Why ‘Abbott Elementary’ deserves to be an awards season juggernaut

In its second season, ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” isn’t just the best sitcom on network television, which is now a bit like calling something the tastiest pasta in a hardware store; it’s rapidly growing into perhaps the finest comedy on the small screen, period. That’s no small boast for a show that fairly came out of nowhere when it launched last December to universally stellar reviews and decent but hardly overwhelming audience interest. That changed as word-of-mouth started to spread.

By the time the Quinta Brunson-created urban school comedy finished up its initial run of 13 episodes in April, it was no longer a secret that this freshman was already starting to look like a valedictorian. Six Gold Derby Awards nominations followed, as did four Television Critics Association Awards triumphs (more than any other program) and a nom for the prestigious Humanitas Prize – no small feat for a show in its first season. Then came the Emmys and seven nominations (including one for Best Comedy Series) and wins for supporting player Sheryl Lee Ralph, for Brunson’s roundly clever pilot script, and for the series’ exquisite casting.

Now that “Abbott” has in its sophomore campaign picked up creatively right where it left off and scored 100% Fresh on the Rotten Tomatometer with critics, the question has to be asked: is this already the funniest and most vivid TV comedy ever set in a grade school? The answer: maybe.

To be sure, the show – about a group of teachers and their students at a funding-challenged but scrappy Philadelphia elementary school – has already overcome some long odds to carve out a niche and thrive in the comedy graveyard that has come to be network primetime. It’s looking to follow in the prodigious awards footsteps of its ABC predecessor “Modern Family,” which carted off five consecutive top comedy series Emmys between 2010 and 2014 and 22 Emmy wins in all (tying no less than “All in the Family” in overall triumphs).

Now we’re about to find out if “Abbott” can parlay its Emmy wings (thank you for that memorable acceptance speech, Sheryl Lee Ralph) and continually expanding buzz to plant its gold seeds throughout the Golden Globes and SAG Awards as well as the WGA and DGA kudofests. The guess here is that the show will dominate at the SAGs via Brunson, Ralph and co-star Janelle James (as uproariously inept principal Ava Coleman) and leave a significant victorious footprint on the awards world in 2023.

“Abbott Elementary” will deserve every awards season honor it takes back to campus.

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What’s different about this show that separates it from all previous TV series about the teaching profession is that it doesn’t put the students front and center. Oh, they’re there, all right, but they aren’t stereotypically big personalities who dominate the storyline, either. That differentiates it from “Welcome Back, Kotter” and “Boston Public,” to name a few.

Moreover, “Abbott” manages to be both hilarious and painstakingly realistic. That’s likely no accident. Creator-star Brunson was inspired by the experiences of her real-life mother, who was a kindergarten teacher at a school with similar struggles to those experienced at Abbott Elementary: overwork, district apathy, minimal funding, low pay, nearly non-existent supplies.

My wife Jill was an elementary teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District for 22 years, and she affirms the realism at the heart of the show. “It’s right on the money,” she believes. “I’m not talking about the laughs. We never laughed our way through the pain. But it’s so well-observed.”

Jill cites as an example how Brunson’s teacher character Janine Teagues found one of her students had urinated on a classroom rug and then spent weeks trying to get it replaced. “That’s so how it really is,” she tells me. “But beyond that, what I really love and appreciate is how much the teachers care. Not all of them are great, of course, but in this show, they’re always trying hard to rise above their circumstances. No one has contempt for the children. They only want what’s best for them. You rarely see that on TV.”

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The “Abbott” mockumentary conceit feels like an overused device at this point, but the show doesn’t abuse it. The characters rarely speak directly to the camera. At the same time, there are no perpetually troubled kids or bullies taking over the screen, so the audience doesn’t feel like it’s being played or manipulated.

Of course, realism doesn’t necessarily equate to big laughs. The best workplace comedies (“Cheers,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” “The Office,” “30 Rock,” “Taxi”) work because their eccentric characters mesh so beautifully together. That too is what elevates “Abbott Elementary,” whose ensemble felt instantly familiar and continues to grow on us like a well-worn pair of jeans.

The sharp jokes and flights of character silliness keep us in stitches yet never overwhelm the basic premise that these are people battling to survive and thrive amid daily (often hourly) challenges. Clearly, Brunson and her fellow writers and producers understand the public school world and what makes it tick. They’ve done their homework, much like the students in their fictitious institution. Because we laugh and struggle right along with the teachers, we can’t help but root for them – and, by extension, their show.

So, don’t be surprised if “Abbott Elementary” becomes the The Big Thing during awards season. The Emmy and TCA Awards honors are the mere appetizer at the golden buffet. You can safely bet that the entrees will be served starting in January.

PREDICT the 2023 SAG Awards nominees through January 10

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