It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Season 17 Will Have A Crossover No One Saw Coming

Over the course of 16 seasons, the gang from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" have gotten up to a whole lot of ridiculous mischief on TV shows within their own series. Frank (Danny DeVito), in particular, seems to be a somewhat regular fixture on local Philadelphia news, fearmongering in order to drive up sales of guns or water filters, and he's also appeared on talk shows with Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Dee (Kaitlin Olson) while trying to do damage control for their Wolf Cola brand. The entire gang also appeared on an episode of the "Family Feud" spoof "Family Fight," as hosted by Keegan-Michael Key (giving us his best Steve Harvey impersonation), which ended with Dennis being utterly humiliated. In season 17, however, at least one member of the gang is going to go where they've never gone before: reality television.

While we already knew season 17 was going to feature the second chapter in the "It's Always Sunny" and "Abbott Elementary" crossover that kicked off earlier this year, showing the gang's side of what happened when they volunteered at the titular school, it appears this new batch of episodes will also feature a wholly different crossover that we never could have seen coming. You see, Frank is going to appear on a fictional version of "The Golden Bachelor," and it looks like it's going to be an absolute disaster in the very best way.

In the season 17 trailer for "It's Always Sunny," we get to see Frank dressed to the nines on an episode of "The Golden Bachelor," the spin-off of the hit reality series "The Bachelor," where hopeful singles try to win the heart of the titular bachelor. "The Golden Bachelor" features an older bachelor looking for love, and since Frank is both wealthy and lecherous, it's a pretty funny (and perfect) fit! We see Frank with "The Bachelor" franchise host Jesse Palmer, along with a couple of quick interview clips where Frank provides a bit of context or colorful commentary. We also get introduced to Frank's primary romantic interest, a young woman who is clearly inspired by the Hawk Tuah girl but with a much cruder name. Frank finds her crassness charming, which tracks given his previous romantic interests (including the tragically deceased drug-addicted sex worker Roxy), and even brings her home to dinner with Charlie (Charlie Day). Previous seasons of the series have interacted heavily with real-world events and riffed on them, like when the "It's Always Sunny" season 15 opener posited the gang were responsible for every major news story that year, but a spoof of the Hawk Tuah girl is definitely a new one.

Between the "Abbott Elementary" crossover and now this "Golden Bachelor" sorta-crossover, it really feels like the series is going bigger and bolder than ever. Is this an attempt to draw in new viewers so the show can keep going for another two decades? Or is the "It's Always Sunny" gang merely trying to go out with a bang with season 18? We'll have to wait and see when the season premieres on FX on July 9, 2025 (and the next day on Hulu).