Here’s the Real Reason Why Glenn Howerton Missed Most of the ‘Abbott Elementary’/’It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Crossover
In last week’s Abbott Elementary episode “Volunteers,” the highly anticipated introduction of the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia characters to the Abbott universe, Dennis Reynolds ducked out of the storyline in one of the earliest scenes because he didn’t consent to being filmed — at least, not by ABC cameras.
Despite the nervousness of both Abbott Elementary fans and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia stans leading up to the first part of the crosstown comedy crossover, critics and audiences agreed that “Volunteers” was a spectacularly successful merging of two very different Philadelphian sitcoms with two very different tones. Thankfully for both sides of the sitcom collaboration, the Paddy’s Pub Gang managed to spend an entire week at an elementary school without committing any heinous crimes (that we know of) and the broadcast TV censors of ABC didn’t dull the edge of the Always Sunny assholes one bit.
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However, in the days following the crossover launch, Always Sunny fans expressed their outrage that “Volunteers” was missing something gilded and deific — Glenn Howerton was conspicuously absent from almost every scene, including the talking heads segment in the closing credits that featured all four of his bar mates. Now, Abbott Elementary producers are finally ready to admit why they omitted the Golden God from the episode in a feeble attempt to avoid the Hammer of Thor:
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Abbott Elementary executive producer Patrick Schumacker explained that, while some viewers assumed that Howerton played hooky during “Volunteers” because ABC bristling at the “implication” of having Dennis present in a public school, the real reason why Mac, Charlie, Dee and Frank took up most of the screentime allotted to the guest stars was a decidedly mundane scheduling difficulty.
“Glenn (Howerton) had a show that he is a series regular on called Sirens,” Schumacker explained of Dennis' in-demand status in real life. “It’s the Netflix show, and it was shooting in New York. He flew in specifically to work on this and had to fly back. We had him for half a day, so we had to build that in.”
Schumacker went on to detail how the writers knew Howerton’s busy schedule could pose a problem for the crossover, so Dennis’ hilarious explanation for ducking behind the cameras (he knows “quite a bit about filming and consent”) was a planned contingency and not a last-second rewrite. “That was one of those ones where we didn’t know if we had him, and so, we had to stay a little bit nimble as far as breaking the story,” Schumacker explained, teasing of the Always Sunny side of the crossover that will air sometime during the show’s 17th season. “He’s very heavy in their episode.”
Just as we expected, FX will make up for Dennis’ absence during “Volunteers” by centering the second half of the crossover around his skulking exploits. Presumably, Dennis’ time with the film crew will yield some terrifying results — even if Dennis isn’t on camera, when you’re in his lair, you’re always being filmed.
