Would you say there’s an overarching mission statement or theme for this season?
QUINTA BRUNSON (Creator/Janine Teagues):More fun is the goal.
And seeing a little more of the outside lives of the teachers.
Tyler James Williams and Janelle James.Chris McPherson for EW
Getting them out of the school a bit more.
CHRIS PERFETTI (Jacob):I have a lot of teachers I pissed off, certainly.
[Laughs] None really that I’m basing Jacob off of.
William Stanford Davis and Sheryl Lee Ralph.Chris McPherson for EW
But it’s been this real karmic full circle.
SHERYL LEE RALPH (Barbara Howard):In my family, we are covered with teachers.
For generations, education has been seen as the great equalizer.
Quinta Brunson and Chris Perfetti.Chris McPherson for EW
And that was a five-letter word, T-H-I-N-K. And it has served me my whole life.
No matter what happens, I’m going to think through it.
So, I dedicate Mrs. Howard to my dad, Dr. Ralph.
Janelle James.Chris McPherson for EW
Every year on his birthday, I’ll get a note from students.
And I’m like, “That’s a great teacher right there.”
LISA ANN WALTER (Melissa Schemmenti):Mine was my mom.
Quinta Brunson.Chris McPherson for EW
She was a teacher and taught in DC for decades.
She started in a one-room schoolhouse in Pennsylvania where she taught everything from kindergarten to high school.
And during the harvest, they all left to go back to the farm.
Tyler James Williams.Chris McPherson for EW
She was very much like Melissa Schemmenti she was tough; she was loving.
She didn’t take any mess, but she would kill for her kids.
WILLIAM STANFORD DAVIS (Mr. Johnson):Mine was my Aunt Helen, my mother’s older sister.
Tyler James Williams, Chris Perfetti, and William Stanford Davis.Chris McPherson for EW
Quinta’s character reminds me of her.
BRUNSON:Janine will not be doing that.
DAVIS:It was a different time.
Sheryl Lee Ralph.Chris McPherson for EW
WALTER:This was back in the day, kids.
RALPH:They used to beat children.
DAVIS:With the parents' permission.
William Stanford Davis, Chris Perfetti, Janelle James, and Tyler James Williams.Chris McPherson for EW
WALTER:Sometimes with the parents' encouragement.
RALPH:Here, let’s all have a sip.
Are we drinking to corporal punishment?
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams, and Janelle James.Chris McPherson for EW
RALPH:No, not at all!
We’re drinking to the end of corporal punishment, and to the end of Janelle’s drink.
Janelle, are you almost finished?
Chris Perfetti.Chris McPherson for EW
JANELLE JAMES (Principal Ava):I guess I’m thirsty.
TYLER JAMES WILLIAMS (Gregory Eddie):I mean, what can we say?
BRUNSON:I don’t mind you guys talking about some of this stuff.
Lisa Ann Walter.Chris McPherson for EW
No, yes I do, sorry.
BRUNSON:We’ll be going home and out with them more.
We wanted people to feel like they wanted to work at or went to Abbott.
Janelle James, Tyler James Williams, Chris Perfetti, William Stanford Davis, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Lisa Ann Walter, and Quinta Brunson.Chris McPherson for EW
This season, they know us well.
They know the teachers well.
They know the school well.
But I still believe a workplace comedy should take place in the workplace.
So, it’s not like we’ll be turned into a whole other show.
JAMES:I heard party!
I want to know what Mr. Johnson’s home life looks like.
Are we going to see that?
DAVIS:He’s got a fly crib.
We drop hints about Mr. Johnson’s life all throughout the season.
The writers have a fun time adding new tidbits to his life.
And to us, the character’s ageless.
We don’t know what time period he’s existed in.
RALPH:I see lots of black velvet pictures.
I see neon white light, and it’s in the dining room.
I see something like that.
DAVIS:Black light posters in the dining room?
DAVIS:I’m going to have to have another drink.
Speaking of parties, you guys premiered in December last year and mostly ran through the spring.
So, you missed some of the sitcom hallmarks here the Halloween episode, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.
Are those things we might see the teachers celebrate?
BRUNSON:Yes, and I’m really, really excited about them.
WILLIAMS:We’re in the middle of one right now.
It’s going to be really fun.
We get to do a couple of different holidays.
Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, our version of Black History Month.
How many HR violations would Ava make at a teacher holiday party?
JAMES:Ooh, she’s doing it during school hours.
I don’t think the setting makes a difference.
WILLIAMS:We’ve never seen Ava drunk, have we?
We love that about Ava.
Another thing that I think of, when I think of school, is the school play.
Is that something that you’ve talked about bringing into the action?
WILLIAMS:We have a lot of episodes we can do is what I’m realizing from these questions.
We can run for awhile.
RALPH:I don’t even know if we’d do just a play.
We’d have to do a musical… with maybe some help from the teachers.
WALTER:Everybody here sings.
The whole cast sings.
WILLIAMS:We’ve got options.
BRUNSON:We really like to go toward the unconventional for the show.
And I find those to be a little bit more interesting right now.
Abbott Elementary is in the shadow of the Eagles Stadium.
Might we go to a game this season or play more with that proximity?
Ava, Mr. Johnson.
The Eagles play a big part in our world.
So, keep being good, Eagles.
I really don’t want to have to write you out.
RALPH:It looks like a great date night place, right?
BRUNSON:The Eagles games?
WILLIAMS:That’s a very Philadelphia date night.
That would be a very, very Philly date night.
Wouldn’t that be a rough date night?
I feel like Eagles fans are notoriously intense.
WILLIAMS:Yeah, it wouldn’t be a great time to have a conversation.
BRUNSON:You get to see who somebody really is at an Eagles game.
That’s actually not bad.
WALTER:The set decorators have done an amazing job.
The classrooms reflect the different teachers' personalities.
They’re creating a world that goes along with what the creators are doing.
BRUNSON:The writers work hand-in-hand with set dec. We have a bottle of vitamins on their desks or whatever.
WALTER:And teachers notice that stuff.
Sometimes on social media they’ll say, “That looks like my desk.”
They love the touches that feel like them.
BRUNSON:And it’s not even just the teachers either.
My own selfies are in my office.
Did you pick them out Janelle?
JAMES:No, I just walked in, and then I was everywhere.
BRUNSON:Oh my god!
JAMES:It’s all right.
PERFETTI:I remember the first time I walked into my room.
I felt very at home.
I was like, “Oh yes, here’s my room.”
BRUNSON:My mom, her room is an extension of her.
And I took that really seriously with the classrooms.
They’re all an extension of the specific teacher.
Even Mr. Johnson’s closet
DAVIS:I have a closet.
RALPH:But it’s fancy.
WALTER:And you have lights and stuff in there, like hanging lights?
DAVIS:I have one light.
BRUNSON:We know from these little specific things.
[Laughs]
What does a single Janine look like for both her and her co-workers?
BRUNSON:Single Janine is very new.
She had a break-up, so it’s sadness mixed with ambition and optimism.
It’s a different version of growing up for her.
For the rest of these teachers, I’m really excited with how they each support her.
But in that support is also, “Grow up, girl.
We’ve grown up a long time ago and we want you to join us.”
Gregory has made the decision to stay as a teacher, even though that wasn’t his original plan.
So what does that mean for him?
Does he need to do some professional development because he wanted to be a principal and not a teacher?
WILLIAMS:He definitely does.
He’s never had to prep a year.
He’s never had to run that classroom for an extended period of time.
So, that’s what I really liked about season 2.
I like seeing challenges in front of me.
And he’s going to have a bunch of those as he tries to adjust.
WALTER:Cover your ears, Janine.
WILLIAMS:They go hand in hand for him, in a way.
And at times, they can lean on one another.
But yeah, he’s going to have to really grapple with the dream deferred at some point.
This is not what he intended to see for his life.
It keeps you together for life, but you never really cross that line?
Now I’m wondering, are they life partners or are they life friends?
BRUNSON:Tune in to find out.
Stan, you’re a series regular now.
What does that mean for Mr. Johnson?
He is the surprising enigma ofAbbott Elementary.
DAVIS:It’s great.
I mean, look who I get to work with every day.
And I’m doing my grandmother.
And I say what’s on my mind.
I say it like I see it.
I lovedThe Breakfast Clubtribute in the season finale.
Will we get more pop culture moments like that from Mr. Johnson or others?
BRUNSON:That one felt really organic.
I’m not that dependent on pop culture to tell stories, but if it feels right.
The writers were super into that one.
The writers convinced me, because spoiler alert, I’ve never seenThe Breakfast Club.
WILLIAMS:You should have never said that on the internet.
Did you not fix that after the episode?
Whether you knowThe Breakfast Clubor not."
DAVIS:I’ve learned so much from them.
I didn’t know who Jojo Seabass
WALTER:Siwa.
DAVIS:Siwa, yeah.
I had to go and call my nephews and ask, “Who is this?”
WALTER:I do the same thing.
I was in a scene with Janelle and said, “What does Dipset mean?”
She very obligingly told me.
We also saw Barbara is starting to ponder retirement.
What does that mean for her this season?
yo tell us she’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
We need educators that know how to educate to stay in the game.
So, she will not be retired like an old, crepe-y lizard.
She will stay in the game and remain Mrs. Howard.
WALTER:And age like fine wine.
Transitioning out of education is real for teachers.
DAVIS:Teachers should make as much money as doctors.
Their job is just as important, and they should make that throw in of money.
WALTER:Two more drinks, and we’ll have the tax situation figured out.
Lisa Ann, Melissa is wounded by her divorce, but she started exploring a romance in season 1.
Are we going to see more of that from her?
RALPH:Who’s talking?
Is it Melissa or Lisa Ann?
Jacob is so well meaning, often too much so.
But we probably spent the least amount of time in his classroom of all the teachers.
Are we going to get to know more about him as a teacher this year?
My kids are not boring, but
WILLIAMS:They’re also older.
RALPH:But they do come for you.
We can’t go there."
It’s weird the geography of the school in our heads.
But I’m excited to say we’ll be on the second floor a lot more this year.
We saw Ava’s leverage dry up at the end of last season.
Is she going to be better at her job?
Or is that not in her DNA?
JAMES:I thought that we established that she’s pretty good, the first season.
Am I going to be better at my job?
I’ll be sufficient.
That’s Ava’s mode.
And what was the rest of the question?
She knows a little bit more what’s on the line now.
So, how will she rise to that challenge?
JAMES:What’s on the line, her being fired?
It’s not on the line anymore.
She thinks she hooked it up.
I feel like there’s going to be more of the same, which was just enough.
WILLIAMS:I love sufficient.
JAMES:She’s not afraid of being fired at this point.
How much is she going to ratchet up her attempts to seduce Gregory?
WILLIAMS:Can we even answer that?
I will say, we have a lot of really good stuff.
You don’t want to know, trust me.
You want the ride.
JAMES:Ava’s still Ava, I’ll put it that way.
WILLIAMS:Yes, very much, that’s a great way to put it.
JAMES:People should ask themselves, “Do they want her to be better at her job?
Is that good TV?”
WALTER:All the time.
PERFETTI:That’s our entire experience of watching the show.
WALTER:Or, “I didn’t know that he was making a face behind me.”
WILLIAMS:Or, “I didn’t know they saw that.”
There’s a lot of that, or “I didn’t know they caught that.”
You want to be completely present in the scene because you never know what they’re going to catch.
It feels like when I used to do theater.
PERFETTI:I usually find the experience of watching myself on camera mildly torturous.
But I was so interested to see how it was all going to come together.
It continues to grow every show.
Sometimes we text each other and say, “That was great what you did.”
People love this show for its mix of humor and earnest heart.
But has there been a joke you wanted to include that was too risque for the tone?
Or standards and practices was like, “Nope?”
BRUNSON:There’s so much stuff we shoot that doesn’t make it.
It gets cut out.
We shoot a lot.
I can think of a few that I feel like I still shouldn’t even say on here.
JAMES:I surprisingly can’t think of any.
I feel like we get away with a lot.
They do a good job of making risque things clever.
Janelle, you’ve mentioned you’ve done some improvising.
What is the wildest thing you’ve said on the show?
JAMES:I mean, “Back my tasty ass up.”
WILLIAMS:It’s iconic though, truly iconic.
JAMES:I didn’t think that would fly, and it’s in there.
So, now anything goes in my head.
BRUNSON:We always can shoot it.
JAMES:As I always say, the script comes to us funny.
I don’t ever feel the need to punch-up or anything like that.
Then, I’ll say what I think.
But the jokes are already in there.
Melissa has this extreme Italian-ness to her.
How much are you going to continue to riff on that or even make it sillier?
WALTER:We’re in a sweet spot with it.
It’s very much the people that I know that are my Sicilian people in the Northeast.
They are so immersed in it.
They revel in it.
They talk about their culture and their food and they’ve got their own words they sprinkle in.
The writers have done a great job at doing the right balance there.
It’s a part of who she is.
It’ll be like, “My aunt Yola.
My cousin Annette,” and these are real people.
That means I’ll get really good pastries when I go home.
What’s the best response you’ve received from a real teacher who watches the show?
Like, “It’s really that bad.”
Or, “it’s really that ridiculous or funny.”
Not just teachers, but educators, right down to the janitor, the principal.
Everybody felt as if they were being seen and people were understanding their journey.
BRUNSON:For me, the craziest response has been people saying they wanted to become teachers now.
That I was not anticipating.
That was totally out of left field.
We did not start writing the show going, “We want to make teachers feel seen.”
We knew we had these real stories and they made for humor.
I was kind of shocked.
She was very like, “Holy sh–!”
But the people being like, “I think I’m going to become a teacher now.”
I was like, “After watching this?”
If you were going to be a teacher, what subject and grade would you be best at?
I love to read.
I was the Spelling Bee champion.
I’m a nerd.
PERFETTI:Spell “Onomatopoeia.”
JAMES:O-N-E-M-P I’m drunk.
[Laughs]
PERFETTI:I would be a science teacher.
Science was my thing.
And when they get to high school, they’re over it, so, middle school.
BRUNSON:Mixed media, for middle school.
It’s sorely lacking.
DAVIS:A combination of Quinta and Sheryl theater, arts.
WALTER:U.S. History and politics.
I live for the arguments.
At the height of the Norman Lear era, sitcoms used to do crossover episodes.
JAMES:One of my favorite sitcoms growing up wasRoseanne, the original.
That’s the same kind of tone maybe.
That’d be cute.
I’ll go with that only because I’m on the spot.
RALPH:I’d probably go back toMoesha, as an older Dee.
Dee was an assistant principal.
BRUNSON:I was about to say, that makes total sense.
JAMES:Janine and Leslie Knope get together, and get on everybody’s nerves.
JAMES:Same tone too, same class.
WALTER:Leah Remini is Melissa’s sister.
BRUNSON:I can see it.
I can see Doug in the school for no reason getting on Ava’s nerves.
Arthur’s in the mix.
JAMES:Doug is our delivery guy.
That would be amazing.
WILLIAMS:I have a pitch.
It’sThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but before he leaves Philly.
BRUNSON:That’s great!
I yell at Tyler once a week, “like become a producer later.”
DAVIS:I’d probably sayGood Timesbecause of where it takes place, and the father was a janitor.
It took place in the projects, and a lot of our show’s students come from lower-income areas.
RALPH:Oh, I’m going withP-Valleythen.
JAMES:Barbara after dark!
To bring us home, Sheryl will you say it?
RALPH:Oh my god.
“Sweet baby Jesus and the grown one too!”
BRUNSON:Youhaveto start charging people for that.
Abbott Elementaryreturns Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
