‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Season 17 Sets July Premiere Date With ‘Abbott’ Crossover

At long last, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” has set its Season 17 premiere date. The gang will return on FXX on July 9 at 9 p.m. ET/PT with two new episodes. Episodes will be available to stream the next day on Hulu and will be coming to Disney+ internationally.

Season 17 will include the highly-anticipated second half of the “Abbott Elementary” crossover. The gang first appeared in Quinta Brunson’s sweet and light-hearted ABC comedy back in January. The crux of that episode centered around Mac (Rob McElhenney), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Charlie (Charlie Day), Dee (Kaitlin Olson) and Frank (Danny DeVito) “volunteering” at Abbott, aka completing their court-ordered community service requirements. This half of the crossover promises to be a lot less wholesome. Series creator and star McElhenney previously assured TheWrap that audiences will finally learn what Dennis was doing behind those cameras. Also — to the surprise of absolute no “Always Sunny” fan — the gang spent their time in an elementary school secretly trying to form a boy band.

Check out the first look at this episode below:

This season will include the story “The Gang Embraces The Corporate Era,” which will focus on “how greed and the New American Dream have consumed Paddy’s Pub,” a press release for the season reads. After 17 seasons, the gang decides to ditch their “niche” label. “They’ll exploit cross-network promotion to increase market share; they’ll scapegoat one of their own to avoid a PR backlash; they’ll risk everything for a handshake with the Saudis; they’ll bend the laws with side hustles to pad their pockets; and they’ll change everything about themselves to appeal to a broader audience,” the press release reads.

This isn’t the first time “Always Sunny” has poked fun at its own niche place in pop culture. Season 9’s “The Gang Desperately Tries to Win an Award” did the same thing, serving as a transparent allegory for how the comedy is routinely overlooked when it comes to Emmys consideration. Back in 2013, the comedy failed to shed the criticism of just being a bunch of people yelling to actually become mainstream. Chances are high they’re going to fail again. But whether or not they succeed, it’s going to be funny.

Ahead of its 20th anniversary, “It’s Always Sunny” remains the longest-running live-action comedy series in television history. Season 17 is executive produced by McElhenney, Day, Howerton, Michael Rotenberg, Nick Frenkel, Dave Chernin, John Chernin, Rob Rosell, David Hornsby, Nina Pedrad and Victor Hsu. The series is produced by FX Productions.

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