Featuring expressive facial expressions, great one-liners, all-round great cast, and hilarious camera glances delivered by Tyler James Williams, ABC's Abbott Elementary should be on your watchlist.


Created by Quinta Brunson (who also stars in the show), ABC's mockumentary sit-com Abbott Elementary follows the story of hardworking teachers in an underfunded elementary school in Philadelphia. The old teachers stay out of stubborn passion and routine while the new teachers come and go. Newer teachers, Janine (played by Quinta Brunson) and Jacob (played by Chris Perfetil) are determined to stick it out but Janine has a blind optimism/idealism about the school that constantly clashes with the realism of the older teachers.

Gregory (Tyler James Williams) is the rookiest rook initially meant to replace the last principal only to be hip-slammed by new publicity-crazy principal, Ava  (played by Janelle James) who's anything but qualified.



Each episode touches on a small problem that the school teachers have to solve in their own way with Janine and Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) constantly at odds with each other, while Gregory remains an unwilling participant in the school's drama. Jacob, the only other Caucasian teacher in the school tries to be liked by everyone.

There have been viewers' and critics' concerns on the lack of a pandemic in the Elementary School's little universe but make-believe doesn't always have to reflect our reality, does it? While the workplace mockumentary may be done and won by The Office,  each Abbott Elementary actor's skill at staring wide-eyed into the camera is very hard to hate.


As with the best sitcoms, you'd find that with Abbott Elementary, you're not really there for the plot but the character quirks and interactions - Janine's nervous oversharing and need for parental validation, Melissa's association with illegal activities, Ava's quips and comedic timing and Tariq's somewhat off-beat freestyle.


Stats worth mentioning

Abbott Elementary S1E02 has the strongest rating for ABC comedy since the series finale of Modern Family 

100% Rating on Rotten Tomatoes

 8.1/10 on IMDB


Abbott Elementary is streaming on Hulu.