Development In January 2024,
Quinta Brunson, creator of the
American Broadcasting Company (ABC) workplace comedy
Abbott Elementary, and
Rob McElhenney, creator of the
FXX black comedy ''
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', met at the
75th Primetime Emmy Awards. The two, both
Philadelphia natives, stated to each other that they were fans of each others' series, which are both set in Philadelphia, and joked that they should make a
crossover episode. This concept was furthered following the unlicensed
Willy's Chocolate Experience when McElhenney, responding to comments from viewers, stated the situation felt like an
Abbott and
Always Sunny crossover. Conversations continued during ABC's 2024
upfronts when the two formed a premise. The idea was then pitched to
Bob Iger, CEO of
the Walt Disney Company, who was "very into it." Legal approvals also had to be obtained before it became a reality, including one from
Warner Bros. Television which
co-produces Abbott. Brunson teased in July at the 2024
San Diego Comic-Con that the then-upcoming
fourth season of
Abbott would have a crossover with another series. She stated that she was inspired to pursue a crossover after remembering the excitement she had watching "
That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana" when she was younger. Brunson confirmed no further details at the time, but it was suspected that it would be with a program owned by Disney such as
The Bear,
The Simpsons, ''
Grey's Anatomy, or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
. In October, it was officially announced that it would be with the seventeenth season of Always Sunny
. Although the two programs air on different networks, both of them are owned by Disney and are set in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Later that month, it was also revealed that the crossover would actually be two parts, with the first part taking place on Abbott
and the second part on Always Sunny''.
Casting The producers of
Abbott were initially uncertain which
Always Sunny stars would be available for the crossover beyond McElhenney and Day. The availability of
Kaitlin Olson was unknown due to her role on the ABC crime drama
High Potential and an opening in
Glenn Howerton's schedule was in doubt as he was filming the black comedy
Sirens for
Netflix. The production staff was told by McElhenney that
Danny DeVito would appear, but they encountered difficulties formally securing his participation. All five starring cast members ultimately appeared in the
Abbott episode, though Howerton was only able to make a brief appearance. The five portray
Ronald "Mac" McDonald,
Charlie Kelly,
Frank Reynolds,
Dee Reynolds, and
Dennis Reynolds.
Writing 's character being taught to read. This plot thread was inspired by
Billy Madison. Initially, it was a concern that the
tone of each series would conflict with each other.
Abbott is a family-oriented show, while
Always Sunny is traditionally aimed at adults.
Rob McElhenney and
Always Sunny co-creator
Charlie Day participated in the
Abbott writers' room for a day so that the storyline could be developed. Day also had to join virtually via
Zoom as he had
COVID-19 at the time.
Abbotts
script supervisor, Jeff Gonzalez, previously worked on
Always Sunny for 11 years. The
Abbott writers' room was then split in half, with the other half assigned to work on the
following episode. All of the writers in the
Abbott writers' room who contributed to the episode had to close deals to receive consulting credits on
Always Sunny. McElhenney explained that this aspect particularly succeeded with the darker tone of
Always Sunnys characters, because the
mockumentary format of
Abbott allowed them to act differently than they traditionally would without sacrificing the authenticity, because they knew they were being recorded. He further elaborated that the same reasoning worked in reverse for the
Abbott characters, because they aren't being filmed during the
Always Sunny episode, which allows a new side to be shown. Despite this, both episodes tell stand-alone stories. The
Abbott production team also requested a longer runtime for this episode, but was only granted an additional 15-seconds by ABC. Werner submitted his episode on September 18, 2024, which was
slightly edited by the
Always Sunny team to allow for references to pass between the two shows. This woman was later revealed to be Shadynasty, who had actually dated Frank and his brother, and first appeared in "
Frank's Brother", a 2011 episode of
Always Sunnys seventh season. The
Always Sunny episode was co-written by Day, McElhenney, and Keyonna Taylor. Day described the second part as "a complete rated-R version of their show, not just for our characters, but for their characters as well. We were really able to do things with them that they can't do on ABC." Scott Sites, a
line producer on
Abbott, was tasked with overseeing the schedule to ensure the crossover came to fruition. One of these included McElhenney's character saying "That
Johnny Knoxville guy destroyed his penis. There's nothing there." Another take had Mac saying that he was "currently gay" when Ava believed she was being offered sexual favors. A separate scene featured Mr. Johnson accusing Frank of having "donkey brains", this was also cut for time constraints, and Frank responding that he owned a document confirming that he didn't. The scene in
Abbott where the scoreboard fell off the wall was considered to be the "most elaborate special effect" ever done in the series and was filmed in a
single take. The second part was the first episode in the seventeenth season of
Always Sunny to be filmed; filming for the season wrapped in December 2024. It was directed by Todd Biermann and was also filmed on the set of
Abbott. ==Release and reception==