Always Sunny/Abbott Elementary Crossover Did Right By Both Shows
· BCPosted in: ABC, FX, Review, TV | Tagged: abbott elementary, always sunny, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Always Sunny/Abbott Elementary Crossover Did Right By Both Shows
Here's a look at our real-time thoughts on tonight's crossover between FXX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and ABC's Abbott Elementary.
Published Wed, 08 Jan 2025 20:19:08 -0600
by Ray Flook
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Finally, "The Greatest Moment in Television History" has arrived! Of course, we're talking about The Gang from FXX's Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, and Danny DeVito-starring It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia making their way over to ABC's Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and William Stanford Davis-starring Abbott Elementary S04E09: "Volunteers." We've been tracking the birth of the big crossover event since February 2024, with the second chapter in the story set to go down during the 17th season of "Always Sunny." How did it all turn out? Better than we could've ever imagined, with both casts and writing teams offering an episode that stayed true to every character while leaving us wondering why it took even this long for it to happen. With all of that in mind, you're about to check out our real-time thoughts on the episode – and that means we're throwing on the "MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!" sign and throwing down an image spoiler buffer because we will be dropping details. See you on the other side…
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia/Abbott Elementary Real-Time Thoughts
Okay, so let's kick things off with a "who's who" look at our major players tonight:
FXX's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia": Rob McElhenney (Ronald "Mac" McDonald), Charlie Day (Charlie Kelly), Glenn Howerton (Dennis Reynolds), Kaitlin Olson ("Sweet" Dee Reynolds), and Danny DeVito (Frank Reynolds)
ABC's "Abbott Elementary": Quinta Brunson (Janine Teagues), Tyler James Williams (Gregory Eddie), Janelle James (Ava Coleman), Lisa Ann Walter (Melissa Schemmenti), Chris Perfetti (Jacob Hill), Sheryl Lee Ralph (Barbara Howard), and William Stanford Davis (Mr. Johnson)
Heading into tonight's crossover, we were treated to two sneak peek clips. In the first, Janine and Dee had a surprising bonding moment in the classroom. Following that, we got some more backstory on why Dennis doesn't seem to be around too much – it turns out he's not comfortable being filmed for the documentary ("I know quite a bit about filming and consent…") so he plans on staying behind the camera.
Having to sit through even one minute of a Tim Allen sitcom proves how much I love "Always Sunny" and Abbott Elementary.
"I'm eating her ass" – Melissa (even in the context of "Goldilocks and The Three Bears" – wow!)
Melissa knows The Gang from a fight at a Philadelphia Eagles game – perfect!
Frank and Mr. Johnson are not getting off to a good start – sorry, Greg (and your garden). This raccoon problem is going to get ugly…
"I don't think they have backgrounds in education. I don't think they have education" – Jacob, who got to experience firsthand from Charlie's robot-themed retelling of history.
THE BIG REVEAL! Melissa knows them from Paddy's – and not in a good way. The Gang is burning off community service for dumping a whole lot of babyoil, Paddy's t-shirts, and a cyber-truck in the Schuylkill River
How anyone could doubt for a second that the two shows couldn't play well together is insane – this is flowing perfectly!
Janine is the only one defending The Gang staying – the rest want the "criminals" gone. But Janine makes a great case – and Ava can't resist free labor.
UH-OH!!! So Dee is hitting on Greg – in Janine's classroom. This is not going to go well… and now, Dee sees it as a competition and Janine has suddenly "seen the light" when it comes to kicking The Gang out of the school.
Awww… the AE crew realized that Charlie can't read and Barbara is trying to reach out to him. Those were actually some pretty sweet moments.
How telling is it that Mac could've been vice-principal but chose to be Ava's lackey instead? Ava became Mac's "Dennis." It's only fitting that Mac doing the right thing would be the wrong thing – and then end up being the right thing for The Gang.
WOW! We almost got a Janine/Dee smackdown – with even Janine dropping some "bird" bombs before Greg stepped in.
Of course, Frank got caught in Mr. Johnson's trap that was meant for the raccoon because he couldn't resist the spiced compost.
GAME-CHANGER: Okay – were we the only ones who got "the feels" when Charlie graduated with a kindergarten-level reading degree?
Okay, so when's the next episode?!? We need to see how this all happened… stay tuned!
Definitely worth staying through the end credits, as The Gang offers its own spin on the week… and Charlie reveals that the high school is haunted (LOL).
Abbott Elementary Season 4 Episode 9: "Volunteers" ("It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" Crossover)
Review by Ray Flook
8.5/10
Now that the crossover between FXX's Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, and Danny DeVito-starring It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and ABC's Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and William Stanford Davis-starring Abbott Elementary has happened, we have two questions? Why did it take so long? How long before we get the rest of the story? Season 4 Episode 9 "Volunteers" worked because the cast and writers were able to stay true to each show's characters while also delivering an episode that mattered to both shows. Here's a look at our real-time thoughts on why the crossover event worked so well...
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