Recap: The ‘Abbott Elementary’ and ‘It’s Always Sunny’ crossover delivers the Philliest moment on TV this season
Charlie learns to read, Dee impersonates Ben Franklin, and Frank fights raccoons. We don't quite know what's up with Dennis though.
The gang from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia isn’t known for being charitable. The selfish, hilariously unhinged dive bar group probably shouldn’t be anywhere near a school building, but for the Philliest moment on TV this season, they wind up volunteering in the titular West Philly public school for a crossover episode of Abbott Elementary.
Why? Because this is their court-ordered community service for throwing 100 gallons of baby oil, 500 Paddy’s Pub T-shirts, and a cyber truck into the Schuylkill.
The two beloved Philly-set comedies could not be more different in tone. Over its 16-season run, Sunny has become a crass classic fueled by wild, drunken pranks. Abbott, now in season four, has charmed viewers with a wholesome and witty mockumentary about the challenges of public education.
Unsurprisingly, it was Philly pride that connected Sunny creator Rob McElhenney and Abbott showrunner Quinta Brunson, who met at last year’s Emmy Awards and immediately began discussing a crossover.
The first crossover (the Abbott cast will appear in a future Sunny episode) aired on Wednesday night, delivering one of the funniest and cleverest shows infused with Philly attitude, authenticity, and love — plus many mentions of the city’s most endearing phrase, “Go, Birds.” (Spoilers ahead!)
Initially the Abbott crew, unaware of the gang’s true reasons for volunteering, are excited to receive help.
“Thank you for helping your — well, not your — a community,” says principal Ava Coleman (Janelle James) as she hands out visitor badges to South Philly’s finest: Mac (McElhenney), Frank (Danny DeVito), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), and Charlie (Charlie Day).
Teacher Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter) eyes them suspiciously and insists that they look familiar.
“Wait, did you ever get into a fight at an Eagles game?” she asks. (Of course they have. As has she.) After they exchange “Go Birds,” Ava cuts the moment short: “If Caucasian cultural exchange is over, let’s get to the free work.”
Charlie volunteers to help Jacob Hill (Chris Perfetti) with fixing his classroom’s ducts, Dee assists in Janine Teagues’ (Brunson) classroom, Mac becomes vice principal for the week, and Frank is enlisted to fight raccoons.
Dennis, though, refuses to be on camera and awkwardly exits the frame whenever the audience sees him. He does, however, manage to hit on at least one school employee.
The hilarious result of the combined writers’ rooms is revealed minutes into the show, with one joke that teetered on the edge of appropriateness. (Maybe it’s the one McElhenney said in a recent L.A. Times interview that he was shocked to see pass ABC’s standards).
Jacob describes his classroom’s finicky heat as a “Goldilocks sitch.”
Melissa replies: “You know, if a girl came into my house and ate my porridge and slept in my bed — I’m eatin’ her ass.”
The teachers lounge goes silent for a beat.
“To be clear,” she said, “in this hypothetical, I’m a bear. The animal.”
Jokes aside, conflicts ensue, and the first arises between Frank and Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis), who debate over ways to deter the raccoons.
Gregory Eddie (Tyler James Williams) stops their bickering and suggests using garlic and chili powder. But Frank insists they use “pelts with alpha predator urine” and later gets called “trash” by Mr. Johnson.
The teachers eventually realize that the volunteers don’t have any educational experience — and Melissa remembers them from Paddy’s Pub, “the shkeeviest bar” she’s ever been to.
It wouldn’t be a true Philly moment without a Ben Franklin impersonator so Dee wears a grey wig and bushy white eyebrows for a history lesson. While in costume, she meets Gregory and is instantly smitten.
The fast friendship between Dee and Janine, who had nerded out over attending Penn and going to Smokey Joe’s bar, ends pretty quickly when Dee shows up in a lacy pink bra to seduce Gregory.
In Jacob’s classroom, the teacher and students realize that Charlie, whose illiteracy is a frequent punchline in Sunny, can’t read what’s on the board.
In the most heartwarming story line of the episode, Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph) decides to teach him to read using a book about Pennsylvania birds. (The protected loggerhead shrike species gets a special spotlight.)
At the end, everyone comes together to celebrate Charlie becoming the school’s newest reader in a “Move Up Day” assembly. And Frank does the most Frank thing possible: wakes up in a cage trap set up by Mr. Johnson, using a dead raccoon as a pillow and a stinky pelt as a blanket.
As the credits roll, the gang has a chance to sit in front of the camera for reality TV-like confessionals about their experiences.
Mac inflates their contributions (“When we got here, this place was falling apart. And now? They send children here.”) Frank says he had a great time and eventually concludes: “Community service is great. Crime is worth it, plain and simple.”
Maybe the Sunny gang doesn’t leave with many lessons learned, but everyone in the audience — especially Philadelphians — now know for certain that combining the shows’ comedic forces was a genius idea.
The next crossover should put the do-gooder Abbott cast in some wacky schemes once the documentary cameras are off. Melissa already matches Sunny’s signature chaos. Hopefully, everyone else will join her.