ABC’s breakout comedy hit “Abbott Elementary” will be back for another school year. The Alphabet net confirmed on Monday that the critically acclaimed workplace laffer, from Warner Bros. TV and 20th Television, has been renewed for the second grade, a.k.a. Season 2.
Quinta Brunson created and stars in “Abbott Elementary,” which takes place in a Philadelphia public school and focuses on a group of educators — with different levels of experience and optimism, but all with the determination to help their students.
The renewal was revealed in tongue-in-cheek fashion via a “memo” from “Abbott Elementary” principal Ava Coleman (played by Janelle James), the self-centered and often inappropriate (and slightly tone-deaf) school leader who oversees the show’s dedicated — and overworked — teachers. See below:
ABC
Brunson plays Janine Teagues; the cast also includes Tyler James Williams as Gregory Eddie, Janelle James as Ava Coleman, Chris Perfetti as Jacob Hill, Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti and Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard. Brunson is writer and executive producer alongside Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker of Delicious Non-Sequitur Productions.
In her review of the show, Variety TV critic Caroline Framke wrote, “ABC’s new sitcom manages to feel fully formed from the get go. From comedian Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary” makes quick work of introducing its setting (an underfunded Philly school), characters (the frustrated teachers trying to make it work), and the intangible sense of history and possibility that keep any show compelling beyond its logline.”
“Abbott Elementary” has become ABC’s top-rated new comedy in two years among Adults 18-49, and currently ranks as the season’s No. 1 comedy in the demo, tied with another rookie, CBS’ “Ghosts.”
After 35 days of viewing via linear and digital, the December premiere of “Abbott Elementary’s” first two episodes averaged 9 million viewers and a 2.93 rating in the demo. The comedy continues to grow; its most recent episode, on Feb. 22, has become its second-most-watched episode yet, only behind hits time period premiere in January.
“Abbott Elementary” returns with new episodes on Tuesday, March 22 at 9 p.m. with “Open House.” Here’s the logline: “It’s Open House night at Abbott Elementary, and while Janine prepares to meet her struggling student’s mother, the rest of the faculty uses the time to relax. Gregory is taken aback when he learns how Ava got the principal job, and later, Barbara’s daughter’s visit creates a commotion in more ways than one.”