PASADENA, Calif. — Class will continue to be in session at “Abbott Elementary,” as ABC renewed the hit workplace sitcom for a fourth season, the network said Saturday.
Fresh off of the show’s Season 3 premiere earlier this week, cast member William Stanford Davis, who plays janitor Mr. Johnson on the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning mockumentary series, announced the show’s renewal during ABC’s session at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour.
Created by and starring Quinta Brunson, the ensemble sitcom, set at a fictional elementary school in Philadelphia, has received numerous awards and praise for revitalizing network television and spotlighting the work of Black and brown educators.
Brunson — who previously produced popular videos at HuffPost’s parent company, BuzzFeed — developed the show, drawing inspiration from her mother’s background as a longtime public school teacher in Philadelphia.
Since its first season debuted in 2021, the series has been the rare network show to become appointment viewing for multiple generations of TV audiences.
“I think most millennials take their stories to streaming because you get to be more raunchy there, but I enjoy making a show for families to watch around the TV, how I watched TV when I was younger,” Brunson told HuffPost in 2022. “Going to ABC felt like the natural choice. It was something about the team at ABC. I was like ‘They’re gonna let me cook.’”