Another Sunny Summer

As previously reported, Season 17 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia wrapped production on December 4, 2024. They filmed for 50 days, which was the same amount of time they filmed for Season 16. With that aligned, it didn't seem like too big of a jump to assume that Season 17 post-production would also follow a similar timeline, and as Season 16 premiered three months after wrapping filming, it seemed logical to assume Season 17 would air some time in March, looking at a Spring 2025 premiere... 

Well, that idea is now officially off the table, as Rob McElhenney announced on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Wednesday, January 29, that the Always Sunny episode of the Abbott x Sunny crossover would air in June:

In a subsequent interview with TheWrap, Rob also shared that the crossover episode would be their premiere episode. This means Sunny is, without a doubt, premiering in June of 2025, exactly two years since Season 16 premiered. 

This isn't the longest gap we've had between seasons (Season 14 and 15 had two years and three months between their premieres), but it is the longest span of time Sunny has ever spent between wrapping filming and airing: over six months. (Seasons 15 and 16, which were both eight episodes like 17 will be, aired roughly three months after wrapping filming.) 

So it's interesting, then, that Rob also mentioned to TheWrap that the crossover would be the Season premiere in order to "get it as close to when the 'Abbott' episode premiered." Could that mean, then, that there is a reason for the six month wait (unrelated to an airdate decision made by the studio)?

Glenn previously teased to me that there were some "big swings" this season, and Charlie has subsequently revealed that there was a "completely out of pattern" episode in Season 17 (not including the crossover episode). So perhaps this long period between filming wrapping and Season 17 premiering indicates some time consuming post-production work being needed? Some prior clues may reveal as much: they were working with some complex filming equipment on Heath Cullens' episode, a camera car that may be connected to some kind of Postmates scheme involving the use of an Ambulance, teased by Charlie Day earlier this month. Knowing the Gang, that's probably a scheme going up in flames (perhaps literally). There also seems to have been something filmed in the Malibu Canyons, which was on location and in front of a green screen, potentially calling for a chunk of hours in the editing room. 

So perhaps with a few complex plots requiring some heavy post-production work, June is what it takes to get Season 17 perfected. Then again, Mythic Quest (though a completely different studio and on streaming as opposed to cable) wrapped their post production in May of 2024 and only just premiered in January of this year, so the delay could simply be up to the TV gods who love dangling promised seasons in front of our faces, just out of reach for as long as possible...

I won't lie and say I'm not bummed by this news; I was definitely hoping to get Season 17 sooner than two years from Season 16, but it's also nice to have a loose date to look forward to. And aligning with 16 is actually especially nice because we know (somewhat) when to expect things: we got a premiere date announcement and season synopsis in late April, the first teaser trailer in the beginning of May, and (most of) the episode titles by mid-May. So late-April to mid-May is the timeframe to keep our eyes on for the first big chunk of Season 17 info (outside of what can be pulled out of RCG while they're on their other endeavors, of course).

What do you think of the summer airdate? Is it just a studio decision or another clue (similar to those Charlie and Glenn have given us) that there could be some pretty unique episodes this season?

It is an odd one, after all!

-Seth