<p id=”par-1_39″>Mark the calendar. <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/abc”>ABC</a> has announced when the highly anticipated <em>It’s</em> <em>Always Sunny in Philadelphia</em> <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/abbott-elementary-star-lisa-ann-walter-requested-scenes-its-always-sunny-actor-crossover-episode.html/”>crossover episode</a> of <em>Abbott Elementary</em> will premiere. But—sorry, fans—it’s going to be a while. The episode isn’t expected to air until the new year. </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-the-abbott-and-it-s-always-sunny-crossover-episode-premieres-in-january-2025″>The ‘Abbott’ and ‘It’s Always Sunny’ crossover episode premieres in January 2025</h2>
<p id=”par-2_47″><em>Abbott Elementary</em> will come back in a big way following a break for the 2024 holiday season. According to an <a href=”https://www.dgepress.com/abc/pressrelease/abc-announces-2025-midseason-premiere-dates/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>announcement</a> from the network, the Emmy Award-winning series’ midseason return on Jan. 8, 2024, will be none other than the <em>It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia</em> crossover episode. </p>
<p id=”par-3_59″>That means Janine Teagues, played by <em>Abbott Elementary</em> creator and showrunner Quinta Brunson, will, along with Gregory (Tyler James Williams), Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph), Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter), Jacob (Chris Perfetti), Ava (Janelle James), and Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis), come face to face with <em>Sunny</em>’s Mac (Rob McElhenney), Frank (Danny DeVito), Deandra (Kaitlin Olson), and Charlie (Charlie Day). </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-sunny-star-charlie-day-has-a-significant-storyline-in-the-crossover-episode”>‘Sunny’ star Charlie Day has a ‘significant storyline’ in the crossover episode</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image aligncenter size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/The-Its-Always-Sunny-in-Philadelphia-cast.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”The ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ cast, who is doing a crossover episode of ‘Abbott Elementary,’ poses together on the red carpet” class=”wp-image-3740334″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>The ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ cast | Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-4_46″>As for what viewers can expect, <em>Abbott</em> <em>Elementary</em> executive producers Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker previously told <a href=”https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/abbott-elementary-producers-its-always-sunny-crossover-season-4-stories-1236172385/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Variety</a> the entire <em>It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia</em> cast will appear. “We got the whole gang, the ‘A’ story, ‘B’ story, ‘C,’ ‘D,’ it’s all [of] them” Schumacker said. </p>
<p id=”par-5_40″>However, Day’s character, in particular, will get a lot of screen time. “Charlie Day’s character has a pretty significant storyline in our episode,” Schumacker added, saying the <em>Sunny</em> cast members will “just feel like other <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/abbott-elementary-celebrity-cameo-offers-rejected.html/”>guest stars on the show</a>.” </p>
<p id=”par-6_35″>Noting Day and McElhenney were “super game for everything,” he shared that “concerns that we had about the tones of the shows butting against each other were alleviated the second we started filming with Charlie.”</p>
<p id=”par-7_40″>As for <em>Abbott</em> characters showing up on <em>It’s Always</em> <em>Sunny</em>, Halpern said: “We can’t say too much about that yet.” So the 30-minute episode of <em>Abbott</em> in January may not be the only time the two Philadelphia-set comedies come together. </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-quinta-brunson-s-love-of-sitcoms-helped-make-the-crossover-episode-happen”>Quinta Brunson’s love of sitcoms helped make the crossover episode happen</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio” id=”emb-2″><div class=”wp-block-embed__wrapper”>
<iframe title=”Let the Slack chat know – Gregory’s classroom is *the* place to be at #AbbottElementary.” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/RvCigcav8WE?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>
<div class=”related-article related-article–complex”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
<img src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Shrinking-stars-Harrison-Ford-and-Christa-Miller.webp” alt=”‘Shrinking’ Star Christa Miller’s Husband Called Her out for Being ‘Too Thirsty’ in Scenes With Harrison Ford”>
<p class=”related-article__title”>
<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/shrinking-star-christa-millers-husband-called-being-too-thirsty-scenes-harrison-ford.html/”>
‘Shrinking’ Star Christa Miller’s Husband Called Her out for Being ‘Too Thirsty’ in Scenes With Harrison Ford </a>
</p>
</div>
<p id=”par-8_36″>Halpern and Schumaker went on to credit Brunson for the idea of a crossover episode. It came from the <em>Abbott</em> creator’s love for sitcoms and started to become a reality after seeing McElhenney at an event. </p>
<p id=”par-9_48″>“In most comedy writers rooms, you start the day by sh**ting on other shows that are on TV,” Halpern said. “But that’s not Quinta at all. Quinta comes in and talks about [the] TV she loves. She has watched every sitcom, and she loves being excited about sitcoms.” </p>
<p id=”par-10_65″>“‘Sunny’ is like a formative show for comedy writers, and so it was like the chance of, ‘one of the shows that we all love, we have a chance to play for a little bit in their sandbox,’” he continued. “And it was born from Quinta loving sitcoms and being like, ‘I want to do stuff with other sitcoms that I think are so funny.’”</p>
<p id=”par-11_18″><em>Abbott Elementary</em> airs every Wednesday night on ABC. Episodes are available to stream a day later on Hulu.</p>