So excited to talk about this (Emmy winning) show as I can’t believe that I’ve hardly written about it on here. As the title (albeit, clumsily) suggests, this blog is about the brilliant new American sitcom ‘Abbott Elementary’, which stars Quinta Brunson (who created the show) and started airing in 2021.
‘AE’ is a mockumentary style sitcom (a bit like ’The Office’ or ‘Modern Family’ or, one of my personal faves, ‘Parks and Recreation’). ‘AE’ tells of the teachers in an elementary/primary school in Philadelphia with predominantly Black pupils and teachers and focuses on a lot of real things that many teachers in underfunded schools in USA with overworked and underpaid teachers really deal with all the time and how hard it is to be a teacher generally, even if it can also be incredibly rewarding. I’m sure that real teachers can perhaps resonate with certain aspects of the show but you don’t have to work in education to get at least a bit more of an understanding of what it’s like as I’m obviously not a teacher myself but it certainly seems that the show is pretty accurate about a lot of what it can be like irl.
As it’s a wonderful, funny, heartwarming show with progressive values and great representation, I’m relieved and surprised that (as far as I know) it hasn’t really received much backlash from the anti-woke crowd who try to claim that everything is ‘too woke’ and that comedy should be offensive and bigoted. I have absolutely no time for those who can’t handle good representation/inclusivity while saying that everyone else is ‘too sensitive’, like, how terrible it would be if there was less discrimination/outdated, lazy, harmful ‘jokes’. Anyway, that’s a tangent that I might go on another time but back to ‘Abbott’...
The creator, Quinta Brunson (who’s also appeared in ‘New Girl’) stars as Janine and Tyler James Williams (‘Everybody hates Chris’ and ‘The Walking Dead’) is her will they/won’t they love interest and colleague, Gregory, and their dynamic is super sweet and healthy and just so refreshing for a sitcom romance, so I’m excited to see what’s next for them (as the third season starts tomorrow*). Chris Perfetti (who was apparently in ‘What we do in the shadows’) plays Jacob, who’s a progressive, openly gay, socially conscious teacher and it’s cool that while he’s often the butt of the joke and a comedic character, he’s not mocked for being progressive but for trying to seem cool to his students as he always means well but still has some growing to do at times while considering his role as a white teacher in a predominantly Black school. Lisa Ann Walter (who I know from ‘The Parent Trap’ as that was definitely a comfort film/childhood favourite)** also co-stars as the tough, straight talking, but ultimately kind-hearted, Melissa and Sheryl Lee Ralph (who I first saw in an episode of ‘Smash’) is brilliant as Barbara, the wise, experienced kindergarten teacher. Comedian, Janelle James, also features as the headteacher/principal, Ava, who gives me Gina Linetti vibes at times, that is, if Gina was running the whole precinct…
Thanks for sticking with this post, hope you enjoy the show if you’re new to it. I really recommend it if you haven’t seen it, it’s really worth sticking with it as it only gets better from S1 on, which is actually the case with several of my favourite shows, tbh.
Hope you have a good week. :)
*It starts on 7th Feb in the U.S.A, anyway.
**As well as remaining a favourite into young adulthood as well...
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