The Abbott Elementary cast is excited to finally unveil their highly anticipated crossover with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia — but what can fans expect?
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly at the 2024 Out100 event on Wednesday, December 11, Lisa Ann Walter teased the upcoming two-episode arc.
“There is a lot of foolishness and shenanigans that go on when those people come on set,” Walter, 61, told Us. “They are way less constrained by the words on the page so we have a lot of fun. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Walter, who plays Melissa, recalled “so much going on” as the two shows intermingled.
“I actually just really enjoyed talking to all of them outside of the characters,” she continued. “Any time we have guest stars that come in, I like to — whether they’re big and famous like those guys or not — I love to hear what their story is. But with them it was just a lot of talking about where their kids went to school.”
Abbott Elementary, which debuted in 2021, focuses on teachers in a Philadelphia public school. After premiering on ABC, the sitcom quickly became critically acclaimed and picked up many accolades, including Golden Globe and Emmy Awards.
Since becoming a fan-favorite series, Abbott Elementary has surprised fans with lots of celebrity guest stars. The cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is the newest addition to the star-studded cameo list with Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney, Kaitlin Olson and Danny DeVito expected to appear later this season.
It’s Always Sunny premiered on FX in 2005 and documents the debaucherous shenanigans of a group of narcissistic friends and Philadelphia bar owners. Abbott Elementary star and creator Quinta Brunson previously told Us that the crossover episode for the ABC series is “very cool” and “unexpected.”
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“I think that it’ll be a delight to the audience of both shows,” she shared in September. “I think it’ll be very exciting for the people who watch our shows and, if they watch one show and not the other, I think that’s cool, too.”
Elsewhere in the season, Abbott Elementary showed more of Walter’s character, Melissa, outside of work. Walter couldn’t give much away about where Melissa’s story goes from here after admitting in the past how much Brunson, 34, loves to keep her costars in the dark.
“Quinta plays it so close to the chest,” she told Us earlier this year. “Every once in a while she’ll come up like when we’re at a For Your Consideration event [to say], ‘You are gonna be so excited about this story line for your character. Oh wait, I’m not gonna tell.’”
Taking a break from filming allowed Walter to celebrate influential LGBTQIA+ individuals who are shaping culture, politics and society at the 2024 Out100 event.
“It feels very blessed. I’m blessed to work with Sheryl [Lee Ralph] every day. Brittani Nichols, one of our writers, is also being honored and I adore her. I adore all of the people on our show,” she noted. “And being on a show that recognizes people in the community — because it is not every day that you get to be part of a project where it so effortlessly includes diversity — without making that the point. ‘This is the gay person, this is the trans person, this is the queer, non-binary person.’”
Walter continued: “I think that all of what Quinta does, and the writers, because they’re very important in this process, to make funny the point of the show, but inclusion a part of it, which normalizes it for people in the country who may not be as familiar or have the opportunity to meet these wonderful human beings. So for all those reasons, I feel like it’s an extraordinary night and I’m proud to be here.”
Abbott Elementary airs on ABC Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET and is available to stream on Hulu the next day.
With reporting by Mariel Turner
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