Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Abbott Elementary’ Season 2 On ABC, Where The Funniest Elementary School In Philadelphia Starts A New School Year

Abbott Elementary’s first season proved that network TV can still attract audiences with smart and warm comedies, thanks to Quinta Brunson’s ability to build a classic workplace comedy with a lot of realistic stories revolving around the difficulties and wonderful moments involved in being in an underfunded big-city public school. After tons of praise and Emmys for Brunson’s writing and co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph’s supporting performance, the show is back for its second season.

ABBOTT ELEMENTARY SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) lets out a little scream in her car. She apologizes to the cameraman filming her; it’s the first day of development week at Abbott Elementary, and she’s so happy to be back.

The Gist: Janine loves development week because she can get everything set up for her new students, but the first amount of stress comes when she sees that the principal, Ava Coleman (Janelle James), has rented the school parking lot out for an Eagles game. But she’s spent the summer thinking she had a quick recovery from her breakup with Tariq (Zack Fox), and she’s got some big plans for the first day back for the students, including a visit from a favorite Philly celebrity.

Jacob Hill (Chris Perfetti) spent the summer in Peru and learned some rudimentary ASL along the way. Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph) spent the summer working with Ava to spend grant money on a ramp for a disabled student that will be entering her class, though she’s now having a problem getting a wheelchair-accessible desk for the student. Gregory Eddie (Tyler James Williams) is now a full-time teacher, and he’s so concerned over the district’s exceedingly high expectations he graphs out the school year to the millisecond on the whiteboard. Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter) is upset that she’ll have to take some 3rd graders from an overflowing charter school along with her 2nd graders.

Janine has been her usual bubbly, super-optimistic self, but Jacob and the others find out that she’s behind on rent and Tariq’s unpaid parking tickets has caused her car to get booted. Maybe she hasn’t been sailing through this breakup as well as she thought she was, and it comes to a head when the celebrity shows up a week early because she got her dates mixed up.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? After its acclaimed first season, Abbott Elementary can definitely fit in with some of the best workplace comedies of recent years, namely The Office and Parks And Recreation.

Our Take: The worry when a show like Abbott comes back after being an award-winning hit in its first season is whether it will be as good during its second season. Either the ensemble has solidified and the writers have hit their stride, or things completely fall apart. In the case of Abbott and Brunson, it’s thankfully the former. The first two episodes, which is what ABC sent to critics, are equally as funny and heartwarming as the best of the show’s excellent first season.

In the second episode, the teachers visit a nearby charter school after mistakenly getting their history books — ones that are new enough to include Brexit — and Ava sets up a Shark Tank-style competition (with Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) as one of the sharks) for the remainder of the grant money, and Janine desperately wants to get the kids a computer. Charles also wonders if he should “taper” his relationship with Barbara’s daughter in order to preserve his working relationship with Barbara.

Both episodes shows the goofy sides of the characters, of course — who didn’t love Janelle James as the perpetually unqualified and inappropriate Ava? — but as we get to know the ensemble we see their emotional sides, too. And the fact that Brunson and company are immediately diving into their lives as soon as Season 2 begins is a good sign that the show won’t suffer from a sophomore slump.

Sex and Skin: None. Abbott Elementary is a show you could watch with your kids.

Parting Shot: The celebrity endears themselves to a skeptical Gregory, who tells the camera. “Now I get it. I’m not not a fan.”

Sleeper Star: Janelle James was Abbott‘s breakout star in Season 1 because she sold Ava’s selfishness and cluelessness so well, but there were moments where Ava actually cared and showed that she has the potential to be competent at her job, and James shines in those moments, too.

Most Pilot-y Line: “My summer was great, thanks for asking. I got a hookah flavor named after me: Avalade. Hints of malt liquor and marmalade.” It’s actually a funny line from Ava, but we certainly wouldn’t smoke Avalade in our hookah pipes.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Abbott Elementary does what its bus-centric second season slogan does: It picks up where they dropped off. It’s warm and funny with well-drawn characters and a strong sense of its Philly roots. It makes us think that Season 2 may be even better than Season 1.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.