‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Fans Have Theories About the Gang’s PG Behavior on ‘Abbott Elementary’
In what is no doubt the most highly-anticipated TV crossover since Jessica Fletcher from Murder, She Wrote palled around with Magnum P.I. (with potentially universe-shattering results), the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia gang will be soon appearing in an episode of Abbott Elementary.
Up until now, we haven’t seen much evidence of this episode’s existence beyond media reports and a brief promo in which Mr. Johnson concludes that the Paddy’s Pub gang are secretly paving the way for an invasion of lizard people.
Don't Miss
But now there’s a full ad for the TV event, confirming that the It’s Always Sunny cast will visit Abbott Elementary as part of a volunteer program that, predictably, ends badly for all involved.
The 30-second spot doesn’t give us a whole lot of information, but it does illustrate that Mac, Charlie, Dee, Dennis and Frank will continue to be complete degenerates even while on school property. Mac hits on Ava, Frank beefs with Mr. Johnson and the gym’s scoreboard is destroyed, which, judging from Dennis’ reaction, was likely his fault.
Still, seeing the characters in an ad for an ABC show does reignite the central question people have always had about this crossover: How will these characters even work within the confines of network TV? It’s hard to imagine that the Disney-owned broadcaster would be okay with any swearing, excessive drinking, brutal violence or Danny DeVito-based nudity.
Well, fans on Reddit have some theories as to how sanitizing these characters might actually make sense within the world of the show.
Chief among these theories: Given that Abbott Elementary is a mockumentary, the Sunny gang may act differently because they know that they’re being filmed and will try to “tone themselves down” for the cameras. Another fan added that we’ll be seeing a version of the characters “trying to act normal.” One person said that they could even envision Dennis pointing out that everything they do on camera is “admissible in court.” And Dennis, as we know, hasn't had the best experiences with appearing in documentaries.
Abbott Elementary doesn’t just use the mockumentary format as a stylistic conceit either, like Parks and Recreation — and it didn’t wait nine years to reveal its behind-the-scenes camera crew, like The Office did. In the very first episode, we learned that the teachers are being filmed as part of a documentary about “underfunded, poorly managed public schools in America.”
And Season Three’s time jump, necessitated by the delays caused by the industry strikes, was explained with a reveal that the camera crew had been robbed and couldn’t film anything for five months “because that’s how long it takes for three people with art degrees to save up for new cameras.”
So it does make sense that the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia characters would either adjust their behavior while in front of the documentary crew, or have said bad behavior be edited out of the finished product.
For all we know, the Dunder Mifflin crew was constantly dropping F-bombs and committing federal crimes, but it all ended up on the cutting room floor.
