Abbott Elementary is my favorite comedy on TV right now, particularly because it’s one of the rare truly funny (and fresh) half-hour shows that’s on the air presently. It’s actually ABC’s only comedy on its fall lineup this upcoming season, if you can believe it. (RIP sitcoms?!) As we await the fourth season of Quinta Brunson’s acclaimed series, the creator/star of Abbott , alongside her co-stars, attended her first San Diego Comic-Con, and teased teased a development for Season 4 that's practically embedded in the DNA of the sitcom genre: a crossover. And I've formulated some theories.
Those have happened so many times before, and it’s always a fun time for TV fans. I think about Fox’s New Girl/Brooklyn Nine-Nine crossover, Family Matters and Full House linking up (also under ABC) or even The Jeffersons and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air crossing over twice. So what’s coming for Abbott? Let’s talk about the possibilities.
What Quinta Brunson Said About The Abbott Elementary Crossover At Comic-Con
While I attended the Abbott Elementary panel at SDCC on Saturday, the entire main cast of the hit ABC series reunited following the series earning nominations from the 76th Emmys for a victory lap of sorts. During the panel, Quinta Brunson largely remained rather mum on the new season, but she did share the aforementioned exciting bit of information. Here’s what she said about the crossover exactly:
We will be doing an interesting crossover this season. Some people [in the cast know], but I’m not going to tell you with who or what, or where or when or how. So be excited, and I think it will change TV as we know it.
Now, when Quinta Brunson says “change TV as we know it,” you have to remember that this is... well, Quinta Brunson. So there was a bit of a deadpan delivery there, of course. Plus, here’s what else she said just as the crowd’s ears perked up over the tease:
Everyone’s hyping up the tease too much, it’s very… lower your expectations.
That being said, the crossover news was the biggest and only breaking news of the panel, so it has to be pretty significant if she bothered to mention it at all. What other show could be involved in that crossover? I mean, Brunson may be joking, but she is indeed changing television, in my opinion. So let's talk this out.
Our Best Guess For Abbott Elementary’s Crossover Episode
Here at CinemaBlend, a lot of us are big fans of Abbott Elementary, so I put our best minds on the case, and we have a lot of wild guesses. But, first, I want to talk about perhaps the best and most logical option. What if Abbott Elementary crossed over with fellow Philly production It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia? If you don’t think it’s possible, let me remind you that the long-running comedy is an original offering from FX, which Disney also owns… which also owns ABC. So the networks could definitely collide, technically!
Funny enough, just a few months ago when a Willy Wonka immersive experience went viral… and very wrong, It’s Always Sunny’s co-creator, Rob McElhenney, took to Twitter to point out that the whole ordeal felt like a crossover between Sunny and Abbott. Brunson saw the tweet and in an Instagram story, went on to say “just say the word” to McElhenney, as she loves the show. So, hey, maybe they connected after that social media link-up and are making the crossover a reality! It makes the most sense geographically and would be a super hilarious episode. It would be a rather mind-blowing TV moment, especially considering that both shows are quite different in tone.
Our Wild Theories For Abbott Elementary’s Crossover
I know what you’re thinking. Give us the wild theories. Alright, I have them. If we’re staying in the realm of ABC shows, we can imagine Principal Ava going on an episode of Shark Tank to pitch some wild ideas to the panel of business typhoons. Or what about one of the cast members being cast on an episode of The Bachelor? It'd also be funny if Abbott Elementary somehow crossed over with ABC’s long-running medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy, but that would take them all the way to Seattle Grace, which feels off brand.
Abbott Elementary: A Timeline Of Janine And Gregory's Relationship
Another thought that crossed our mind is a crossover with an animated series. This feels especially possible, given that during the SDCC panel, Quinta Brunson shared that Abbott was “almost a cartoon while it was in the early stages of development. Some fun Disney-owned series we thought of are Bluey or the returning Phineas and Ferb, since both of those shows are also age-appropriate for Elementary school kids. Abbott's cast of characters could also take a trip to Disney World, or there could be an episode that's crafted like a Walt Disney Animated series. b+But that’s rather on the nose, isn’t it? An Abbott mash-up with The Simpsons also feels like a slam dunk.
What about Abbott actually creating a throwback reunion with a former series for its crossover? Maybe the show could call back to one of the best sitcoms of all time. I’m not sure what that would be, but it would be wild if The Office or Parks and Recreation characters appeared on Quinta Brunson's show. That's, of course, a long shot since the shows are owned by NBC Universal, but we can dream, right?
The last idea to throw out is a crossover with The Bear, which is a Hulu series (also Disney-owned) and shares a couple of connections with Abbott. For one, the two series have been neck-and-neck during TV awards seasons, and are regarded as some of the best shows on right now. The second link involves actress Ayo Edebiri, who's been part of both shows. She's a lead actress on the restaurant dramedy and played Janine Teague’s sister on the school-centric mockumentary series. Perhaps if the faculty of Abbott can take a trip to Chicago for an episode?
A lot of these are very far-fetched, but it's exciting to think about what's being planned crossover-wise for Abbott Elementary’s fourth season. We'll find out at some point after the series returns to ABC on October 9 amid the 2024 TV schedule. In the meantime, those who need to catch up on the show can do just that by streaming episodes with a Disney+ subscription.
