Quinta Brunson Gets Real About Why ‘Abbott Elementary’ Season 3 Will Have “Fewer Episodes” 

Quinta Brunson and the Abbott Elementary writers were ready to get back to work when the WGA reached its deal in September. But Season 3 may look quite different from the 22-episode long arcs the series’ fans have gotten used to.

Speaking to Deadline, Brunson revealed the new season will have “fewer episodes” than Season 2, though she didn’t specify just how many. She said this was a result of multiple factors, including the strike, ABC’s airing schedule, and “what ABC has room for on their schedule.”

Brunson, who created the series and also stars, executive produces, and writes for it, told Deadline that she’s “not complaining” about this development.

“We did 22 last season, and that’s a lot of TV, in particular for me because I’m writing and producing and starring in it,” she confessed. “So for me, I welcomed a shorter season because it was tiring, exhausting work. Love it, but exhausting for me.”

The actress also shed some light on how she and the other writers are approaching the new season.

She explained that they started planning the season by mapping out the arc, explaining, “Talking about that arc helps us start to put together episodes. So we talk about our arc, talk about the stories we want to tell, the special, unique, funny stories that can fall within that arc.”

She also shared that they’ve spent “the last two weeks” figuring out the premiere. The show’s premiere, she says, should explain their delayed return “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,” she added.

While the previous season premiered in September, coinciding with beginning of the school year, Season 3 suffered a major delay when the WGA strike began on the same day in May the writers room was expected to resume. Season 3 will still follow the school calendar, Brunson said, but it will have to “address a substantial time jump,” as Deadline reports.

“It’s not like coming back to a family show where you can pop in on that family on any sitcom-y thing,” she said. “It’s really like, what’s going on in the school?”