Good news, Abbott Elementary fans: school will be in session for longer than we thought.
After SAG-AFTRA negotiated a successful new contract with studios this week, marking an end to the actors’ months-long strike, plenty of network shows announced plans to return to work as soon as possible. With writers already breaking new seasons, the biggest hurdle facing fan-favorite dramas like Grey’s Anatomy and comedies like Young Sheldon was time. While hour-long episode shows will likely have to pare down their seasons which won’t begin airing until early next year, ABC’s breakout half-hour comedy is set to come back sooner and sport an even longer season than experts initially predicted.
According to Deadline, Abbott Elementary’s upcoming third season will have 14 episodes, a significant bump from the 10 or fewer episodes expected for network dramas airing next year. Creator Quinta Brunson supports the shortened format telling Deadline, “We did 22 [episodes] last season, and that’s a lot of TV, in particular for me because I’m writing and producing and starring in it. It was tiring, exhausting work.”
The show’s season two finale saw Brunson’s Janine and love interest Gregory (Tyler James Williams) confess their feelings for each other. Brunson teased season three’s premiere might pick up that thread, albeit in a way that explains its extended absence and respects the fans’ wishes.
“We talked about our premiere, which I’m trying not to spoil,” Brunson told Deadline. “That became the focus of the past two weeks. [There’s] a lot of heavy lifting to do, [as far as] explaining our absence…in a way that we think engages the audience, protects the world we built. So that felt inspiring, to build something that was both grounded, and for this premiere, splashy enough to bring people back at the same time.”
(Via Deadline)
