What did Quinta Brunson and the cast of “Abbott Elementary” do on their summer vacation? Head to San Diego Comic-Con to dish details on the hit ABC comedy’s upcoming fourth season.
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Fresh off earning nine Emmy nominations (the most the comedy has received in a single season), Brunson and the cast — Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Chris Perfetti, Lisa Ann Walter, William Stanford Davis and Sheryl Lee Ralph — assembled onstage at the Indigo Ballroom to take fans behind-the-scenes of the show.
“This was my dream to come to Comic-Con” Brunson said taking in the surreal moment and mentioning how incredible it was to see the cast’s “big ass faces” on a billboard the side of a San Diego hotel. In fact, she was so excited that she snuck into a panel to listen to Marvel chief Kevin Feige and Marvel Comics EIC C.B. Cebulski discuss what it takes to create good characters. “I was going to wear a Black Widow costume but I backed out, I chickened out,” Brunson told the laughing crowd.
Asked what changed the most over the past three years, the Emmy winner admitted that this experience marked the first time she’s stopped to feel proud of herself.
“The last three years have been kind of a blur for me, and I’ve had to learn how to take moments and in put my feet on the ground and look around,” Brunson added. “Getting to be a sitcom at Comic-Con — ‘Abbott’ was almost a cartoon, and it wound up being live-action, but we didn’t lose our cartoon roots — It’s just special to be here.”
But before they took the stage, attendees were treated to a refresher screening of the Season 3 finale. The episode, titled “Party,” saw Janine (Brunson) throw an epic end-of-year bash for all of Abbott’s teachers. As if anyone could forget that the episode ends with the will-they-won’t-they romance between Janine and Gregory (Williams) moving firmly into the “they will” category, when the teachers finally kiss.
So, what happened after Gregory shut the door on the mockumentary crew so he and Janine could make out in private? All will be revealed when “Abbott” returns on Wednesday, October 9 at 9:30pm on ABC; the show streams next day on Hulu. The writers room is already hard at work on season 4’s 22-episodes — about six of the stories have been broken thus far, executive producer Patrick Schumacker said.
Then, Brunson decided to break some news (surprising even some members of the cast): “We will be doing an interesting crossover this season,” she said, as the crowd gasped and cheered. “I’m not gonna tell you with who, or with what, or where, or when, but it’s really exciting and I think it’ll change television as we know it.” (“House of the Dragon,” Walter joked.)
Fresh off the panel, the cast of “Abbott Elementary” sat down in the Variety Comic-Con Studio, presented by Google TV, to elaborate on that crossover episode.
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“The Bear,” “The Simpsons,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” are a few of the shows in Disney-owned catalog that “Abbott Elementary” could potentially cross over with. But Brunson’s keeping her lips tightly sealed. She did, however, express her excitement over that episode, remembering how she loved watching when Disney Channel released “That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana,” a crossover episode featuring the casts of “That’s So Raven,” “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” and “Hannah Montana.”
“Those things are what reinvigorate TV viewers, TV watchers, and I think it’s always fun to find ways to reinvigorate our audiences,” she explained. “What’s important with ‘Abbott’ is we protect the show. Because it’s a ‘mockumentary’ we have to protect what we’re doing, but to find a way for it to still be possible to do something cool like that. It makes me really, really happy. It’s just like an ode to the medium.”
The cast did say that one thing they’re looking forward to is seeing the characters in the show interact outside of school, confirming that Melissa and Jacob will still be roommates in Season 4 and that they’d like to continue exploring those character relations and dynamics.
Most importantly, has Ava Coleman (the beloved principle) found somebody to match her freak in Season 4?
“I do not know, but that sounds exciting… who can match her freak is the question,” James said before pointing to Brunson and saying, “Who would I trust to match her freak, is this person right here.”
Watch the full interview above to see the cast share their favorite moments from Season 3.
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