It's been almost a couple of weeks since the iconic Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossover episode. And honestly, we're still thinking about it, and rewatching the special as well. While it had so many amazing moments and we have almost no complaints, one little disappointment is the absence of Dennis.
If you feel that way too, we have some good news! The first is that there was a very good reason for his character to have been written this way, and things aren't just going to stay open-ended like that. We're going to get some answers as to why Dennis was so elusive in the crossover episode.
Let's start with the why of it all. In speaking with Entertainment Weekly, executive producer Patrick Schumacker shared that the reason Dennis' scenes were so limited is due to the fact that the show didn't have a lot of time to film with actor Glenn Howerton. Because he's a series regular and is filming his upcoming Netflix series Sirens, there wasn't a lot of time with him on the set of Abbott Elementary season 4. Here's what the EP had to say:
"He flew in specifically to work on [the crossover] and had to fly back. We had him for half a day, so we had to build that in. That was one of those ones where we didn't know if we had him, and so, we had to stay a little bit nimble as far as breaking the story. But he's very heavy in their episode."
Look, we love that the cast of Sunny is getting the chance to do other roles and expand their careers. We're so happy for them, and this is very understandable. I'm so glad Howerton and his character Dennis were able to make it into the episode, even if it was just for a little bit. It's better than not having him at all. That would have been truly disappointing.
Now comes the second part of the good news! As Schumacker teases above, Dennis will be heavily featured in Part 2 of the Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 crossover episode. It's likely (but not confirmed) the new season will be out on FX sometime in spring/summer 2025. Fingers crossed!
Creator and Mac actor Rob McElhenney also told the LA Times that when we see the Sunny episode, we'll know why Dennis' part was written that way in the story. And Abbott's Quinta Brunson added that "Dennis is the key." Ooh! The key to what?
It's hard to know what we might expect in the second crossover since the ABC sitcom's version of the tale came to a satisfying end with no major cliffhangers. But I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store. And I'm so happy that we'll at least get a good dose of Dennis and an explanation of what was going on off camera in It's Always Sunny season 17!
Stream both Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Hulu.