On Wednesday, December 4th, ABC aired an hour-long Holiday special of Abbott Elementary, premiering at a new time slot of 8 p.m. Abbott’s program consisted of two 30-minute episodes, “Winter Show” and “Winter Break.”
For those unfamiliar with the series, Abbott Elementary is a workplace mockumentary sitcom that follows a dedicated group of teachers and a ruthless principal and janitor, at Willard R. Abbott Elementary School in Philadelphia. Despite their clashing personalities, differing teaching styles, and limited resources, they remain committed to fostering a supportive learning environment for all students.
In the two most recent episodes, viewers get the chance to meet more of Jacob’s (Chris Perfetti) and Melissa’s (Lisa Ann Walter) families, along with seeing Janine (Quinta Brunson) and Gregory’s (Tyler James Williams) first Christmas together as a couple.
“Winter Show”
In Season 4’s seventh episode, the school dives into holiday festivities as they prepare for an upcoming Christmas performance before Winter break. Janine enthusiastically choreographs a dance to DMC’s classic “Christmas in Hollis” to a group of unimpressed students while Ava (Janine James) decorates the stage with a Christmas tree and piles of presents. Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) takes center stage with her kindergarten class, planning to headline the show and perform “Deck the Halls.”
However, the preparations hit a snag when Khadija, a young Muslim girl in Barbara’s class tells her teacher, “I can’t do the Christmas show we don’t celebrate it.” Barbara then witnesses the young girl being teased by a few of her classmates for not celebrating Christmas. All Khadija wants is to perform on stage with her classmates but because of all the non-secular decorations and activities, she is not able to.
Much to the dismay of the other Abbott teachers, Barabara decides to change the “Christmas Show” into the “Winter Show.” She changes all of the Christmas decorations into snowflakes and Winter-themed backdrops, ensuring that everyone can join in the celebration. Abbott Elementary shows how easy it is to include and care for marginalized characters within a story. It does not have to be a big thing to be inclusive, both in real life and on screen.
Meanwhile, the episode introduces Jacob’s younger brother Caleb (played by Tyler Perez), whose personality overshadows much of Jacob’s presence. The brothers have a heart-to-heart conversation about their relationship as Jacob overcomes his past feelings about his younger sibling.
Despite the teachers’ careful planning, the Winter show doesn’t go exactly as planned. But the students end up singing an amusing Holiday song they wrote themselves, bringing the entire school together. The episode ends with Khadija’s mother thanking Barbara for letting her daughter participate in the show.
“Winter Break”
Stepping away from the classroom, the second-holiday episode follows the teachers’ personal lives on Christmas Eve. Melissa hosts a traditional Schemmenti family dinner, which, as expected, comes with its fair share of chaos. Dealing with family members who hold opposing political and ideological views is a common situation for many. As for Melissa, her Uncle Archie immediately makes comments about her coworkers and friends. He calls her get-together “progressive” at the sight of Barabara and her husband and refers to Jacob as a “Nancy.”
Throughout the episode, there ends up being a more serious situation with Uncle Archie. But Melissa tries to ignore the problem as she focuses on impressing her overly critical Italian family. Ultimately, Melissa’s mother calls her food almost as good as her Nonna’s and her sister compliments her party, saying it was almost “one of the best Schemmenti dinners ever.”
For Janine and Grgeory, it is their first Christmas together as a couple. As they decide what Christmas movie to watch together in their matching holiday onesies, they are interrupted by an unexpected guest at the door, Ava. Gregory confronts Ava, knowing that she is not spending Christmas with her family. In a rare moment of vulnerability, she admits that she does not have a great relationship with her father. Ava ends up revealing that she has Christmas Eve plans after all. She was just killing time before going out to the club.
Throughout the episode, Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) makes multiple appearances dressed as Santa, delivering gifts tailored to his coworkers’ biggest insecurities or “worst” personality traits. The episode wraps up with Mr. Johnson heading off to the North Pole, a local strip club.
Following the Classic Sitcom Format
“We came out at the right time. You know we came out at a time where comedies were leaning kind of dark and we came out with a truth sitcom format. It is a subject matter that a lot of people can relate to. Everyone has gone to school and had teachers.”
Janelle James
Janelle James, known for playing the brutally honest principal of Abbott Elementary, recently did an interview with Good Morning America’s Lara Spencer. In the interview, she discussed how Abbott is following the true “sitcom format” to time their episodes to the current season. There is something about a Holiday sitcom special that feels “old-school” and nostalgic, especially gathering around the TV to watch with family.
Abbott’s Growing Success
Abbott Elementary is currently one of the funniest sitcoms, let alone shows, on television. The recent episodes follow the exciting news that Abbott Elementary’s Season 4 surpassed 9 million viewers. When the season opener initially aired on ABC back in early October, it averaged around 2.1 live viewers. This number then quadrupled to over 9 million viewers through streaming services such as ABC, Hulu, and Disney+. As seasons continue, their viewership and engagement are only increasing.
The series also has earned critical acclaim once again with the recent Critic’s Choice Awards and Golden Globes nominee announcements. Abbott’s creator and lead star, Quinta Brunson is nominated for Critic’s Choice Best Actress in a Comedy Series and Golden Globes’ Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Television Series. Tyler James Williams and Janelle James came away with nominations for Critics Choice Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. As a whole, Abbott Elementary was nominated for Best Comedy Series for both of the award shows.
In her interview with Good Morning America, Janelle James said it best, Abbott continues to attract audiences and is so successful because, plain and simple, they are funny. The characters, the storylines, everything. The sitcom is an appointment TV show for so many every single week because of its light-hearted, heartwarming, and humorous fun. The show is set to return in the new year on January 8th.
Abbott Elementary is available to stream on Hulu.
