By Gianna Mulvey
It’s hard to find good television these days: streaming services announce and then cancel promising projects, potentially interesting shows close with unresolved or unsatisfying endings, and once-good shows simply keep staggering forward like zombies, as if a dead horse can be flogged into a canter or a gallop.
This problem is doubly true for sitcoms. Nowadays, sitcoms usually run for one or two seasons (compared to older sitcoms like “The Office,” which has nine seasons) before getting scrapped or canceled, have very few episodes per season, and leave the audience unsatisfied or bored with bland humor and story beats.
Many modern sitcoms rely on nostalgia from older shows, such as Netflix’s “That ‘90s Show,” which is a reboot of the popular sitcom “That ‘70s Show.” New sitcoms, as well, tend to repeat plot points and jokes throughout their episodes and seasons rather than coming up with new ideas and jokes to experiment with throughout the show’s runtime. If the joke lands the first time, surely it must be funny the second and third and fourth and…
One sitcom show that has bucked these trends is “Abbott Elementary.” The show offers a fresh perspective for a wide variety of audiences, has a consistent release schedule akin to past years when cable television was still popular, and includes top-notch comedy, witty dialogue, and enjoyable characters that keep the audience laughing for the rest of the week while they wait for the next episode to air.
“Abbott Elementary,” created by comedian and former Buzzfeed employee Quinta Brunson, follows a cast of quirky elementary school teachers navigating the workday and the rambunctious students who attend the school. The elementary school is located in the heart of Philadelphia, with a predominantly black student and teacher population.
The show is filmed similarly to “The Office,” with a documentary crew that follows the teachers around and pulls them aside for interviews. The series mainly focuses on second-grade teacher Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) as she determinedly tries to help her students as best she can, given the difficulties and problems that the school faces. From lack of support from the school district or the mismanagement from Abbott principal Ava Coleman, Janine’s persistence and optimism gets the job done more often than not.
Besides Janine, other characters include her love interest and avid gardener Gregory Eddie (Tyler James Willims); the school’s principal, Ava Coleman (Janelle James), who constantly bullies Janine and receives her job through blackmail; second-grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter), who always seems to “know a guy” through her shady connections; and Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph), a religious kindergarten teacher who tries her best to support Janine.
“Abbott Elementary” stands out among the rest of the sitcom competition because the show is never afraid to try new things. For example, during the entirety of the show’s third season, Janine was given an opportunity to try out a job at the school district, isolating her character from the rest of the cast. I was skeptical about this decision, as I was worried that the sub-plot taking place at the school district with Janine would not be as funny or as interesting as the main plot happening with the rest of the teachers in the school. However, Brunson and the rest of the writers were always able to relate Janine’s sub-plots to one or more of the characters from the main cast, making it feel as if she never left in the first place. Decisions like this and the confidence to try new things make the show so successful.
As a major sitcom fan myself, I can hardly contain my excitement to sit down in front of the TV every Wednesday night to catch the newest episode of Abbott Elementary live so that the next day, I can hop on social media and laugh along with others at the hilarity of the show. Abbott Elementary is a breath of fresh air in a genre that feels tired and worn out. Now in its fourth season, the series is still going strong and pulling out new jokes and gags to keep the audience engaged and excited for its future.
