<p>-
- 'It's Always Sunny' Stars on Getting 'Abbott Elementary' Actors to Cuss — Including the 'C-Word'! — in Their Season 17 Premiere</p>
<p>Michael SchneiderJuly 9, 2025 at 9:33 PM</p>
<p>"Abbott Elementary" fans, you've never seen sweet and innocent school teacher Janine Teagues like this. But on Wednesday's Season 17 premiere of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," Janine — and much of the rest of the show's cast, whose language is normally limited by ABC standards and practices — gets raw.</p>
<p>The "Sunny" episode — "The Gang F***s Up Abbott Elementary" — repped the second half of the comedy exchange program that started earlier this season when that show's characters (a.k.a. "The Gang") showed up on an episode of "Abbott Elementary" under the guise of court-mandated community service. Now, in the turnabout "Sunny" episode, we got to see what the Gang actually was up to — and hear the true feelings of the "Abbott" faculty.</p>
<p>More from Variety</p>
<p>Quinta Brunson 'Looking Forward' to Moving on From 'Abbott Elementary' Role and Acting 'Against Type': 'I Have Cast Members Who Would Love to Pursue Other Projects'</p>
<p>Rob McElhenney Files to Legally Change His Name to 'Rob Mac' and Jokingly Admits It's 'Kind of Douchey'</p>
<p>'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' Season 17 Trailer Teases 'Abbott Elementary,' 'Golden Bachelor' Crossovers</p>
<p>This "Sunny" episode was structured much like an "Abbott" episode, utlizing that show's mockumentary format. But just a few minutes in, viewers were clued in that this was most certainly an episode of "Sunny," and not "Abbott" — when Janine (Quinta Brunson) and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) were seen speaking to the camera.</p>
<p>RELATED: Inside the 'Abbott Elementary' and 'It's Always Sunny' Crossover: Easter Eggs, Character Pairings and Unleashing Five Sociopaths on the School</p>
<p>Janine, who had initially bonded with Sweet Dee (Kailtin Olson) over their shared experience as Penn alums, soon grew suspicious when Dee was clearly making moves on Gregory.</p>
<p>"I mean, I liked Dee at first, but then things got awkward when she tried to steal you," Janine says to Gregory and the camera. "Safe to say I liked her less after that. But it wasn't until I saw the extra footage that I was able to realize just how much of a … sh… I need to say a bad word. How much of a total fucking cunt she was."</p>
<p>Boom. Responds a shocked Gregory: "I-I thought you was gonna call her a bitch."</p>
<p>It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia!</p>
<p>"I remember writing that joke and being like, 'I don't know if she's going to go for this,'" "Sunny" exec producer and star Charlie Day told Variety. "When we sent it over, honestly, it was sort of the perfect test as to whether or not it was going to work. I think in order for the crossover to truly work, we needed them to play in the same sandbox that we play in and willing and so game to do it. And don't forget, Quinta had a long career in comedy well before. It was great!"</p>
<p>Fellow exec producer and star Glenn Howerton said he could tell the "Abbott" stars had a blast with "getting a chance to break free of the confines of a network show. Regardless of how smart and funny that show is, you know that they're restricted from what they're able to get away with. Just as we were excited to enter into their world and see how these characters would fit, I think they were just as excited to jump into our world."</p>
<p>Day noted that it also gave an extra realism to how the "Abbott" cast would likely speak to each other if the show wasn't on broadcast. "I think 99.9% of adult human beings probably cuss or swear from time to time," he said. "The fact that their cast can't do it, due to the restrictions of ABC, it's nice to see them behave in a way that you're sure that they do, but you know, by the rules of television that they cannot."</p>
<p>The "Abbott" and "Sunny" episodes were shot back-to-back on the "Abbott" set (along with a coda over at Paddy's Bar on the "Sunny" stage). The decision to keep the same "Abbott" mockumentary structure on the "Sunny" episode came out of that — but also the idea that it would be fun to give a TV-MA version of the TV-PG antics that viewers had seen on "Abbott."</p>
<p>"We thought, well, we hate to just sort of accept this as the reality of what happens," Day said. "So we were able to use our episode as as an alternate, as looking through their episode through an alternate lens of saying yes, all those things you saw happen, but here's what the Gang was really up to while you were watching those things.</p>
<p>"It was interesting writing in their style because of the talking to camera and the talking head structure," Day added. "In some ways, it was quicker for us to write because those talking heads gobble up so much page count. There's been so much television done in that way, and we saw the real benefits. It's a joy to write that sort of style."</p>
<p>In the "Sunny" episode, Dee, Rob (Rob Mac), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Charlie (Day) and Frank (Danny DeVito) spend much of their time at Abbott looking for their next hustle — and that frequently includes inappropriate schemes involving the school's students. Among their ideas: Stealing some of the taller kids to play basketball for St. Joe's; indoctrinating them with the "truth" about 9/11; and recruiting some of the students to form a boy band. Then there was the idea to re-create "We Didn't Start the Fire" with modern lyrics — only to discover that Fall Out Boy had already done it.</p>
<p>"We sort of struggled for a while in terms of actually figuring out what the Gang was up to and how it would matter their episode, so that you would at least buy that these things were happening at the same time," Day said. "Eventually, I think we landed our favorites of all the things that we were trying to develop, and then squeezed them all in there. The boy band thing just felt quite natural. We thought it was really funny that these people were sort of ping ponging from one idea to the next."</p>
<p>Added Howerton: "One of the things I love so much about the show is this eternal optimism. I guess you could describe them as cynical characters, but lthey're constantly filled with these wonderful ideas. Recruiting these kids and turning them into a boy band. Recruiting a kid to play for a St Joe's prep basketball game. They;re very motivated characters. They're just putting their energy in the wrong places."</p>
<p>And don't worry, Charlie may have learned to read during the "Abbott Elementary" episode, but it won't be for long. "We're not really interested in any actual growth on our show," Day said. "So I think it's fun and cute that he learned to read in the 'Abbott' episode, and it's fitting in the 'Sunny' world that he quickly forgets."</p>
<p>Some photos from the Season 17 premiere of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia":</p>
<p>Best of Variety</p>
<p>Oscars 2026: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Wagner Moura and More Among Early Contenders to Watch</p>
<p>New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week</p>
<p>'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?</p>
<p>Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.</p>
<a href="https://ift.tt/3XlO5aW" class="dirlink-1">Orign Aricle on Source</a>
Source: AOL Entertainment
Source: AsherMag
Read More >> Full Article on Source: Astro Blog
#US #ShowBiz #Sports #Politics #Celebs