ABC's Abbott Elementary feels fully formed from the get-go

Variety

The elementary school teachers comedy mockumentary created by and starring Quinta Brunson "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," says Caroline Framke, adding: "Centering a show on teachers isn’t exactly a new concept, even as those shows have rarely lived up to their narrative potential. Where Abbott Elementary succeeds, then, is by making itself a true workplace comedy in the vein of The Office or Superstore. (It also follows in The Office footsteps of formatting itself as a mockumentary, which doesn’t feel entirely necessary, but nonetheless works in the show’s drier moments.) There are hints of what the teachers’ lives are like outside the school, but only enough to inform what they’re like inside it — and for now, that’s plenty."

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• Abbott Elementary works well enough to deliver a consistent good time: "What stands out in its initial episodes is a willingness to deal with class head on, while also finding humor in the characters’ situations," says Angie Han. "(Race is addressed less explicitly in the episodes I screened, but the casting makes a point in itself — Abbott Elementary features a majority Black cast surrounded by majority Black kid extras, as befits its West Philadelphia setting.) Most of the storylines revolve in some way around the teachers trying to meet the needs that their city refuses to, whether that’s by fixing a flickering light bulb or fulfilling a teacher wish list. While each predicament resolves within 22 minutes, the larger issues driving them do not. “The city doesn’t always give us the funding we need for our supplies,” says Janine in one episode, frustration simmering just under her smile. “I know I keep saying that, but it keeps being true. If Abbott Elementary can keep finessing that balance — between uplift and honesty, celebrating individual moxie and critiquing systemic failures — it could yet grow into a series as thought-provoking as it is crowd-pleasing. Perhaps it could even become a minor force for change, like Janine herself. And as every teacher knows, there’s nothing more rewarding than watching a new kid grow into their full potential."
• A real-life Philadelphia public schools teacher weighs in on Abbott Elementary's accuracy
• Abbott Elementary was inspired by Quinta Brunson's mom's 40 years as a teacher: Brunson says her character, the young, passionate teacher Janine Teagues, encapsulates her mother’s most optimistic, joyful parts -- while the seasoned, no-nonsense veteran Barbara Howard, played by Sheryl Lee Ralph, mirrors her firmness. “Our whole kind of theory with the generational outlining of this show was like, you need that healthy mix of people who are jaded and people who are blindly optimistic to get a solution," says Brunson. "Sometimes in more modern TV, we try to present the perfect relationship with our Black characters, because there’s so many negative ones. I wanted to explore the middle ground where it’s not perfect, and it’s not horrible. It just is human, which naturally has its ups and downs. We love the idea of perfect Black Girl Magic in the workplace and all Black girls get along. That’s just not realistic. There’s so many things that create friction. But the idea is to get over our differences and use our differences to create solutions, which is what I think I have these characters do.”
• Brunson wanted Abbott Elementary to touch on harder topics, but not school shootings: “Our task was always to say, ‘What is really happening in the day-to-day lives of these characters?’" she says. "From talking to friends, from talking to my mother [who was a teacher], it’s still the mundane. It’s how funding affects whether or not they can have a music class and what that means for them, like, ‘Oh my god, I won’t get a free period’ or, ‘I was going to get my nails done during their time and now I can’t.’ I have no interest in trying to get dig humor out of places where it isn’t. These teachers are still people who have lives, who have relationships, who have fun, who laugh. They deserve to be seen in that light without being bogged down by our stratosphere of otherworldly issues.”
• Brunson says with Abbott Elementary's mockumentary format, "it's hard to not compare" it to shows like Parks and Rec, The Office and Modern Family