Per IndieWire, Mr. Johnson from Abbott Elementary and Frank from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia were in supposed love triangle, and the writers were poised to show their backstory in the crossover. However, the plot line was cut due to time restraints. The news was revealed in an Entertainment Weekly interview with Abbott Elementary producers Patrick Schumaker (Harley Quinn, Kite Man: Hell Yeah!) and Justin Halpern (The End of the World As We Know It, Surviving Jack).
“We did at one point have a whole backstory between Frank and Mr. Johnson that they did know each other. It was that they went to high school together,” Schumaker stated in the interview. “They dated the same woman who was a canonical character in ‘Sunny,’ this character Shadynasty. That ended up falling away just as a function of, ‘Hey, we can’t tell that story. Maybe let’s save it for another time.’ 21 and a half minutes is not a lot of time to tell a story.”
IndieWire summarized that the love triangle stems from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia season seven, episode five, titled “Frank’s Brother,” where Frank and his brother both fall for the character Shadynasty at different stages in their lives after opening their own jazz club, leading to a love square. However, Schumacher and Halpern made the wise decision to give the characters the plotline they had for the first episode that aired Wednesday on ABC and the upcoming one.
When asked how It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia will continue after the crossover, Halpern stated, “Their episode is what’s happening in between our episodes in the scenes that we’re not showing. You’re seeing what they’re doing. It’s really clever the way that they piece together their episode. It’s really ambitious.” He added that there would be gaps filled and that the question of what Dennis does behind the camera would be answered.
According to IndieWire, Schumaker and Halpern have no plans for crossover episodes in the future. However, Halpern concluded the interview by saying, “Maybe Ava will go on location at the White Lotus,” hinting to the public that they are brainstorming new ideas.