Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds debuted the first promo for “Welcome to Wrexham,” their upcoming FX docuseries about buying a Welsh football team together, on Wednesday. The video also happened to be a plug for McElhenney’s long-running FXX comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” a point Reynolds was apparently not made aware of in advance.
The clip, which you can view above, begins with the “Always Sunny” theme music playing outside a pub in Wrexham, Wales. We move inside to see a group that looks suspiciously similar to Mac (McElhenney), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), Frank (Danny DeVito), Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Charlie (Charlie Day) watching a TV.
On the TV staring back at them are the actual “Always Sunny” characters Mac, Dee, Frank, Dennis and Charlie, seemingly very confused at Paddy’s in Philly.
“What are they looking at?” the Dee-type on the Welsh side says while watching the “Always Sunny” crew, to which all her male “friends” shout, “Shut up, bird!”
Then we cut to Reynolds and McElhenney watching this promo, with Reynolds asking his co-owner, “Did I approve a tie-in for our show and ‘Always Sunny in Philadelphia?’”
“Uh, no, I did,” Rob says.
“Oh, am I in a promo for that show right now?” Ryan asks.
“No…” Rob responds, clearly lying.
Look, Ryan, this is what happens when you decide to go in on buying a Welsh soccer team with a stranger.
Watch McElhenney try to pull a fast one on Reynolds in the “Welcome to Wrexham” teaser above.
FX ordered two seasons of the docuseries about Reynolds and McElhenney — who previously did not know each other — purchasing and running one of the world’s oldest professional soccer clubs, Welsh football team Wrexham AFC, back in May.
The show will track “the dreams and people of Wrexham, a working-class town in North Wales, UK, as two Hollywood stars take ownership of the town’s historic yet struggling football club.”
Per FX, “Founded in 1864, the ‘Red Dragons’ are one of the oldest football teams in the world and currently compete in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.”
“Welcome to Wrexham” is set to debut in 2022 on FX.