‘Here’s This School, and We’ve Just Introduced 5 Sociopaths’

Spoilers follow for the Abbott Elementary episode “Volunteers,” which aired January 8 on ABC. 

At Abbott Elementary, staff and students are accustomed to handling unexpected guests and their quirks, ranging from rival charter school teachers to substitute educators, musician Questlove, and the school’s first white parents. However, they were never ready for the chaos and arrogance that is the crew from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. As Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) puts it, they are “trash.” Ms. Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter) calls them “schlubs” and “low-lifes,” who own “the sleaziest bar I’ve ever been to.” And in the words of Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito), a former sweatshop owner and confirmed madman from the Gang, they are criminals. Abbott could certainly use assistance, but perhaps should have set their boundaries at these five individuals.

In “Volunteers,” the troublemaking residents of Sunny’s neighborhood venture from their South Philly turf to a school in West Philly, known as Abbott. This episode was a unique crossover between two TV shows with contrasting tones (one heartwarming, one risqué), which took months to arrange. Even the writers were unsure if it would come together due to numerous challenges, such as legal clearances and creating a plot that pleased fans of both series. However, the final product, the first part of a two-part crossover set to conclude with a Sunny episode this year, is enjoyable. It lasts 22 minutes, during which Abbott is made slightly more eccentric and raunchy (a joke about eating rear ends!), while emphasizing how perfectly Sunny’s cast portrays the characters’ madness. One of Abbott’s students expresses his feelings after meeting Charlie for the first time, saying “This school, man,” which encapsulates how skillfully “Volunteers” balances acknowledging Abbott’s financial struggles and the Sunny Gang’s gleeful disregard for societal norms.

Achieving the right blend, without resembling any storyline from Sunny’s 16 seasons was the most significant hurdle for the Abbott writers. Justin Halpern, executive producer and writer, explains this as akin to two chefs who specialize in different cuisines trying to create a harmonious meal. “One of them only makes desserts,” he says, “and the other one only makes Indian food. So, it’s like, ‘How can we make these two things work?'” (Justin’s fusion cooking analogy is humorously pointed out by his writing partner and fellow EP Patrick Schumacker.) The strategy they employed: intense brainstorming sessions, a director with experience in both shows, and cast members willing to take on anything. “It was truly enjoyable,” says episode writer Garrett Werner, “as you’re essentially bringing five sociopaths into a school.

‘Why are these guys crossing paths?’

In Philadelphia, there’s room for both Abbott and Paddy’s Pub, but Hollywood is compact. A fan’s tweet and a meeting at the 75th Emmys in January 2024 sparked discussions between Quinta Brunson, creator and star of Abbott, and Rob McElhenney, creator, showrunner, and star of Sunny, about a potential crossover event involving episodes from both shows. Brunson shared the idea with her writers in early June, but not everyone was convinced it could materialize. Although Abbott airs on ABC and Sunny on FX, both networks owned by Disney, Abbott is also a co-production with Warner Bros. Television, requiring their approval. “Most of us thought lawyers would nix it,” Werner notes. However, Brunson hinted at the crossover at San Diego Comic-Con in July, which made the concept seem more tangible. “She just knew it was going to happen,” Werner says of a conversation with Brunson post Comic-Con. “She’d spoken to Bob Iger recently, and she said, ‘Because I mentioned it to him and he didn’t say no right away, I figured we could do it.’

On the optimistic side, McElhenney initiated discussions with Day regarding collaboration, who is not only an Executive Producer but also describes himself as quite protective about the series that McElhenney, co-developer Glenn Howerton (Dennis), Kaitlin Olson (Sweet Dee), and Danny DeVito have been part of for nearly two decades. McElhenney shares a sentiment about keeping ‘It’s Always Sunny’ intimate. If he had his way, they would still be filming in the 4:3 ratio, giving it a grainy appearance like on a home video camera, and half the episodes would still be filmed in Philadelphia. He was hesitant because he isn’t sure how many more ‘It’s Always Sunny’ episodes they have left. This season they did eight and might do eight more next year. However, McElhenney’s enthusiasm helped persuade Day, whose main priority became ensuring that the accompanying ‘Sunny’ episode felt genuinely like their vulgar, surrealist, delightfully absurd show.

Since the episode featuring character ‘Abbott’ was set to premiere first, the writers were tasked with devising a way to intertwine the characters from the series. According to Werner, this turned out to be less challenging than anticipated due to the Sunny Gang’s tendency to turn up in unwanted places, such as a wealthy family’s pool, a fashionable bar across town, and the asylum where Frank grew up. The first hurdle was determining why these characters were crossing paths, as they had to appear on their sets. “We can’t just film them at Paddy’s,” Werner explains. The winning idea emerged, with the Sunny Gang being compelled to leave their bar for court-ordered community service at Abbott. Werner notes that pitching this storyline to the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia team was not a significant issue as long as the actors were comfortable with their characters continuing to portray criminal behavior.

‘There was a lot of dread’

After receiving the necessary legal approval, the team started crafting the “Volunteers” episode beyond its initial volunteer concept. Given Sunny’s extensive history and character development, a seasoned writer was required for this task, so Werner took over from Joya McCrory, the original writer. Besides handling the numerous practical hurdles, Werner had to conquer his apprehension that the fusion of two series with distinct tones could turn into a notorious disappointment, similar to The Office’s “Scott’s Tots” episode. Additionally, contracts for the writers involved in “Volunteers” needed to be settled with FX due to the potential impact this episode would have on Sunny’s subsequent installment.

Following the decision by the Abbott writers to make their episode centered solely around the Sunny Gang instead of just cameos, the show’s casting team faced the challenge of verifying if all five main cast members of Sunny could appear on Abbott. This determination would significantly influence the extent of their roles in the script. Olson and Howerton were engrossed in other series (ABC’s High Potential and Netflix’s upcoming Sirens, respectively), which restricted their accessibility, and there was a delay in confirming DeVito’s participation. “Rob would say, ‘I spoke to him, he’s in.’ But then we go through formal channels, and our casting people respond, ‘We haven’t spoken to him. We can’t reach him, and his representatives are telling us he can’t do this.’ And we’re like, ‘What?'” Halpern recalls with a laugh. “There was a lot of apprehension, as there was a high probability that it might fall apart just a week before we start filming,” adds Werner.

While anticipating the arrival of actors for “Sunny,” the “Abbott” writers’ room divided, with some working on “Volunteers” and others starting the next season’s episode. On August 8, just before the “Sunny” writers’ room started work for season 17, McElhenney and Day (Day joining virtually due to COVID) met with Brunson and the “Abbott” writers, proposing two ideas: one involving Mac becoming attached to principal Ava Coleman (Janelle James) to fulfill his desire for power proximity, and another utilizing Charlie’s functional illiteracy as a plot point. Day’s idea, reminiscent of “Billy Madison,” was adopted as the main storyline, with Charlie progressing through the school grades until kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph) decides to teach him how to read. Halpern notes that this provided “Volunteers” with a “real emotional foundation.

The writers for Abbott focused on preserving the unique personalities and even quirks of the characters from Sunny, while advancing some of the season-long storylines featured in Abbott, such as the evolution of Gregory (Tyler James Williams) and Janine’s (Brunson) relationship, which faces challenges due to Dee’s intrusive behavior. To accommodate Howerton’s busy schedule, emphasis was placed on Dennis’s well-known apprehension towards cameras, a trait extensively depicted in the season 12 true-crime parody “Making Dennis Reynolds a Murderer.” (Schumacker notes that there was an alternative script version without Howerton’s character, serving as a backup plan. “Did he get trapped in Mr. Johnson’s closet or something?” Schumacker jokes.) The writers found it fitting to pair Frank with Abbott‘s unpredictable character, Mr. Johnson. Similarly, placing Gregory between the two seemed logical. The idea of locking Frank in a cage filled with urine-soaked animal pelts originated from Brunson’s early suggestion, who had a distinct vision for the scene. “Quinta kept talking about a visual she had,” Werner explains. “It was of Frank urinating into the garden.” When I saw Brunson later, I said, ‘We end up with Danny DeVito in a cage eating dirt, covered in piss pelts.’ And she responded, ‘If we’ve got Danny DeVitto, we should use him.’

As a devoted cinephile, here’s my take:

In the span of a single month, our dedicated team behind “Volunteers” managed to iron out all the intricate storylines for the Gang. Although the brilliant minds at “Abbott” pleaded for an extended runtime for our epic crossover event, unfortunately, ABC could only grant us a mere 15 seconds. That’s right, just 15 seconds! Werner shared this news with a sigh, as the episode clocks in at a modest 21 minutes and 47 seconds. On September 18, I submitted our script to the “Sunny” team, who had some minor tweaks to dialogue to align with their own unfolding narrative. I was initially anxious about how they would respond to our offering, but when I heard them, I couldn’t help but laugh – they truly captured the essence of our characters’ voices! It was my concern, though, that they might balk at our script; after all, we were putting ourselves out there for their scrutiny.

‘We’re asking you to lay down in dirt and pretend to eat mulch while you’re covered in piss-coated things’

On September 30th, the filming for “Volunteers” commenced for an extended period of six days (a day more than the usual five per episode) on the sets of “Abbott” at Warner Bros. studio lot. The production started with just the regular crew initially, before the cast from “Sunny” joined along with Randall Einhorn, the executive producer and frequent director for “Abbott” who has also directed 14 early episodes of “Sunny”, and Jeff Gonzalez, the script supervisor who had been serving in that role on FX’s “Sunny” for 11 years prior to joining “Abbott” in 2022. These two individuals made the “Sunny” team feel like they were working on their own show, but with a fresh batch of exceptionally talented people, according to Day.

Werner had significant apprehension regarding the filming of a winter-themed episode during sweltering September weather. He expresses his anxiety by saying, “It was around 90 degrees, and this was our first encounter with Danny DeVito. We were thinking, ‘We’re asking you to lie in dirt and pretend to consume mulch while covered in filthy items,'” Werner explains. “I had been quite anxious about that. But he arrived on set, immediately lay down on the ground, and exclaimed, ‘Let’s get started!'” This positive attitude soon spread throughout production, leading to the creation of the series’ largest practical effect yet – the collapsing school scoreboard (as Halpern puts it, “our equivalent to Tom Cruise jumping a motorcycle off a cliff”) – and numerous improvised moments that Schumacker hopes will be included in a future outtake collection.

In this rephrased version, Werner filled the episode with numerous quirky moments from Sunny, which also served as humorous non sequiturs for Abbott viewers who weren’t familiar with their importance in the series: Charlie talking about his desire for “milk steak”; Janine using the derogatory term “bird” towards Dee; Frank ending up being locked in a cage designed for raccoons, similar to how he once got stuck in a playground slide. The heart of the episode, however, revolves around the relationship between Barbara and Charlie, who is celebrated at a Move Up Day assembly that resembles his “Rudy” moment, complete with “Pomp and Circumstance” playing as background noise. As Halpern describes it, this is a signature moment in Abbott: The children who previously helped Charlie learn to read cheer for him when he reaches the stage. According to Day, being around these kids adds a sense of reality because only one or two of them aspire to be actors; most are just kids. Overall, everything felt very authentic.

Day hasn’t specified when the crossover episode featuring Sunny will air, but he stresses that it is an uncensored, R-rated version of their show, pushing boundaries not just for their characters, but for those in Sunny as well. They were able to explore new territories with these characters that they can’t on ABC. This episode was filmed on the Abbott sets, includes talking-head segments, and will shed light on what Dennis was doing behind the scenes during “Volunteers.” However, it remains undecided how much of Charlie’s reading ability from “Volunteers” will stick. His final scene shows him reading the word “guest” as “ghost.” According to Schumacker, the decision about how much Charlie remembers lies with the creators of Sunny. They won’t be interfering with their storyline or mythology in any way.

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2025-01-09 16:54