WATCH: Patton Oswalt offers take on 'subhuman' cast of 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'

With a big hiatus on tap for "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," fans of the long-running comedy will either have to find other forms of vile entertainment or pin their hopes on the prospects of "A.P. Bio," the new NBC series starring Glenn Howerton and Patton Oswalt.

Considering it's an NBC show, any expectations of "Always Sunny" level shamelessness should be tempered, but the premise does show promise. Howerton, a wayward philosophy scholar, plays a high school biology teacher who uses his bright students to hoodwink the school principal, Oswalt, and get back at an arch-enemy.

Oswalt and Howerton were recently interviewed by TV Guide, and naturally the topic of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" came up. Oswalt, an outsider to the show, perfectly explained both its appeal and its repulsiveness.

"The 'Philadelphia' people are so subhuman there are times I'm like, I cannot believe I'm relating to these people's motivations and desires," Oswalt said. "If a human actually ... they wouldn't survive a day. Again, I'm saying this as a geek for the show ... as sad as it would make me, if the entire cast of characters were killed, yes, I'd be sad, but part of me would go like, yeah? I'm amazed they lived this long. Talk about characters who have the least sense of self-preservation."

And yet, they've made it through 12 seasons — as strong as they've ever been, if not stronger.

"A.P Bio" will premiere this fall on NBC.