Like the best TV crossovers, “Volunteers” has a way of highlighting each program’s strengths while still maintaining the tone and formatting of the host show. In the case of this crossover, that means the visiting characters from Paddy’s Pub on IASIP have their rough edges slightly sanded down for a fruitful, yet mostly family-friendly trip to Willard R. Abbott Elementary School. The arrival of Mac (Rob McElhenney), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Charlie (Charlie Day), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), and Frank (Danny DeVito) also gives the characters of Abbott Elementary to expand their comedic horizons a bit.
Mr. Johnson (William Stanford) matter-of-factly stating that his school is named after an old racist isn’t unusual for the tone of the show. What is, however, is the old racist receiving the news responding with no trace of discomfort. Janine (Brunson) must level her game up immensely when Dee expresses a romantic interest in Gregory, completely unconcerned by his relationship status. Watching the diminutive Janine go toe-to-toe with the statuesque (or ostrich-esque) Dee is a real delight. Similarly, Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) gets off an honest-to-goodness ass-eating joke. She goes on to clarify that she is a bear in this scenario and will be eating the rest of Goldilocks too but what a moment for ABC’s censors.
WHEN I TELL YOU IM FUCKIN SCRREEEEEAMING😭😂💀Melissa an eater🤭#AbbottElementary
pic.twitter.com/g0snK5lJ0P— Will👁️🅰️Ⓜ️ (@atb__william) January 9, 2025
Of course, this being an actual episode of Abbott Elementary, “Volunteers” is more about incorporating the Sunny crowd into the school’s cheerful orbit. This is easier said than done. Frank Reynolds, God bless him, eats dirt, gets trapped in a raccoon cage, and sleeps under a piss-soaked blanket. The show also doesn’t even make an attempt to humanize Dennis, with the five-star man announcing that he knows “quite a bit about filming and consent” and ducking away from the cameras. While Dennis’ absence is largely due to Howerton’s limited availability as he’s filming the Netflix series Sirens, it’s also probably for the best. Of all the Sunny characters’ neuroses, Dennis’ serial killer vibes would be the hardest to introduce into network television.
Thankfully, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia features a character who has truly belonged on Abbott Elementary this whole time. Charlie Kelly’s transparent illiteracy has long been one of IASIP‘s funniest running jokes. While all of the show’s players are ignorant and undereducated to differing extents, poor Charlie never quite got the hang of reading. He was always more interested in topics like milk steaks, bird law, and little green ghouls than books. His inability to sound out words always livens up a scene. (Note that in the first clip of the following video Charlie is wearing the very same jacket he eventually wears on Abbott Elementary.)
Charlie’s illiteracy has grown both funnier and sadder as the show has gone along. While the characters were all 20-somethings when It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia began, four of the five actors in the main cast are now pushing 50 years old while the ageless and sprightly DeVito hit 80 last year. A 47-year-old janitor who can’t read offers up a a far different comedic dynamic than a 25-year-old janitor who can’t read.
Like it often is, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was accidentally on the cutting edge with this silly joke about one of its characters. The United States is currently in the midst of an adult literacy crisis. According to a National Center of Education Statistics study, one-in-five American adults were found to be functionally illiterate while more than half of American adults read at below a sixth grade level. Given the talent and social awareness of Abbott Elementary‘s writing staff, it was only a matter of time before the show opted to address the literacy crisis. How lucky were they then to suddenly gain access to one of television’s most beloved illiterate characters!
