Abbott Elementary Heads Back to School for Season Six

Five seasons into Abbott Elementary, the teachers at Philadelphia’s fictional Willard R. Abbott Public School no longer feel like characters viewers simply watch.

They feel like coworkers we somehow know.

We know Barbara will probably have an opinion. We know Melissa can probably find somebody who knows somebody. We know Jacob will find a way to make a simple conversation slightly more complicated. We know Principal Ava Coleman can turn almost any school problem into an opportunity to discuss herself.

And somewhere nearby, Mr. Johnson knows considerably more than anyone realizes.

That familiarity has become one of the show’s greatest strengths as Abbott Elementary prepares to return for its sixth season. For me, however, the connection to Abbott started before the first bell ever rang.

How Quinta Brunson Made Me a Fan Before Abbott

I have to give my wife some credit for making me a lifelong Quinta Brunson fan.

She was familiar with Quinta’s work before I was and began sharing clips with me — outrageous sketches from HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show, where Quinta was part of the original first-season cast, along with other comedy and YouTube content that showed just how funny and unconventional her sense of humor could be.

The more she showed me, the more I understood that Quinta wasn’t simply someone who could deliver a joke. She had a particular way of observing people, personalities and situations and then finding something ridiculous inside something completely recognizable.

By the time Abbott Elementary arrived, I was paying attention.

What I didn’t anticipate was just how consistently the show would impress me.

Season after season, Abbott has continued to get better without sacrificing what originally made it work. That is increasingly rare for television comedy.

What impresses me most is the writing.

Every major character is written beautifully and intelligently. Nobody exists only to set up somebody else’s joke. Each person has recognizable motivations, shortcomings, loyalties and a distinct way of seeing the world.

Even when Abbott gets outrageous, its characters remain grounded enough that you understand exactly why they behave the way they do.

One of Television’s Best Workplaces

The premise of Abbott Elementary has always been deceptively simple.

A group of teachers works inside an under-resourced Philadelphia public school, attempting to educate children while navigating the bureaucracy, personalities and everyday frustrations that come with the job.

Quinta Brunson turned that premise into something much richer.

Abbott can make viewers laugh at an absurd school-district decision and then, sometimes within the same episode, remind them why good teachers matter.

The series has rarely confused affection for educators with making them perfect. Its teachers get frustrated. They make questionable decisions. They gossip. They fall in love. They disagree about how things should be done.

They are funny because they feel human.

Every Character Matters

Season Six brings back the ensemble that has become central to Abbott’s identity.

Quinta Brunson returns as Janine Teagues alongside Tyler James Williams as Gregory Eddie, Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard, Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti, Janelle James as Ava Coleman, Chris Perfetti as Jacob Hill and William Stanford Davis as Mr. Johnson.

One reason I remain so impressed with Abbott is that I would have difficulty identifying a disposable character in the group.

Janine’s optimism doesn’t feel like Barbara’s wisdom. Barbara’s confidence doesn’t feel like Melissa’s. Gregory’s restraint is completely different from Jacob’s enthusiasm, while Ava seems to operate according to a set of rules that could only have been written by Ava.

These aren’t simply different actors delivering similar sitcom jokes. The comedy comes from characters who have been given their own intelligence, history, rhythm and perspective.

That is exceptionally good writing.

Very few current sitcoms have developed a cast where virtually every combination of characters can produce its own comic chemistry.

Ava and Janine produce one kind of comedy. Barbara and Melissa have another. Jacob can be paired with almost anybody and somehow make the situation awkward. Gregory frequently works best when he is quietly reacting to the chaos happening around him.

And then there is Mr. Johnson.

Mr. Johnson Has a St. Louis Connection

Here’s something St. Louis viewers who love Abbott may not know: William Stanford Davis — the man behind the unforgettable Mr. Johnson — is one of ours.

Davis was born and raised in The Ville neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri.

Long before he became Abbott’s mysterious, opinionated and unexpectedly philosophical custodian, Davis grew up in St. Louis and attended Northwest High School before attending Lincoln University in Jefferson City.

He eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting and built a decades-long career before landing the role that introduced him to an entirely new generation of television viewers.

There is something particularly satisfying about watching a veteran St. Louis actor become one of the most beloved characters on one of television’s best comedies.

Mr. Johnson could have easily been written as the guy who occasionally walks into a scene with a mop.

Instead, Abbott turned him into Abbott’s resident conspiracy theorist, philosopher, utility player, occasional voice of reason and unpredictable source of information nobody knew they needed.

Davis makes every bit of it work.

Janine and Gregory Enter a New Chapter

One of the series’ longest-running stories has been the relationship between Janine and Gregory.

What began with glances, awkward timing and an obvious connection slowly evolved into a relationship that allowed the show to move beyond the familiar sitcom question of whether two characters will eventually get together.

Season Five pushed the relationship further into adult territory, including the realities of actually building a life together.

That gives Season Six an opportunity to explore something television comedies sometimes find more difficult than romantic anticipation: what happens after the couple finally chooses each other.

ABC has wisely avoided revealing enough about the new season to answer exactly where that story is headed.

Abbott has earned the right to let those developments happen inside the show rather than inside a trailer.

Approaching 100 Episodes

There is another milestone on the horizon.

During Season Six, Abbott Elementary is approaching its 100th episode — increasingly rare territory for a contemporary network comedy.

That number matters because Abbott arrived during an era when the traditional network sitcom had lost much of the cultural dominance it enjoyed during previous decades.

Streaming shortened seasons. Television audiences fragmented. Shows could become enormously popular without ever producing the 100-plus episodes once associated with successful broadcast comedy.

Abbott has moved in the opposite direction.

It has built its audience the old-fashioned way: characters, consistency and episodes that give viewers a reason to come back to the same workplace every week.

The Bell Rings Again October 7

Abbott Elementary does not need Season Six to reinvent the series.

Its challenge is more interesting than that.

The characters are older. Their relationships are deeper. The jokes have histories now. A glance between two teachers can be funny because viewers understand five seasons of context behind it.

That’s what longevity is supposed to give a sitcom.

For me, it is also confirmation of what my wife was trying to show me years ago when she kept putting Quinta Brunson clips in front of me.

There was something there.

Abbott revealed just how much.

Brunson didn’t simply create a successful comedy. She created a world populated by characters who are funny without being foolish, intelligent without being unbelievable and flawed without ever becoming disposable.

Five seasons later, I remain impressed by what she and the Abbott writing team have managed to build.

When the doors open again October 7, I’ll be watching.

At this point, I’m not simply checking in on another television show. I’m going back to school with characters I’ve grown to love — created by an artist whose work made me a fan long before Janine Teagues ever walked into Abbott Elementary.