Although the holidays are barely over, ABC is ready to get back to class with a new teaser for Abbott Elementary‘s upcoming crossover with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
In a new promo for the two-episode event, which begins Jan. 8 on ABC with a new episode of Abbott, the teachers and staff meet the unhinged crew from the Philly-set FXX series before chaos inevitably ensues through the halls of the elementary school.
“Welcome to Abbott Elementary, the best elementary school in the universe,” Quinta Brunson’s Janine Teagues excitedly tells them, as Kaitlin Olson’s Dee Reynolds responds, “Is that what this is?”
Rob McElhenney’s Mac appears to strike up a flirtation with Janelle James’ Principal Ava Coleman, telling her. “Let me know if there’s anything you need, and I mean… anything,” he tells her with a suggestive look, despite coming out as gay in Season 12.
“You’re trash, you know that?” says janitor Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) to Danny DeVito’s Frank Reynolds, who retorts, “Coming from the sheriff of trash.”
With Season 4 of Abbott largely focused on gentrification in the school’s Philly neighborhood, and Season 17 of It’s Always Sunny premiering on FXX in 2025, the plot details of the crossover are still unknown. The second episode of the crossover will air on Always Sunny.
Brunson previously detailed how the “really exciting” crossover came to be as she appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“I was very inspired by watching a lot of shows over the pandemic,” she explained. “I was binging Family Matters and Full House and stuff like that, and I was shocked at how shocked I was when Steve Urkel showed up on the Full House set. I was screaming at my TV.”
The Golden Globe winner explained that she connected with Always Sunny star and creator Rob McElhenney after social media comparisons of their shows, which are both set in Philly.
“Something came up online, and he was like, ‘Someone said this seems like a Sunny episode, this seems like an Abbott episode,’” Brunson recalled. “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.”
