Attention students! School is out for the summer. After a 22-episode run and a dramatic Season Two finale on April 19, Quinta Brunson’s hilarious sitcom is officially on summer break. Don’t worry—we’ll all return to Abbott Elementary next year. ABC renewed the series for a third season back in January—and really, we can’t say we’re surprised. The show is comedy gold.
Abbott Elementary follows an underfunded public school in Philadelphia, its lovable teachers, and rambunctious students. Since its premiere in 2021, the show has steadily grown in popularity, pulling in millions of viewers each week. During the Golden Globes, Brunson and her co-star, Tyler James Williams, both won awards for their performances on the show. Brunson took home the trophy for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Television Series, while Williams won Best supporting Actor in a Musical, Comedy, or Drama Television Series.
After a tense will-they-won’t-they romance built up between Brunson and Williams’s characters Jeanine and Gregory all season long, the two finally addressed their feelings for one another in the April finale. Though it didn’t go exactly the way we’d all hoped, the writers left plenty of room for that to change in Season Three. “They’re not on the same page exactly,” co-showrunner Patrick Schumacker told Decider, “but Gregory’s accepted reluctantly what the determination was at the end, and I think that’s gonna keep up some of the dramatic tension in Season Three.”
Abbott Elementary‘s other co-showrunner, Justin Halpern, revealed to Decider that a larger theme for Season Three has been decided as well. “The second season ended up talking about charter schools and the push and pull of those, and the first season was sort of about the challenges of being woefully underfunded,” he said. “And so I think we have an idea, we’ve talked with Quinta, and I think there’s a larger overarching idea that we’ve sort of landed on for Season Three that I think is really interesting and I’ve never seen it on TV before.”
While there is no date yet for Season Three’s premiere, the co-showrunners expect another 22-episode run. Season Two ran from September 2022 to April 2023, so we can hope for a September 2023 return if that schedule remains consistent. Right on time for back-to-school season.
Not to wish the summer away—hopefully Jeanine gets to take another well-deserved Ocean City trip over the break—but we can’t wait to get back to Abbott in the fall. In the meantime, you can catch up on Abbott Elementary on Hulu.
Associate Staff Writer
Bria McNeal is a Manhattan based journalist who is patiently awaiting B5’s revival. When she’s not writing about all things entertainment, she can be found watching TV or trying to DIY something (likely, at the same time). Her work has appeared in NYLON, Refinery29, InStyle, and her personal newsletter, StirCrazy.
Assistant Content Strategy Editor
Lauren Kranc is the assistant content strategy editor at Esquire, where she runs the brand’s social media accounts and covers pop culture and television, with entirely too narrow an expertise on true crime shows