‘Abbott Elementary’s Tyler James Williams Teases Crossover Is So Funny ‘It Should Be Illegal’

Meaghan Darwish October 8, 2024, 11:33 am

Tyler James Williams, Charlie Day, and William Stanford Davis behind the scenes of 'Abbott Elementary' Season 4 — Rob McElhenney via X

Abbott Elementary‘s highly-anticipated crossover was recently revealed as the stars of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia dropped into the set, and the process is ongoing, according to star Tyler James Williams.

“Well, they’re still here… we’re still shooting that episode,” Williams tells TV Insider. “We’re in the midst of it right now and it’s uncanny how well it works,” he adds. As fans of both comedies may have deduced Abbott Elementary and FXX‘s long-running It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia are quite different tone-wise as one follows the faculty of an elementary school and the other follows the gang in charge of dive bar Paddy’s Pub.

William Stanford Davis as Mr. Johnson, Janelle James as Ava Coleman, Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues, Tyler James Williams as Gregory Eddie, Chris Perfetti as Jacob Hill, Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard, and Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti for 'Abbott Elementary'

Disney/Pamela Littky

“I know most people [think] these are two totally different shows, and they are, but there’s something about two casts that have worked together for so long,” Williams continues. While he notes that the Sunny team is “at the top of their game still” he also believes that the Abbott crew is “still peaking.”

“[We’ve] come together and can just find that comedic language together,” Williams marvels. “It’s really crazy how well the pairings work… There’s some really interesting ones here. And that’s what’s been really fun. ” While he wouldn’t elaborate on the pairings, Williams’ sentiment was enough to excite fans as they look forward to Season 4 of ABC‘s Emmy-winning comedy.

Of working with the Sunny team, Williams notes, “They’ve been nothing but warm and collaborative and funny as hell. It’s one of those episodes that it feels like it should be illegal to be able to be this funny. We already average a joke [every] three seconds or something like that. This is just going up that count even more.”

'Abbott Elementary' Meets 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' as Stars Tease Crossover

As for what fans might be able to expect, the only tease Williams would offer is, “I’ll say this, the worlds exist in the same universe. And there’s definitely people in Abbott who have seen and possibly been to their bar.”

Whether or not that means Abbott could crossover into Sunny remains to be seen. Until then, we’ll be eagerly awaiting this sure-to-be-epic crossover event!

Abbott Elementary, Season 4 Premiere, Wednesday, October 9, 9:30/8:30c, ABC