'Abbott Elementary' Season 3 Fate Revealed
After picking up more awards at the Golden Globes Tuesday night, ABC quickly renewed Abbott Elementary for a third season. The hit workplace comedy was created by Quinta Brunson, who also stars as teacher Janine Teagues. Abbott Elementary won Best TV Series, Best Actress for Brunson, and Best Supporting Actor for Tyler James Williams in the comedy or musical categories.
Abbott Elementary is set at a fictional, predominantly Black Philadelphia elementary school, where a documentary crew is filming. Williams plays Gregory Eddie, a substitute who becomes a full-time teacher in Season 2. Janelle James plays the school's inept, self-absorbed principal, Ava Coleman. Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti, and Sheryl Lee Ralph also play teachers. William Stanford Davis plays the school's bizarre custodian, Mr. Johnson.
"This renewal is a richly deserved feather in the cap of Quinta Brunson, Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, and Randall Einhorn, as well as the rest of the cast and crew of Abbott Elementary," Channing Dungey, the chairman, and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group, said in a statement Wednesday. "Each week, this talented group of artists celebrates true unsung heroes – public school teachers. And for some extra icing on the renewal cake, our favorite group of teachers was honored this morning with two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations and last night with three Golden Globe Awards. Abbott Elementary is the gift that keeps on giving, and I look forward to many more magnificent episodes of this brilliant, authentic, and just plain funny series."
The series debuted in the middle of the 2021-2022 TV season and became a surprise hit as viewers discovered it on Hulu. ABC renewed it for a second season, which debuted in September and will run 22 episodes. The series is averaging 3.9 million total viewers and a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic, with Live+7 data included.
Season 1 was nominated for Oustanding Comedy Series at the Primetime Emmys. Brunson won Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, while Ralph won Oustanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Wendy O'Brien also won an Emmy for Outstanding Casting. When the show won the top comedy series prize at the Golden Globes Tuesday night, it was the first network comedy to do so in nine years.
"You can't tell a story about a West Philadelphia public school without just being truthful about the environment," Brunson told reporters of the diversity of the show, notes The Hollywood Reporter. "That was one of the things that was exciting to me about making Abbott. I don't really have to fight too much to have diversity that is perceived with such reverence, but it really is just the story that we're telling."
Abbott Elementary Season 2 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. New episodes are available to stream on Hulu Thursdays.