Quinta Brunson Says Danny DeVito Was Only in the Cage ‘For Two Days’ During the ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’/‘Abbott Elementary’ Crossover
Danny DeVito put his dignity on the line when he showed up on set for the Abbott Elementary episode featuring the cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but, hey, being in the cage was still probably better than being in the couch.
Back in January, the first part of the cross-network, crosstown crossover between Abbott Elementary and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia stuck the landing on the most ambitious comedy collaboration in the history of the Keystone State. The Abbott Elementary episode, titled “Volunteers,” told the story of a Gang of miscreants who spent a week at Willard R. Abbott Elementary School performing some court-ordered community service that proved to be more disruptive than helpful to the staff’s daily duties. The Paddy’s Pub Gang of Always Sunny made a rough first impression on the Abbott faculty, as they tend to do with new people, but Mac, Dee, Charlie and Dennis didn’t debase themselves nearly as disgustingly as did the Trashman.
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Last night, while speaking on DeVito’s performance in “Volunteers,” Abbott Elementary star and creator Quinta Brunson told Jimmy Kimmel that it was her writers’ idea to have Frank Reynolds get himself caught in a raccoon trap overnight — but, it was also her idea. Aaaand, it was two nights.
In “Volunteers,” Frank attempts to help Gregory Eddie and Mr. Johnson try to prevent a raccoon infestation from destroying the school’s garden. Frank argues with the school staffers over how best to deter the pests, telling them that putting chili powder in the compost will only make the fertilizer more delicious to trash-eating animals. Frank’s hypothesis proves to be correct, as he, himself, ends up caught in the raccoon trap after trying to consume the seasoned soil.
“Whose idea was it to put him in an animal trap?” Kimmel asked his guest after showing a picture of “American Treasure” DeVito laying in the raccoon cage.
“When you say it like that it sounds so much worse,” Brunson admitted. “It was the writers of Abbott, along with me.”
Brunson explained that she was surprised by DeVito’s lack of objections over the cage scene, saying, “Danny is in his 80s, and I was so prepared to pull that and not have him do that. He showed up to work, got right in that cage. He did not have a problem with it. He was inspiring to me, I want to, at his age, be willing to get into a cage.”
“It was really cool to see, he’s down for anything,” Brunson continued of DeVito’s legendary commitment to the bit, noting that this is far from the first time that the A-lister got real weird with it while playing Frank Reynolds. “You’ve probably seen stuff he’s done on Always Sunny, he’s been fully butt-naked on that show.”
When Kimmel inquired as to how long Brunson kept her esteemed guest star imprisoned in an animal trap, Brunson assuaged his concerns, saying, “He was only in it for two days!” Brunson then quickly dropped the joke, saying, “No, he was only in it for like about two hours, we made sure to film it fast.”
Kimmel cracked, “They lured him in with a Jersey Mike’s sub and then slammed the door shut.”
If only Frank knew that he could have scored a sandwich out of the cage saga — though Jersey Mike’s probably wouldn’t let you make it in your mouth.
