In a world of streaming services and streaming shows like Stranger Things taking over the cinema space, network television is at a bigger risk more than ever. However, if there’s a show that proves that network content is yet to die and still has a lot of quality content, it’s Abbott Elementary. The stories told and characters introduced and developed over the course of its four seasons thus far have caused audiences to completely fall in love with the world of Abbott Elementary. With a 99% critic rating and 86% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the world’s opinions on the show’s quality are on full display, bringing in new viewers every season who want to check out what all the hype and excitement is about.
The series is hilarious, heartwarming, compelling, and entertaining in every way. The performances at play by every single cast member are phenomenal, the writing is sharp and witty and leaves viewers with a feel-good vibe at the end of every episode. The way it adapts the mockumentary style post-The Office (which is known for doing it best) is both perfectly executed while making it feel unique while doing the already established tropes very well. If all of the unsuccessful sitcoms and mockumentaries that have aired over the years have proven anything, it’s that it can be very hard to stand out in the genres and on network television overall. So, the love that Abbott Elementary has garnered through its own style is quite an accomplishment that’s not to be looked past.
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Season 3 (2024)
14 episodes
Every season of Abbott Elementary is great, but the least favorite seems to be considered Season 3. Some fans complained about slower pacing, they had to wait quite a long time due to the strikes happening in Hollywood, and the season was far shorter than Season 2, which had 22 episodes. Again, every season is great, and the same mentality applies to Season 3—just because it’s not the best of the four seasons, doesn’t mean that it’s bad. It’s still good for a plethora of reasons that cannot be denied.
Season 3 specifically had a bigger production budget, which means that even though it does have fewer episodes, each episode had a lot more money to be allocated to it. It had some wonderful character development and brought each character big steps forward in their personal arcs (specifically the relationship between Gregory Eddie (Tyler James Williams) and Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) finally coming to a head). The writers continued to find ways to keep the humor funny and unique after 35 episodes worth of series prior. Not to mention, it’s pretty hard to live up to the excellent two seasons that came before. So, it falling just a tad short of them is actually pretty understandable in the grand scheme of things.
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Season 4 (2024–2025)
22 episodes
While the slower pacing from Season 3 has spilled over into Season 4, it’s far better than before. Themes, at times, can feel repetitive and somewhat reused from previous seasons, but it’s not a dealbreaker… yet. Also, akin to what happened with Season 3, Abbott Elementary experienced a small setback with production due to the devastating California wildfires—which made things hard because the show is filmed in Southern California. This didn’t detract from the quality of the season, though, thankfully. In fact, the filmmakers and the entire team behind the show really handled the situation with grace, which gives them a lot more points in many people’s books. The spirit of the show is not only shown through the episodes themselves but in the production of the series, as well.
Like every single season, the humor is kept very sharp and interesting. Season 4 also got an incredible crossover with the classic comedy show, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia in Abbott Elementary Season 4, episode 9, “Volunteers.” The great character development also continues this season and keeps audiences engaged. The final episode of the season of the show, Abbott Elementary Season 4, episode 22, “Please Touch Museum,” airs April 16th, 2025, and people are not looking forward to waiting for another season, because the fourth has been such a fun ride. If Season 4 manages to stick the landing with its finale, there’s going to be so much to look forward to for the rest of the series to come. With Season 5 confirmed on the network, fans are already excited about what could come next.
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Season 1 (2021–2022)
13 episodes
The entire reason that Abbott Elementary has become such a success is because of how much people adored this first outing. It obviously had its flaws, like the fact that it was still defining their humor style; some Abbott Elementary characters took time to get well-established and liked by the audience; felt a tad formulaic at times, as they were discovering what made them unique; and it had a shorter season, leaving people wanting more. When looking at Season 1 on a grand scale, however, the pros manage to heavily outweigh the cons. It’s hard to deny the quality of this first outing when the proof is in the pudding of its three follow-up entries.
This also served as a good thing for the series, though, because it showed how well they managed to stick their landing with their big debut and left the network with a great impression of the potential for audience returns for a Season 2. Because of this, the show was quickly renewed for a sequel season that almost immediately jumped into production. It wasn’t perfect, of course (first seasons of comedy shows rarely are), but the tropes, characters, plots, and humor that it set up are what helped define the show. When the season really found its legs, it quickly became the Abbott Elementary became what it is today. There’s a reason so many people have fallen in love with these characters and the Abbott Elementary universe and the credit completely goes to Season 1 and how it was handled by the writers and directors behind it. It was clear early on that Quinta Brunson had created something truly special.
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Season 2 (2022–2023)
22 Episodes
If anyone on the internet can agree on anything, it’s that Season 2 of Abbott Elementary was the absolute peak of the show’s quality, humor, character work, and overall execution. It is also longer, which meant that viewers got to get far more of the series than they had before, which was a huge plus. This did lead to it having some filler episodes, but most viewers didn’t care all that much, as even the fillers were done excellently. Some felt that Ava Coleman’s (Janelle James) character arc could have been executed better, but it never deteriorated the plot in any way. Up until this point, Ava had always been more of a comedic relief character, so people weren’t as concerned about the furthering of her development at the time. But, arguably, it could’ve been done with a bit more finesse.
Truly, Season 2 is the best Abbott Elementary has been and remains the bar for the show to meet every week. The season delved further into its premise and dealt with more issues regarding the school and the public school system, which is what helps make the show unique compared to other mockumentary-style shows like Modern Family. Now that the characters had been established, they also began to really take big steps forward in developing them and taking them to places that would challenge them and layer their arcs. There’s so much to love about Season 2 of Abbott Elementary and one can only hope that when Season 5 makes its way to television screens (most likely in fall 2025), they get close to reaching the heights of Season 2. There are so many iconic episodes to look back on in this second outing that if one is looking to get their Abbott Elementary fix between the upcoming wait between fourth and fifth seasons, they’ll probably be heading to Season 2.
