The teachers of “Abbott Elementary” soon will collide with characters from another TV universe, according to show creator Quinta Brunson.
Brunson teased an upcoming crossover episode at a Comic Con panel with the “Abbott” cast Saturday. Though she offered few details, she said the episode would air during the ABC sitcom’s fourth season, which premieres Oct. 9.
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“We will be doing an interesting crossover this season,” Brunson said. “I’m not gonna tell you with who, or with what, or when, but it’s really exciting and I think it’ll change television as we know it.”
The West Philly native later told Variety that she saw crossovers as a way to “reinvigorate” TV audiences, citing her own childhood excitement over Disney Channel mash-ups of “Hannah Montana” and “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.”
“(‘Abbott’ is) a mockumentary so we have to protect what we’re doing, but to find a way for it to still be possible to do something cool like that, it makes me really, really happy,” Brunson said. “It’s just like an ode to the medium.”
Though Brunson and her castmates remained tight-lipped about the crossover in subsequent interviews, people are already speculating that the show will collaborate with “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” on the episode. The case for this particular crossover is pretty strong. Both shows are comedies set in our fair city, and they’re owned by the same parent company (Disney). Brunson and “It’s Always Sunny” co-creator Rob McElhenney also expressed interest in a team-up earlier this year.
The conversation started after the infamous, extremely unlicensed Willy Wonka experience in Glasgow went viral. As photos of the sad oompa loompas poured in, McElhenney posted on X, formerly Twitter, “A lot of you are saying this feels like an episode of Sunny, but to me it feels more like an @alwayssunny @AbbottElemABC crossover episode.” Brunson then posted a screenshot of the tweet on her Instagram Story with the text, “Just say the word @RobMcElhenney. I love you guys.”
Their exchange carried over to McElhenney’s own Instagram Story, where he replied, “the feeling is mutual @quintab!”
The pieces thus seem in place for the shows to unite with minimal legwork. And if McElhenney can find a way to merge his show with “Game of Thrones” — remember when the fantasy epic’s creators wrote an episode of “It’s Always Sunny,” and Mac got an arrow to the eye on Euron Greyjoy’s ship? — surely he and Brunson could cook something up.
But on the off-chance it’s not “Always Sunny in Abbott,” here are a few other pitches for the crossover:
• Janine and Gregory go down the shore for a weekend getaway and settle in Seymour’s Bay, the setting of “Bob’s Burgers.” They go to the titular restaurant for lunch, where the kids suck Janine into one of their schemes. (She thinks it’s a school project.) Gregory, meanwhile, ticks off Bob with his aversion to fun foods. (He tries to modify the burger of the day, and also doesn’t get the pun.)
• Ava goes on the ABC reality show “Claim to Fame.” She ultimately wins the competition, but not as Allen Iverson’s old girlfriend or a “founding member” of The Roots. She’s also Will Smith’s niece, in a new bit of Ava lore.
• Carmy and Marcus from “The Bear” fly to Philadelphia to research its much-lauded food scene for inspiration. (Sydney does not come, since Ayo Edebiri already exists in the “Abbott Elementary” universe as Janine’s sister.) Jacob tries to impress the duo with words like “mouth feel,” while Melissa somehow gets Uncle Jimmy on the phone to swap mob stories. Gregory withholds his feelings on pizza, deep dish or otherwise.
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