TV

Abbott Elementary

Class is in session.

Photo: Gilles Mingasson/ABC

With a network sitcom like this one, bound to the time limits and structures of the genre, it can sometimes take a while to establish an identity and find a comfort zone with its characters. Parks and Recreation, a show whose sensibility overlaps somewhat with Abbott Elementary’s, didn’t settle into either until its second season. (Some might even say third.) But Abbott Elementary knows what it’s doing and who its personalities are almost right out of the gate. — Jen Chaney

Read Vulture’s review of Abbott Elementary and Ashley Ray Harris’s interview with creator and star Quinta Brunson.

  1. Episode 22 Franklin Institute
    Abbott Elementary Season-Finale Recap: Selfish Era Janine and Gregory’s romance gets “To Be Continued” until next season.
  2. Episode 21 Mom
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Maternal Instinct “Step one: Have a daughter. Step two: Play the long game.”
  3. Episode 20 Educator of the Year
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Good Teacher, Bad Teacher Greg and Janine grapple with how they’re perceived as teachers.
  4. Episode 19 Festival
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Operation Save the School After AVA Fest, Ava deserves to be in the Mount Rushmore of enigmatic TV bosses.
  5. Episode 18 Teacher Appreciation
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Sister, Sister Nothing gets siblings to relive childhood trauma quite like board-game night.
  6. Episode 17 Mural Arts
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Sock It to Me Janine may be a dork, but she’s messy as hell.
  7. Episode 16 Teacher’s Conference
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Janine and Gregory Sitting in a Tree The Abbott teachers go full Real Housewives on their conference trip.
  8. Episode 15 Fire
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Barbara Didn’t Start the Fire Even without the usual dose of Janine, Abbott delivers another great episode. This cast is so unbelievably stacked.
  9. Episode 14 Valentine’s Day
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Love Language Gregory and Janine’s romance has become unavoidable.
  10. Episode 13 Fundraiser
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Hustle Culture Ava teaches the students how to scam their way through fundraising.
  11. Episode 12 Fight
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Zara vs. Joya vs. Janine When two students officially declare their beef, Janine does everything in her power to create harmony.
  12. Episode 11 Read-A-Thon
    Abbott Elementary Recap: This Abbott Life Everybody really does have their own podcast.
  13. Episode 10 Holiday Hookah
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Slow Burn Things look cozier than ever between Janine and Gregory.
  14. Episode 9 Sick Day
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Class With Ms. Coleman It doesn’t get much better than an Ava-centric episode.
  15. Episode 8 Egg Drop
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Toxic Positivity Janine breaks eggs and, unfortunately, her students’ hearts.
  16. Episode 7 Attack Ad
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Legendary Schooling #tariqhive, rise up! (But also stay away from Janine!)
  17. Episode 6 Candy Zombies
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Baby Thanos and the Infinity Ring Pops Can Earth’s mightiest heroes (teachers) stop a legion of sugar-crazed kids?
  18. Episode 5 Juice
    Abbott Elementary Recap: If It Ain’t Broke … A new juice in the cafeteria has Barbara pissed.
  19. Episode 4 The Principal’s Office
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Tough Love Greg gets sent to the principal’s office. (Ooooo!)
  20. Episode 3 Story Samurai
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Corny Legends Even Janine, who was once in a Degrassi reenactment group, can see that the Story Samurais are peak corny.
  21. Episode 2 Wrong Delivery
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Shark Diving Gregory learns a few hard lessons.
  22. Episode 1 Development Day
    Abbott Elementary Season-Premiere Recap: New Year, New Part It’s back-to-school time for our favorite teachers (and also for Gritty).
  1. Episode 14 Party
    Abbott Elementary Season-Finale Recap: School’s Out It finally happened.
  2. Episode 13 Smith Playground
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Field Trip We’re making some progress on the Janine and Gregory front, but it comes in an episode light on laughs.
  3. Episode 12 Mother’s Day
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Parental Guidance Okay, but Janine and Kevin do have a lot of similarities.
  4. Episode 11 Double Date
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Three Tipsy Teachers Not having Josh Segura as Janine’s love interest feels like a missed opportunity.
  5. Episode 10 Ava 2 Fest
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Janine’s Choice Shame on anyone who doubted Ava’s lore.
  6. Episode 9 Alex
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Out With the Old, In With the New Janine can’t be serious about leaving Abbott.
  7. Episode 8 Panel
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Abbott’s Glowing Up It’s delightful to see Tatyana Ali play Ava’s nemesis and continue Abbott’s run of bringing in sitcom royalty to guest star.
  8. Episode 7 Librarian
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Barbara’s Library Showdown Barbara takes issue with the new librarian, so Janine is forced to stand up to her.
  9. Episode 6 Willard R. Abbott
    Abbott Elementary Recap: The Truth About Willard The number of schools named after racists is alarming!
  10. Episode 5 Breakup
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Church Girl Give Barbara the lead in the church choir!
  11. Episode 4 Smoking
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Pick Your Poison Abbott gets caught up in the failures of just saying no.
  12. Episode 3 Gregory’s Garden Goofballs
    Abbott Elementary Recap: The Cool Teacher Gregory finds out that with great coolness comes great responsibility.
  13. Episodes 1 - 2 Career Day
    Abbott Elementary Season-Premiere Recap: Janine’s New Job Janine has a new job that puts her affable and resourceful energy to good use.
  1. Episode 11 Strike
    Abbott Elementary Recap: The Magic School Bus Janine channels her inner Ms. Frizzle, one of the best TV teachers of all time.
  2. Episode 10 Testing
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Jacob’s Impossible Mission After the high of the crossover, Abbot returns with an education-centered episode that is mostly filler.
  3. Episode 9 Abbott Elementary
    Abbott Elementary Recap: The Gang Goes Back to School The infamous owners of Philadelphia’s worst bar are lending their time as Abbott volunteers.
  4. Episode 8 Winter Break
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Family Matters If only all our problematic family members would just drop dead.
  5. Episode 7 Winter Show
    Abbott Elementary Recap: How Mrs. Howard Stole Christmas The only thing that surpasses Barbara’s love of Christmas is her dedication to her students.
  6. Episode 6 The Deli
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Fruit There It Is I wish we could have heard Ava’s “the art of the scheme” and “intimidation as motivation” speeches.
  7. Episode 5 Dad Fight
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Parent-Teacher Fight Night As former NBA player and podcaster Matt Barnes once said, “Violence is never the answer, but sometimes it is.”
  8. Episode 4 Costume Contest
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Headass Halloween Nothing sends adults into an existential panic like Halloween costumes and parties.
  9. Episode 3 Class Pet
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Welcome Home, Sweet Cheeks Love is in the air at Abbott, inviting new guest stars and cute moments in a wholesome episode.
  10. Episode 2 Ringworm
    Abbott Elementary Recap: Clean Freak I didn’t think the first obstacle in Janine and Gregory’s relationship would be … ringworm?
  11. Episode 1 Back to School
    Abbott Elementary Season-Premiere Recap: The Cat’s Out the Bag! Only time will tell whether Janine and Gregory make it like other great sitcom couples or are destined for heartbreak.

The Latest on Abbott Elementary

  1. backstories
    ‘Here’s This School, and We’ve Just Introduced 5 Sociopaths’Court-ordered community service, urine-soaked animal pelts, and a Billy Madison homage: How It’s Always Sunny infiltrated Abbott Elementary.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  2. crossovers
    It’s Always Sunny Takes a Field Trip to Abbott ElementaryQuinta Brunson explains how the dynamics of each show are affecting their characters.
    By Alejandra Gularte
  3. the roomy award
    ‘There Are Always Lessons’ When Making Abbott ElementaryThe writers of the hit sitcom shed light on their Roomy Award-winning process.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  4. vulture festival 2024
    The Abbott Elementary Writers Have More Crossover Ideas After It’s Always SunnyMr. Johnson as the next Golden Bachelor?
    By Justin Curto
  5. fall preview 2024
    56 TV Shows We Can’t Wait to Watch This FallWe don’t need dragons to have a good time.
    By James Grebey and Ben Rosenstock
  6. back to school
    Variety Comic-Con Studio, Presented by Google TV - Day 2
    Quinta Brunson Says Fans Want Longer Seasons of Abbott ElementaryAbbott intends on delivering. The show goes back into production for season 4 Monday.
    By Bethy Squires
  7. gold rush
    The Three Most Surprising Things About This Year’s Enormous Emmys BallotWe read all 35 of the television academy’s PDFs to see what they reveal about next month’s nominations.
    By Joe Reid
  8. casting
    Everyone Wanted a Visitor’s Pass to Abbott ElementaryAfter going easy on famous faces in its first two seasons, the sitcom went all in on the guest roles in season three.
    By Alejandra Gularte
  9. finale thoughts
    William Stanford Davis Is the King of Abbott Elementary“If the kids come and ask him questions, he’s going to give them a better answer than the teachers.”
    By Devon Ivie
  10. love is an open door
    Abbott Elementary Crossed the Will-They-or-Won’t-They ThresholdThe latest step in Janine and Gregory’s romantic journey begins the same way as their sitcom predecessors’: with a closed door reopening.
    By Roxana Hadadi
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