Unexpected ‘Always Sunny’ and ‘Abbott Elementary’ Crossover: Quinta Brunson’s Bold Insult to Dee!

If the It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Abbott Elementary crossover is going to do one thing, it’s make you laugh and gasp at the same time. 

It’s been five months since the initial part of the crossover event premiered, cleverly titled “the Abbott version,” on ABC. Now, the crew from Paddy’s Pub is back to entertain audiences with their own humorous spin on the week’s events. For a quick recap: in February, Mac (Rob Mac), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Charlie (Charlie Day), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), and Frank (Danny DeVito) visited Abbott to complete their court-mandated volunteer hours. They landed in trouble for tossing baby oil, t-shirts, and a Tesla Cybertruck into the Schuylkill River. Alas, this was never shown, though one can imagine it’s quite the amusing scenario. 

**Warning: Spoilers ahead for the first episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 17** 

Fast forward a few months and Principal Ava Coleman (Janelle James) has found footage from the week when the Paddy’s crew finished their hours. This footage reveals a vastly different narrative than the one observed by Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) and her colleagues at Philly’s leading elementary school. The episode is aptly titled: “The Gang F**ks Up Abbott Elementary.”

While I anticipated that Sunny‘s perspective would be more explicit and eccentric compared to Abbott‘s, known for being a top-rated family-friendly comedy, I couldn’t have imagined Brunson’s character would describe Dee, who had been portrayed earlier as attempting to lure Gregory (Tyler James Williams) away from her, as a “total fucking cunt.” It even surprises Gregory, as this profanity-laden comment occurs during a talking head moment. He encourages her to articulate her anger, expecting her to opt for “bitch” instead, leaving both him and the audience taken aback.  

There are few moments in recent television history that require a spit take, a pause, a rewind, etc., just to make sure you didn’t mishear the characters, and this is one of them. Mind you, this is a character who is inclined to do nothing more than write a strongly written email even when a grave injustice has been done, so hearing the f-word and the c-word used in rapid succession by the ray of sunshine second-grade teacher we’ve come to know is earth-shattering.

In fact, when Brunson and Mac were promoting the crossover earlier this year, the Abbott Elementary creator jokingly (but really, was she serious?) said that she’s warning fans of her own show to sit this one out as it’s vastly different than what they are used to. 

“If you’re a fan of Abbott, it’s gonna feel like a regular Abbott episode,” Brunson said during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, adding of the other episode, “I’m very concerned […] I’ve actually been warning our fans to not watch their show.”

At the time, DECIDER chatted with Mac, who refused to get into the nitty-gritty of the episode but confirmed that things would be NSFW as opposed to the squeaky clean “It’s Always Funny At Abbott Elementary” episode that aired first. He said the second episode would have its own set of surprises for both the Sunny long-haulers and the newcomers from Abbott.

“We were able to do the Abbott Elementary tone that’s already aired and people got to enjoy — I hope they enjoyed [the episode]. But that same story is going to be told now through the Sunny lens in a few months. And I think we’re going to surprise quite a few people,” he said.

That sentiment applies particularly to the Abbott fans who are used to good-humored and good-natured jokes, mostly not at anyone’s expense. They’re in for a world of shock as, at one point in the episode, Mac,  Charlie, and Frank argue about the merits of recruiting one of Abbott’s taller Black students and recruiting him to play basketball for their own Philly Alma mater, even following a teenager into the bathroom and cornering him in an oddly suggestive way. This situation is repeatedly referred to by the group as them pulling off a “Blind-Side,” referencing the Oscar-winning film starring Sandra Bullock in which a White family adopts an at-risk Black teenager and has him play football at their own affluent high school. 

From there, it only gets more out of pocket and hilarious, leading to an ending that Day told DECIDER will delight and surprise every fan who tunes in. “In terms of the Sunny episode, there’s so much that I really don’t want to spoil anything,” the Horrible Bosses alum said. “I’m really excited for fans to see how that episode ends. I think there’s a good surprise at the end of it.”

“It’s Always Funny at Abbott Elementary” and “The Gang F**ks Up Abbott Elementary” are both now streaming on Hulu.

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