Emmy season is in full swing, and on Tuesday night, the cast and creatives behind Quinta Brunson’s “Abbott Elementary” assembled to discuss their critically acclaimed hit series at the prestigious Academy Museum. After screening episode 21, “Rally,” the mostly Television Academy members in the audience were given an early viewing of the season four finale, “Please Touch Museum,” which saw the cast head to Philadelphia for some rare, on-site filming.
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The Q&A after featured creator and star Brunson, who plays second-grade teacher Janine; Tyler James Williams, better known as first-grade teacher Gregory; Lisa Anne Walter, who portrays South Philly’s own second-grade teacher Melissa; Emmy-winner and industry legend Sheryl Lee Ralph, who is the one and only god-featuring kindergarten mother Barbara; Chris Perfetti, the now eighth grade teacher who reps the LGBTQ+ community on staff; and William Stanford Davis, who is the school’s overqualified custodian, Mr. Johnson.
Also joining the panel were showrunners and executive producers Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker, as well as director and executive producer Randall Einhorn.
A ton of topics were covered over the 40-minute Q&A, but one of the most consequential focused on how the series integrated the long “will they or won’t they” relationship between Janine and Gregory. Many series have let these unrequited romances drag on till often the end of their run. “Abbott” only let the flirting last until the end of the third season, when Janine and Gregory finally acknowledged their feelings for each other. Season four integrated the relationship into the show as a consistent narrative thread.
Halpern revealed that their co-creator, Brunson, never wanted viewers to think of “Abbott” as the ‘Janine and Gregory’ show. It was a core relationship and storyline, but framing the series as an ensemble narrative was the priority. That turned out to put substantially less pressure on the writing staff to have to deal with the character’s relationship every week.
“I think it allowed us to also play that relationship slower in a way that feels more organic to real life,” Halpern says. “That’s one of my favorite things about this show is that I don’t feel like we ever rush anything. The cast never reaches for anything. And in the writer’s room, we try to never rush anything. And I think that combination allows us to tell these really fun stories that are sometimes so small. But that becomes some of my favorite episodes.”
Schumacker added, “I think we took as long as humanly possible to get them together before people rioted.”
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A veteran of several long-running programs, Williams admitted having the characters together was something he was “kind of concerned” about before the season began. Especially since it was new territory in the show’s fourth season. And, notably, the “pining of these two” was a major storyline up until that point.
“I think there was a concern of like, ‘Well then what do we fill that space with?’ And it has been nice over the course of the season as we were kind of playing with it, stuff that was on the page and then stuff that we would find in moments that made it its own thing,” Williams says. “There was one scene in [the episode] ‘Dad Fight’ where Gregory’s going back and forth about whether or not he’s going to fight this dad or not. And people keep coming into his room, and there was a moment that Quinta found when she came in. Gregory asked everybody to leave, and she kind of adlibbed, ‘I can be here whenever I want to be.’ And it was then the claiming of Janine that I think now we’re leaning into a little bit more. It creates new dynamics. And I think that’s what’s really nice when a show is brave enough to take their characters to places that they haven’t been before, is you find new things and new colors. In this show, we have a little bit of Janine’s jealousy that now pops up. That’s fun to play with.”
Bruonson continued, “I think it was fun too because for three seasons, our characters were just such dorks who were afraid to touch each other, and we were like, ‘Oh, these characters can touch each other now. They can actually hug and put their arms around each other.’ And I think that it’s nice…as an actor and as a writer to watch people be so excited about those little moments. To watch grown people be like, ‘Oh my God, he touched her shoulder!’ I think that’s really sweet and very K-drama of us too. Make those moments really big.”
One of the other big storylines this season saw principal Ava lose her job (temporarily) over a bribery scandal with a new local golf club. Fans might have been worried that this meant Ava’s character might exit the show, but James didn’t skip a beat. She knew she was safe.
“I wish it was as dramatic as people are making it because Quinta gave me a heads up like a week before, which is such a nice boss to tell you,” James said. “She didn’t want me to be shocked that the table read. Although I feel like she thinks I don’t read those script before we get there. Maybe she’s mixing me up with my character.”
As the audience laughs, Brunson pleads her case, “You never know. We move fast. You never know. We were in at five o’clock in the morning. I don’t know, sometimes!”
James deadpans, “I read, I saw, I wasn’t concerned, and never felt more secure in my position. So, I was happy she told me, but I knew, again, excellent writing that it would be for a reason. I almost never left if you watch the show. But I knew it would be a vehicle to reveal even more about her. And what it did was to show that she never slips, she never falls, and it was their loss. So, I love that about her that she kept it moving, and that’s another reveal about her character. She’s a hustler. That’s what is behind her. Yeah. Her personality is a hustler. So I love that. That was how it played out.”
The three-time Emmy nominee also spoke about how much she continues to learn on the set every day.
“Even though I’m not directing, I’m watching Tyler direct and I’m seeing how well he’s doing it. I’m learning physical comedy from, um, Chris. That’s this guy.”
As the audience laughs, Perfetti, sitting to her direct right, dramatically turns away, pretending to be offended.
With perfect comedic timing, James zings, “It’s been a couple of weeks. I don’t talk to them when we’re not working.”
Even more laughter.
“And so, yeah, so lucky. And then also people are extensive with their skills. They will explain things to you and trust you with the work,” James says, getting serious. “And that’s amazing.”
“Abbott Elementary” season four is available on Hulu
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