It has Parks and Recreation’s sense of community, Modern Family’s precision-tooling, Ted Lasso’s charm, but it is its own, hilarious thing. Despite – or, of course, because of – the truth its underlying tale of real-life deprivation tells.
“Abbott Elementary” should be everyone’s new comedic obsession, with a cast that’s not only funny but who’ve already formed an honest, connective chemistry. Quinta Brunson’s sitcom always feels heartfelt, even when it’s criticizing a system that’s overworking teachers and letting down students.
There’s a nice type of simplicity when the racists like UncleWillard don’t try to be subtle and pretend they’re giving a 0 for any actual reasons pertaining to the product and just come out and tell you “too many blacks”.
About a show in an American PUBLIC school. In PHILLY.
“People” who are croaking “wOkE!” at literally everything are the same as the “F your feelings” type, which is hilariously ironic considering they are the most easily triggered, delicate snowflakes I’ve seen in my entire existence.
The show itself at times, early on more often, a little too early “Office-y” for the premise, honestly. But it eventually settled into a nice, little “Parks & Rec” adjacent spot. It’s not always laugh outloud funny, but it has a good heart, well-written and acted. Probably a solid 8, but since one of the Commandments happens to be, “All ‘Reviews’ on MC Must Follow the Decree of 0 or 10, Nothing In-Between,” it gets a 10. If you find you want to but can’t really get into it, try skipping further a few episodes.
Teachers have acted as “admin, social workers, therapists, second parents” for decades. That the series can find even light comedy in this sobering truth is a credit to its writers, and represents a solid start for this promising series.
So yes, "Abbott" is familiar but the early episodes also have charm, potentially meme-able moments and what ultimately may matter most — heart. The year is new but we may have an early winner.
Loved the first episode! Most of the "great" mockumentary sitcoms struggled early on - but Abbott Elementary has already had such a strong pilot I'm interested in seeing what's next. Definitely recommend anyone who enjoyed Parks and Rec, Modern Family, Brooklyn 99, or Superstore to check this one out
A show that follows in the same vein as "Parks & Recreation" & "The Office" but falls a long way short of those two. There is an element of charm & community within this show, but it plays it way too safe when there is a rich vein of material to take advantage of.
Just kind of okay. They try a little bit too hard with the mean comedy, and it comes across a little too much after a while as the same thing over and over again. Pretty funny how all the professional critics scored it high, because heaven forbid you give a low score through such a diverse show! LOL. You might lose your critic job doing such a thing.
it tried. It failed.
While the situations are all too recognizable for those who actually have taught in an urban setting, this show misses the delicate balance of truth, satire, and comedy needed to make this a successful show.
The stereotype characters and the acting were way too over the top. It became painful to watch after the first few minutes.
Not planning to watch again.