, who is married to McElhenney and co-stars in ‘Sunny’] had instructed me that they watched ‘Abbott,’ which simply made my coronary heart very heat. I feel we in a short time mentioned it: ‘Our exhibits ought to cross over sooner or later.’
Philly pleasure runs sturdy, even for celebrities. The Welcome to Wrexham creator and Bradley Cooper are usually not the one well-known visitor stars to pay tribute to their roots in an episode of Abbott. Eagles soccer gamers Jalen Hurts and Jason Kelce additionally made cameos in Season 3, as Abbott’s all the time one to cater to their PA fanbase.
As Sunny and Abbott are two of the final nice sitcoms on community tv, McElhenney mentioned a crossover episode shortly turned an inevitable occasion for each collection:
We continued the dialog on the upfronts. Then it moved shortly previous simply an apart or a joke, and we began pitching again concepts proper there.
I really feel like establishing a crossover with the networks was the simple half. The issue is available in crafting a storyline wherein petty criminals with no ethical reasoning and an alcohol drawback discover themselves in an elementary college. Because it occurs, the crossover idea sees the Paddy’s Pub gang compelled to finish neighborhood service hours at Abbott. Though, I might not belief sure Sunny characters round kids, to not point out the nice natured lecturers of Abbott, because the gang is understood to incessantly set issues on hearth or screw folks over.
That’s to not say I’m not excited to see these two casts work together with one another and see simply what the 2 Philly natives cooked up. I truly cannot look forward to it! And fortunately, that wait is principally over, as the primary crossover episode premieres right now, Wednesday, January 8 at 9:30 ET on ABC, and can be streamed the following day with a Hulu subscription.