If you were watching Succession very closely last night, you might have noticed something that even the showrunners potentially missed.
During a transitionary scene around the 18-minute mark of the episode, Roman Roy (played by Kieran Culkin) was transported on a Waystar-branded golf cart as the dramatic theme music played in the background.
He is on his way to a meeting with Joy Palmer (portrayed by Annabeth Gish) at a restaurant, and it isn’t a particularly momentous or important scene.
This probably would have made a lot of sense as a good moment to check your phone. Thankfully, however, at least one person who was watching was paying particularly close attention.
Spotted: Abbott Elementary in the background of tonight’s Succession 👀 pic.twitter.com/mhyON5m4t3
— joya mccrory (@JustJoya) May 1, 2023
Joya McCrory, a staff writer and story editor on ABC’s Abbott Elementary, shared a screenshot of something she noticed.
Take a look at the background of the shot and see if you see what she did:
You might have still missed it, so let’s offer some quick help.
If you couldn’t tell, here is a zoomed-in version of the shot with the part you should be looking at highlighted.
That, my friends, is the brick wall and mural used as the exterior set of Abbott Elementary.
Take a look at a still from this season and it is unmistakable:
WOW.
Take another look:
So how did this happen? Well, there is a perfectly good reason.
Even though Abbott Elementary proudly takes place in Philadelphia, sadly, it’s not actually filmed in Philly. All of the scenes from the school are actually filmed on a soundstage at Warner Bros. Television Studios in Los Angeles.
I went to Warner Brothers Studios while out in LA and they were filming #AbbottElementary at the time. It’s amazing how real it looks on TV vs what I saw on a soundstage.
— Lindsey (@LuLu_Vue) December 8, 2021
Warner Bros., meanwhile, is the distributing partner of HBO’s Succession.
The Hollywood studio was the primary filming location for the latest episode.
Will the Warner Bros. Studio Tour add like, the entirety, of tonight’s Succession to the tour this week?
— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) May 1, 2023
I can’t think of two shows with more drastically different tones and themes than Succession and Abbott Elementary.
But if you like the idea of a mashup, you’re in luck. We found a great Twitter thread for you!
who i think each abbott elementary character’s favourite succession character is and why pic.twitter.com/VUO8k6Dw8v
— harretic pride (@motionsivk) April 22, 2023
Take a look at the link above and you can see one Twitter user predicts who each character on Abbott Elementary would root for on Succession.
I personally love the thought of Abbott Elementary‘s Jacob Hill stanning for Succession‘s Siobhan Roy. That just feels right cosmically.
