EXCLUSIVE: ABC’s Abbott Elementary has been a big hit, with high ratings and good reviews, and it just made Emmy history. The school comedy that Quinta Brunson created, executive produced, and stars in is still making waves. Deadline has heard that a rare full season of 22 episodes has been ordered for Season 2. During Abbott Elementary’s Comic-Con panel on Thursday, Brunson gave hints about the feat.
Office comedy with only one camera After a sneak peek in December, Abbott Elementary started in January as a midseason replacement. The first season had 13 episodes. It was given an early renewal for a second season in March. Midseason shows that get picked up for a second season get 13 episodes, and if they do well in the fall, they get a back order to make it a full season with 22 episodes. (In recent years, a full-season order is anything with more than 16–18 episodes.)
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ABC finalized the size of Abbott Elementary‘s Season 2 order as being 22 episodes in June though the network’s plan had always been to give the series — ABC’s No. 1 comedy in adults 18-49 last season — a straight-out full-season pickup, sources said. The decision was made before the series did well at the Emmy nominations. It got seven nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Writing for a Comedy Series for Brunson, and Supporting Actress/Actor in a Comedy Series for Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, and Sheryl Lee Ralph. Brunson set a new record for a Black woman in comedy Emmy categories with her three nominations (for comedy series, writer, and lead actress).
Brunson was asked about the upcoming second season at the Abbott Elementary Comic-Con panel, which the cast and executive producers took part in from far away.
“A lot of the first season was spent showing what this show can do… “Now we can have a good time,” she said. “We’ve finished building everything, so now we can have these fun bottle episodes.”
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Patrick Schumacker, another executive producer, added, “and more episodes.”
“Is that okay?” Brunson asked.
Schumacker gave a shrug, which made Brunson say, “OK, there you go. This season has more episodes than the first.”
She wouldn’t say much about Season 2, but she did say that the producers are excited about a cameo in the first episode of the season.
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On September 21, Season 2 of Abbott Elementary will start in its new, high-profile Wednesday 9 p.m. time slot.
The stars of the show showed a behind-the-scenes video at the panel. They did it when they got back to work for Season 2 just for Comic-Con.
During Season 1, Abbott Elementary was ABC’s highest-rated new comedy for adults 18–49 in two years. After 35 days of viewing on linear and digital platforms, it was the network’s No. 1 comedy and No. 2 series overall in the demo (2.66 ratings), behind only Grey’s Anatomy.
