The Second Half Of The Abbott Elementary And It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Crossover Is Going To Be Very Different

Since Abbott Elementary is such a great TV show, it has millions of fans who pick up on when the show calls back to its past. Those same fans tend to know about things like Chris Perfetti’s past, the potential that a character was being written out, and about how Abbott Elementary got a celebrated guest star. While Abbott Elementary became a huge success after following in The Office’s footsteps, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is unlike any show from the past.

After years of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia having shocking cameos, the show surprised fans by having a two-part crossover with Abbott Elementary. While fans have already seen the first part of that crossover, it has recently been revealed that the soon-to-be-released second part is going to be very different.

Why The Next Chapter Of The Abbott Elementary And It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Crossover Will Be So Different

On January 8th, 2025, television fans saw something that seemed like an impossibility not much earlier. On that date, the first part of the Abbott Elementary and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossover aired on ABC.

Considering that it would be an understatement to say that Abbott Elementary and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia are very different, it seemed like a strange crossover. Despite that, the truth is that the first part of the crossover between the two shows was very well-received by viewers.

Another crossover episode if exciting enough, but the fascinating thing is that it has been revealed that the second part of the crossover is going to be very different from the first.

The cast of Abbott Elementary are set to appear during the first episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s 17th season. On April 22nd, 2025, Quinta Brunson spoke about that soon-to-air crossover episode when she made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, footage of which can be seen on YouTube.

During that talk show appearance, Quinta stated that the second crossover episode is a lot more extreme than what fans saw on Abbott Elementary.

Which is way more raunchy than ours was.

Of course, anyone who has seen It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Abbott Elementary likely won’t be surprised by that statement from Quinta. After all, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a lot more intense than Abbott Elementary is.

Quinta then went on to briefly speak about what it was like for her to appear on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Of course, acting on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia would have been a different experience for Quinta since the show is so unique. However, what made Quinta’s experience on the show so fascinating was that she appeared on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia as her Abbott Elementary character.

In January 2025, Abbott Elementary’s producer, Patrick Schumacker, told Entertainment Weekly about a deleted storyline from the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossover. “We did at one point have a whole backstory between Frank and Mr. Johnson that they did know each other. It was that they went to high school together. They dated the same woman who was a canonical character in Sunny. That ended up falling away just as a function of, ‘Hey, we can’t tell that story. Maybe let’s save it for another time.’ 21 and a half minutes is not a lot of time to tell a story.”

During her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Quinta reflected on what it was like to play her Abbott Elementary character on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

It was fun seeing what Janine, the character I play, what she sounds like when she’s saying words I can’t say on this program.

During the same talk show appearance, Quinta also spoke about the first part of the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Abbott Elementary crossover.

Quinta was asked about Danny DeVito’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia character Frank Reynolds winding up in a raccoon trap during an Abbott Elementary episode.

In January 2025, Kaitlin Olson told The A.V. Club which episodes of her show she believed Abbott Elementary fans could watch to prepare for the crossovers. Kaitlin suggested Abbott Elementary fans should watch the following It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia episodes.

• “The Gang Hits the Road” (Season 5, Episode 2)
• “The Gang Buys a Boat” (Season 6, Episode 3)
• “Sweet Dee Gets Audited” (Season 7, Episode 4)
• “Charlie Work” (Season 10, Episode 4)
• “The Gang Goes on Family Fight” (Season 10, Episode 8)

While talking to Jimmy Kimmel, Quinta spoke about Danny DeVito’s most memorable part of the first crossover episode. After explaining she would have cut the moment from the episode, Quinta explained how willing Danny was to get into the cage for the scene despite his age and legendary status.

“He was so game. I think Danny is in his eighties, and I was so prepared to pull that and not have him do that. He showed up to work, got right in that cage. He did not have a problem with it.”

Quinta then went on to comment on how watching Danny being so game affected her.

With a tone of voice that indicated she admired him, Quinta stated that she felt inspired by watching Danny being so game as an actor.

He was inspiring to me. You know, I want to, at his age, be willing to get into a cage.

How Did The Abbott Elementary And It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Crossover Happen?

Now that two crossover episodes have been filmed, it may seem like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Abbott Elementary were always meant to come together. However, the truth is that the odds of the Abbott Elementary and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossover happening were very slim.

In January 2025, Vulture published an article about the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Abbott Elementary crossover. That article revealed how the crossover came to be, and it turns out that there was a lot of luck that led to the crossover episodes.

That article revealed that Quinta was inspired to try to make the crossover happen due to a fan tweet and meeting the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia cast at the 75th Emmy Awards.

After getting that inspiration, Quinta suggested the idea to the Abbott Elementary writer’s room. While there was a lot of excitement about the idea, the Abbott Elementary writer Garrett Werner told Vulture that everyone assumed that the crossover wouldn’t happen.

Most of us assumed lawyers would stop it.

Fortunately for everyone involved, the networks that air both shows, ABC and FX, are owned by Disney so that helped. However, the teams behind both shows needed to get a lot of approvals.

Ultimately, Quinta teased the crossover at San Diego Comic-Con before the approvals were given. The Abbott Elementary writer who penned the first part of the crossover, Garrett Werner, told Vulture what Quinta told him about why she was confident the crossover would happen.

“She just knew it was going to happen. She had talked to Bob Iger recently, and she said, ‘Because I brought it up to him and he didn’t say no immediately, I figured we could do it.’”

After creating, running, and starring in Abbott Elementary, nobody should underestimate Quinta, and clearly she was right about the crossover happening.