TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. In January, the cast and characters from the FX series "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" showed up as court-appointed community volunteers on an episode of the ABC sitcom "Abbott Elementary," also set in Philadelphia. The story, and the TV crossover, continues tonight as the 17th season premiere of "Always Sunny" features the cast of "Abbott Elementary" as guest stars. Our TV critic David Bianculli has this review.
DAVID BIANCULLI, BYLINE: The cross-network crossover, featuring actors and characters from different TV shows and networks, is not unprecedented. The most prominent example is from 1998, when two series set in Boston - the Fox comedy "Ally McBeal" and the ABC drama "The Practice" - combined for a two-part crossover. That was possible because David E. Kelley created both shows and won Emmys for them both.
ABC's "Abbott Elementary" and FX's "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" both are set in Philly but have different lineages. "Abbott," which premiered in 2021, is created by its star, Quinta Brunson. She plays idealistic teacher Janine and has won Emmys for both writing and acting on the show. "Always Sunny," which premiered way back in 2005, was created by Rob McElhenney, who goes by Rob Mac, and Glenn Howerton. They co-star in their comedy as, respectively, Mac and Dennis. When Mac and Brunson met at an Emmy function, they found they were fans of each other's shows and joked about a crossover. Because both series are owned by Disney, the crossover eventually became a reality.
The trick, though, was to merge two shows with very different tones. "Abbott" is a family comedy set in a Philly gradeschool and is framed as though it's being filmed by a documentary film crew in the style of "Modern Family" and "The Office." "Always Sunny" is a much raunchier sitcom set in a Philly dive bar and presented like a standard filmed comedy. Both shows have prominent talented co-stars. "Sunny" features Danny DeVito as Uncle Frank and Kaitlin Olson, now starring in ABC's "High Potential," as Dee. "Abbott" includes Sheryl Lee Ralph, an Emmy winner for her supporting role as Barbara, and Tyler James Williams as Gregory, Janine's boyfriend and a fellow teacher. And neither show has a laugh track, but how to merge the two series and styles. In January, when the first part of the two-part crossover appeared on ABC, "Abbott Elementary" solved it by having Janine welcome the "Sunny" characters for a week of community volunteer work, while their ever-present camera crew captures the action. Most of the gang from the bar is fine with it, but one "Sunny" character, Glenn Howerton as Dennis, is resistant.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA")
QUINTA BRUNSON: (As Janine Teagues) Welcome to Abbott Elementary, the best elementary school in the universe.
KAITLIN OLSON: (As Dee Reynolds) Is that what this is?
ROB MAC: (As Mac) Ignore her. We are the best volunteers in the universe. This is Frank. I'm Mac, Dee, Dennis and Charlie.
BRUNSON: (As Janine Teagues) Hi, you guys.
GLENN HOWERTON: (As Dennis Reynolds) Quick question. What's the deal with all the cameras?
JANELLE JAMES: (As Ava Coleman) We have, like, a "Vanderpump" thing going on. Don't worry about it.
HOWERTON: (As Dennis Reynolds) No. No. I don't think so. I know quite a bit about filming.
BIANCULLI: The new volunteers, of course, don't fit in well at the gradeschool. These are self-absorbed characters who make the friends from "Seinfeld" seem like model citizens. The one exception seems to be Kaitlin Olson's Dee, who gets along great with Quinta Brunson's Janine. Until, that is, Janine learns that Dee has set her sights on Janine's teacher boyfriend, Gregory.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA")
BRUNSON: (As Janine Teagues) Wait, you like Gregory?
OLSON: (As Dee Reynolds) Uh, yeah, you've seen those shoulders. What is his deal? Is he in a relationship? Ooh, if he is, is he a cheater?
BRUNSON: (As Janine Teagues) OK. So he is actually with someone - me.
OLSON: (As Dee Reynolds) What?
BRUNSON: (As Janine Teagues) Yeah.
OLSON: (As Dee Reynolds) Janine. Nice pull.
BRUNSON: (As Janine Teagues) Thank you. It took a long time...
OLSON: (As Dee Reynolds) Yeah. You're good if I take a spin, though, yeah?
BIANCULLI: But now we learn more about that story and others thanks to the new season opener of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia," simulcast on both FX and sister network FXX and streaming afterwards on Hulu. The documentary crew supposedly filming things on "Abbott" also filmed the characters from "Sunny," and that outtake footage forms the basis of the crossover conclusion. It's an approach that works very nicely. On "Sunny," the characters are allowed to be more like themselves, a little more fowul mouthed, and a lot more abrasive. While Dee seemed to be best buds with Janine while both of them were in the classroom, the outtake footage shows a different story as Dee takes the camera operator aside and offers to shake up things.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA")
OLSON: (As Dee Reynolds) Class can I have your attention for one second? You are being taught by a genius.
BRUNSON: (As Janine Teagues) And class, if I may, you have a genius volunteer aiding you.
OLSON: (As Dee Reynolds) Oh.
(LAUGHTER)
BRUNSON: (As Janine Teagues) You.
OLSON: (As Dee Reynolds) You.
BRUNSON: (As Janine Teagues) You.
OLSON: (As Dee Reynolds) No.
BRUNSON: (As Janine Teagues) It's definitely...
OLSON: (As Dee Reynolds) You.
BRUNSON: (As Janine Teagues) ...You.
OLSON: (As Dee Reynolds) Right now, one, two, three...
QUINTA BRUNSON AND KAITLIN OLSON: (As Janine Teagues and Dee Reynolds) You.
(LAUGHTER)
OLSON: (As Dee Reynolds) Back up. Go. Go out there. OK. I noticed you following that one around a bunch. What is going on with that? I'm not picking up star vibes from her. She's a dud. She's a giant dud. But I have an idea. You follow me around, make me the star of whatever this is, and I will make this [expletive] pop, right? I'll steal her man. I'll expose her for the dud she is. What do you think? Let's work together.
BIANCULLI: This crossover between shows is an experiment that's a total success. Both programs and both casts get served well. And there's more to come, sort of. Later this season, "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" spends several episodes presenting Danny DeVito as Frank appearing on ABC's dating reality show series "The Golden Bachelor." And largely because of DeVito, who's been delightful on TV ever since "Taxi," that combination is lots of fun, too. Watch for it.
MOSLEY: David Bianculli is a professor of television studies at Rowan University. He reviewed tonight's season premiere of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."
Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, New York Times Supreme Court correspondent Adam Liptak on how the Supreme Court is increasing presidential power. We discussed the term that recently ended, including the so-called shadow docket, look ahead to the next term, and talk about Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's warning in her dissents and the reaction of the other justices. I hope you can join us.
To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram, @nprfreshair. FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our managing producer is Sam Briger. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Meyers, Ann Marie Baldonado, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaloner, Susan Nyakundi and Anna Bauman. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Our consulting visual producer is Hope Wilson (ph). Roberta Shorrock directs the show. With Terry Gross, I'm Tonya Mosley.
(SOUNDBITE OF HOWARD ALDEN'S "JUBILEE STOMP") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
