Series Review – “Abbott Elementary”

ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” created by Quinta Brunson originally premiered Dec. 7, 2021 PHOTO// www.imdb.com

Chloe Spradlin, Staff Writer

It’s been a year and two months since the premiere of ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” and the sitcom has won three Golden Globes, four TCA awards, two Emmys and many more accolades. These awards are all well-deserved for a show that is very well-rounded.

“Abbott Elementary” is a sitcom that was made for the 21st century. It portrays an underprivileged Philadelphia elementary school trying its best to get by. The teachers, principal and janitor make up the cast and all have different methods to their craft.

Quinta Brunson, star, creator and producer of the show, plays Janine Teagues, a happy-go-lucky teacher that can be a little too eager for her students and peers. Brunson has won many individual awards as the writer and main character of “Abbott Elementary”. 

The supporting cast includes a tenured perfectionist, an overly-apologetic teacher, an awkward new hire, a shady Italian, a problematic principal and an extremely questionable janitor. They each contribute to the episodes in a chaotic yet progressive fashion.

The pilot episode is a perfect taste of what the show is about. The main character, Janine, tries her best to improve the school, but her best intentions fail. The staff has to combat the underfunding provided by their inner city education system and find their way to make things work. The beginning of many storylines started immediately, and the excellent reviews did too.

“Abbott Elementary” has an impressive 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, an 8.2 on iMBD and a 4.8 on a Google audience survey.  The show has been called “lovable,” “note-perfect” and “laugh-out-loud” by reviewers and critics all around. 

This show has quickly become one of my favorites. My girlfriend and I binged it in less than two weeks, and my only complaint is that I couldn’t watch more of it. It was a perfect combination of comedy, storytelling and relevance to today’s socio-economic climate. It touches on topics relevant to society, but it does not take away from the comedic side of the story.

Abbott Elementary was just renewed by ABC for a third season, and I highly recommend watching the first two in order to be prepared for what should be a great third. It can be streamed now on Hulu and HBO Max.