Passing with Flying Colors: Abbott Elementary’s Rise to the Top

Against a wooden wall, six multi-colored children backpacks and a baseball cap hang on a classroom rack. Each backpack has a huge letter on their respective front pockets, spelling the word “Abott” altogether. However, they do not belong to a classroom, hanging up instead on a giant billboard. Some walking by would be perplexed at this strange sight, but to most, it can be recognized as an innovative advertisement for the third season premiere of Abbott Elementary, ABC’s overnight sensation show.

Abbott Elementary is a sitcom that takes place in Abbott Elementary, a severely underfunded public elementary school. It features a group of hardworking teachers navigating the Philadelphia public school system in order to create a positive and welcoming environment for their students. Ever since the first season’s release, the cast has been welcomed profusely with compliments of the clever and witty writing, as well as the chemistry between its actors from different age groups. This show has taken the hearts of America by storm; it was nominated for 15 Emmy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and 4 SAG-AFTRA awards. 

All of this immense success prompts the question: why is Abbott Elementary so successful? For its seemingly simple plot compared to its other Emmy nominated counterparts, Abbott has swept the award season.

Part of the success behind Abbott is the nostalgia it brings. The primary setting of the show is an elementary school, where the classrooms are detailed so precisely to emulate a real life lived classroom. But another significant reason why the show is so nostalgic is because of the cast. The show’s creator is Quinta Brunson, who also stars as protagonist Janine Teagues. Brunson was a major internet influence in the early to mid 2010s as a content creator for Buzzfeed, frequenting a lot of the company’s hit videos. Tyler James Williams, who plays Janine’s love interest Gregory, is also a familiar face from many’s childhoods. Williams was a huge star on early 2000s sitcoms and Disney Channel; he played the titular character in Everybody Hates Chris (and in my personal opinion the best Disney Channel movie, Let It Shine). Lisa Ann Walter, who plays the spunky Philadelphia native teacher Melissa Schemmenti, was in The Parent Trap, while Sheryl Lee Ralph, who plays old-school teacher Barbara Howard, was Deena Jones in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls. 

An essential factor of Abbott’s popularity is also its plot. Since the show is about teachers in an elementary school, Brunson and the writers have a lot of fluidity and options to work with when developing episodes and subplots. Each episode has such a different plot that is nonetheless funny, relatable, and reflective of an elementary school employee’s experiences. Typically, an episode takes place in each of the teachers’ respective classrooms and their coveted teachers’ lounge. But, in Season Two, Episode 16, ‘Teacher Conference,’ Brunson makes a seemingly uninteresting teacher conference transform into a drunk, chaotic, and romance-filled event that ends with a long awaited kiss between Janine and Gregory. Another notable episode in Season Two is ‘Teacher Appreciation,’ where instead of the teachers celebrating Teacher Appreciation Day, they compete with each other to get tickets to a 76ers game. Much to their dismay, however, the school’s janitor Mr. Johnson wins the tickets. In Season Three, Episode 1, ‘Career Day Part 1,’ Janine surprises the audience by revealing that she is no longer working as a teacher, but rather in the school district. This episode also features a Career Day at Abbott, which includes a surprise Zoom call from three Philadelphia Eagles’ players: Jalen Hurts, Jason Kelce, and Brandon Graham. By starting the third season with a huge twist in Janine’s arc, and the celebrity cameos from the Philadelphia Eagles, Brunson keeps her audience enthralled. The strategic placement and plot development that the show writers prepare and conduct is another factor for their many awards. 

Still, the main reason people adore this show is because of the sincerity and love that the cast and crew put into it. The cast recognizes and acknowledges teachers, whose contributions to society are extremely under-appreciated. In the wake of Covid-19 and online learning, there have been many struggles with teacher retention nationally. Teachers are leaving schools because of lack of motivation, respect, and other problems. But Brunson documents a wide variety of teachers in a funny, loving light that makes her audience respect and see the hard work they put in daily. Brunson’s own character, Janine, is an optimistic and passionate young teacher who just graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. She may annoy her fellow colleagues with her over the top enthusiasm to amend the school’s old interior, but her bubbly personality makes her network TV’s current sweetheart. Senior teacher Barbara’s blunt and collected personality makes the audience love her, while her wisdom and resilience earns admiration from other teachers in the show. Abbott highlights teachers’ stories to the world and helps us remember the teachers who positively influenced our lives. Brunson does this by naming the show Abbott Elementary after her sixth grade teacher Mrs. Abbott, whom she frequently credits as her main reason to pursue comedic writing. To further display her love and support to the teaching community, Brunson has even donated the rest of Abott’s marketing budget to underfunded teachers. 

Now every time someone sees those backpacks hanging on that billboard, they can see a clear example of the love that Abbott Elementary gushes out to teachers. Brunson has created a massively successful show that captivates with nostalgia, creativity, and sincerity. With 100 percent effort, Brunson has gotten an A on her group project of Abbott Elementary.  

You can now watch the new third season of Abbott Elementary on ABC or stream it on Hulu.