This fall, school will be back in session at Philly’s fictional “Abbott Elementary,” as the beloved sitcom returns for its fourth season.
“Abbott Elementary” Season 4 will premiere Wednesday, Oct. 9, on ABC, the network announced last week. The series will air weekly at its new time, 9:30 p.m., following ABC’s new dating show spinoff, “The Golden Bachelorette.” It will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.
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West Philly native “Abbott Elementary” creator and star Quinta Brunson described the upcoming season as “a return to form” and “a return to fun and excellence” in an interview with Entertainment Tonight on the ESPY Awards red carpet Thursday.
“I’m really excited,” she added.
As many TV shows are taking years-long breaks between seasons, much to the disappointment of their viewers, “Abbott Elementary” fans are also excited that the show will be back on their TVs just months after the Season 3 finale in May.
“Season finale and season premiere in the same year,” a fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Real Television isn’t dead!”
Season 3 ended on a cliffhanger when teachers Janine (Brunson) and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) seemed to take a huge step forward in their will-they-won’t-they relationship by sharing a dramatic kiss. The smooch is sure to change the character dynamics moving forward in Season 4, especially given how involved the “Abbott” teachers are in each other’s lives. While Janine and Gregory previously shared their feelings and locked lips, the Season 3 kiss marked a major turning point.
“Janine and Gregory’s first kiss that we did in Season 2 was very hesitant and tentative,” Williams said in an interview with The AV Club in May. “There’s something more definitive about this moment. So when I read it, I felt like, ‘OK, we can do this.'”
The pair spent much of Season 3 apart — with Janine taking a fellowship at the School District of Philadelphia while Gregory continued working at Abbott — but they’ll be back to teaching at next-door classrooms when the show returns, so viewers can likely expect to see them navigating the challenges of dating in the workplace.
Season 3 had plenty of star-studded cameos — like Bradley Cooper, Kevin Hart, Questlove, Jalen Hurts, Jason Kelce and Brandon Graham — and the showrunners said there will likely be “less famous people” in Season 4. But, Brunson told The Wrap that fans can expect more episodes this season, returning to 22 after last season was shortened due to the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes, which will open the door for “more holiday episodes” and “longer arcs.”
“We’re going to be back to 22 episodes, so we have a lot of time and you want to use it wisely and then in fun ways. … I’m excited to kind of get back to a regular pace and have some longer arcs over the 22 episodes,” Brunson said in May.