Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson has issued an important advisory to fans about season four’s midseason premiere, which featured a special crossover with another hit ABC sitcom, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Ahead of the release of the Emmy-winning mockumentary’s Wednesday (January 8) episode, Brunson, 35, appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers, where she discussed the logistics of bringing together two tonally different shows.
While Abbott is a family-friendly series about a group of dedicated Philadelphia public school teachers, It’s Always Sunny is a raunchier series about a group of degenerates who own a failing pub in the same city.
“If you’re a fan of Abbott, it’s gonna feel like a regular Abbott episode,” she assured before joking: “If you have never seen It’s Always Sunny, you won’t know the difference. They’ll just be these white people on the show all of a sudden.”
When asked by host Seth Meyers if she was concerned about the unsuspecting Abbott fans interested in checking out It’s Always Sunny, Brunson said she was “very concerned.”
“I’ve actually been advising our fans to not watch their show,” she quipped. “I have been; I just think you probably shouldn’t turn it on. You don’t have to watch it. Just watch the Abbott episode.”
Brunson also teased the second part to the crossover, which will see the cast of Abbott Elementary appearing in an episode of It’s Always Sunny.
“It is the other end of [the It’s Always Sunny cast] showing up to Abbott, so you’re getting two sides of a story,” she explained.
Brunson wasn’t the only person to warn unsuspecting Abbott Elementary fans about checking out It’s Always Sunny, which stars Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson, Glenn Howerton, and Danny DeVito.
“pov: abbott elementary fans who liked the always sunny crossover and charlie deciding to start the show and pressing play on the first episode,” wrote one fan on X/Twitter alongside the title card of the latter’s first episode, which reads: “The Gang Gets Racist.”
Others pointed out their favorite moments from the crossover, including how the episode hilariously continued the running joke that Charlie (Charlie Day) can’t read.
“Them keeping the Charlie can’t read joke going….. ICONIC IM SCREAMING,” someone said.
“Took 16 seasons and a crossover for him to get real help from #real teachers #AbbottElementary,” another joked.
New episodes of Abbott Elementary air Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. on ABC, with episodes available to stream the next day on Hulu.
