Charlie Day Talks ‘It’s Always Sunny’ Season 17 Crossovers, Show’s Future

In Abbott Elementary’s season 4 crossover episode with It’s At all times Sunny in Philadelphia, the group of West Philly lecturers had been all-too comfortable to have assist dealing with their each day workload when Ava (Janelle James) introduced she’d established a brand new group volunteer program. That’s till the FX sitcom’s gang of South Philly misfits arrived on faculty grounds and their true colours — and intentions of fulfilling a group service obligation — started to indicate.

In It’s At all times Sunny’s season 17 return, which premiered with two episodes on Wednesday evening, audiences acquired to witness volunteer day from the R-rated perspective of the Paddy’s Pub crew within the second and ultimate of the sitcoms’ two crossover episodes.  

“Ideally, we might have aired them back-to-back, however given our construction and the way a lot of our season we nonetheless needed to shoot, there was simply no approach to try this,” Charlie Day, who portrays Charlie Kelly, co-owner and janitor of Paddy’s Pub, on the sequence, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “As a result of their episode was the final time you noticed our characters, we thought: Let’s simply leap proper in with our model of it.”

However Abbott Elementary isn’t the one ABC sequence the darkish comedy, which debuted in 2005 and stands because the longest-running live-action sitcom in U.S. TV historical past, will crossover with this season. In season 17’s episode eight finale, Danny DeVito’s Frank Reynolds will discover himself within the sneakers of The Golden Bachelor, taking an unsurprisingly unconventional and feral method to discovering love, or maybe only a lay, within the present’s tackle the fact TV courting competitors.

Beneath, Day chats with THR about approaching the most recent writers room as if it may be his final, the opposite TV exhibits the sequence will give a nod to this season and whether or not It’s At all times Sunny’s comedy has aged properly over the previous 20 years: “It might fairly presumably be the top,” he says, trying past the already renewed season 18.

***

Abbott star Chris Perfetti known as Sunny’s season 17 premiere the “R-rated model” of what occurred the day the gang got here to Abbott Elementary. How did you all determine on the idea of displaying how issues went down from the angle of the Sunny facet?

I’d by no means had a doubt in my thoughts that having them on our present might be humorous. It’s more durable going from a present you may have whole management over to leaping into another person’s present and saying, “How will this work?” I feel one of many causes we began to really feel as if it might work was that we stated, nearly it doesn’t matter what we do on their episode, we now have a possibility to color that very same episode by way of an It’s At all times Sunny in Philadelphia lens and justify our characters behaving within the rather more PG approach they need to behave to be on ABC. That began to get us a little bit giddy and excited, that we might do the identical story by way of a special lens. Sure, all this stuff occurred, however right here’s what else was happening that day that had rather more of a rated R, It’s At all times Sunny tone.

You beforehand advised THR you’re “fairly treasured” about your characters. How did Quinta Brunson react to dirtying up her Abbott characters a bit, notably Janine?

I bear in mind writing that joke the place she makes use of the [c-word] expletive and sending over the script, and that was kind of the second of reality the place in the event that they got here again and stated, “Hey, I actually don’t wish to do that,” we knew we may be in a little bit little bit of bother. However there was zero pushback. Look, they’re all very well-rounded performers and there’s sure stuff you simply can’t get away with on community tv, so I’m certain it was enjoyable for them to get outdoors of the standards-and-practice field that you just get caught in while you’re doing a present like that.

I additionally puzzled whether or not Danny DeVito already knew the lyrics to Boyz II Males’s “I’ll Make Like to You” earlier than you filmed the episode, or did he need to be taught them?

(Laughs) I’m certain he needed to be taught it, however he’s most likely recognized it and forgotten it and recognized it and forgotten it. I feel we’ve perhaps referenced that very same tune on our present earlier than. I neglect. We definitely have performed Boys II Males jokes, however I feel perhaps he needed to be taught that on the day.

Did the success of the primary Abbott crossover episode open you as much as the thought of doing extra like we’ll see with the extra Golden Bachelor crossover this season?

That had popped up within the writers room within the first week. We kind of throw concepts up on the board and Rob [Mac, series creator] preferred the thought of Danny on The Golden Bachelor. In order that card went on the board after which we knew Abbott Elementary wanted a dedication from us shortly. They had been capturing and we weren’t certain if it made sense to do two crossovers in the identical season, particularly contemplating there’s another episodes too that reference pop-culture tv, however Rob was very enthusiastic about desirous to do The Golden Bachelor. As soon as [co-star] Glenn [Howerton] and I acquired on board, we simply stated, “Okay, all the pieces goes in.” Nevertheless it was not our intent after we went into the room this season to take action many crossover episodes. It simply kind of occurred within the room that we had all these completely different concepts, and we simply determined to do all of them.

What are a number of the different pop-culture TV moments you’ll reference?

There’s a little bit reference to Succession and we give a little bit wink to The Bear. Is It Cake? will get talked about at one level, there’s lots of overlaps. However Abbott Elementary and Golden Bachelor had been the one two exhibits that we had been doing instantly within the type of one other tv present.

Final chat you stated you didn’t know what number of extra seasons of Sunny there may be. Did that change the way you approached penning this season in any respect? Did you consider this as kind of a finale season in that sense?

I did. I imply, I knew that there was a proposal for a season 18 as properly, and I knew that all of us had mentioned almost certainly desirous to do it, however I personally went into the writers room final yr as if it was my final likelihood to be within the writers room. Happily, I feel we’re lining up everyone and we’re going to return again for season 18. Past season 18, I don’t know, it might fairly presumably be the top. However I feel there was one thing about penning this season and having David and John Cherin again within the writers room, and having Rob Rosell and David Hornsby and a little bit little bit of a number of the previous gang again, after which having a few of these episodes work so properly was thrilling in a approach that reinvigorated everyone. So we’ll see how lengthy we are able to maintain it going. However one season at a time.

The New York Times printed an important piece this week capturing It’s At all times Sunny’s legacy. To what do you contribute the present’s capacity to climate a lot trade change over the previous 20 years?

You possibly can’t rule out good old style luck, a little bit little bit of simply the proper place at good time. I feel lots of it has to do with the truth that everybody who works at FX now was working at FX after we started, so we by no means suffered a significant regime change. Typically when somebody takes over a community or studio, they like to scrub home. They might say, “Oh, properly, At all times Sunny was a John Landgraf present and I don’t wish to have his legacy,” so egos get in the way in which of it loads. Rob and Glenn and I’ve stored our personal egos in examine with each other, so we haven’t flamed out both. After which lastly, and most significantly, the followers are nonetheless there. With out followers, that’ll finish the present quick. So I feel the truth that everybody nonetheless has the fervour to do it after which offers it their all after we do get to work and that the followers are nonetheless there for it, these are the defining elements in why we’ve lasted this lengthy.

Not too long ago on social media, individuals had been sharing the brand new messaging that comes up earlier than watching Rush Hour that’s a little bit of a disclaimer about how a number of the jokes written on the time it got here out in 1998 may be offensive to individuals as we speak. With Sunny being on the air for 20 years now, do you are feeling its comedy has aged properly?

I feel for probably the most half it has aged very well. From the start, we all the time got down to make a present that was satirizing dangerous individuals behaving badly. And when your intention is to focus on the dangerous conduct and touch upon it, which is to say, “Hey, that is incorrect,” that’s kind of an evergreen message. When it comes to a disclaimer earlier than an episode, I’m neither for or in opposition to it. I feel that’s higher than simply eliminating, say, Rush Hour. Let individuals make up their very own minds. And by the way in which, we’ve all the time had a disclaimer earlier than our episodes. It’s all the time stated, “Hey, that is TV MA or X or no matter, and look out, be careful.” However the factor that actually mystifies me in our tradition is how utterly accepting we’re of utmost violence in our content material. Folks getting shot and killed and murdered in horrific methods, however a few dirtier little naughty jokes appear to essentially throw individuals for a loop.

Emmy nominations will probably be introduced subsequent week. The It’s At all times Sunny forged introduced on the ceremony final yr and quipped about by no means being nominated within the main classes. Does that sting a bit? Do you continue to maintain out hope?

No, at this level, 20 years in, you don’t maintain out hope. It’s like nonetheless hoping you’re going to get invited to the promenade while you’ve been out of highschool for 40 years. It’s most likely not going to occur. That being stated, if it did occur, I’d get a pleasant go well with and go.

***

It’s At all times Sunny in Philadelphia airs new episodes Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on FXX, streaming subsequent day on Hulu.