Known for exploring the day-to-day minutiae of education in funny yet poignant ways, “Abbott Elementary” will tackle student infections and unfriendly class pets in its new season.
Season 4 of the ABC sitcom, which follows the staff of a fictional Philadelphia public school, premieres Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 9:30 p.m. An official trailer dropped Wednesday, teasing some of the hijinks that the staff will face as a new school year begins.
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“We asked the district for more after-school programs,” second grade teacher Janine Teagues, played by the show’s creator Quinta Brunson, says during the trailer. “They gave us $50 for class pets instead.”
The teachers appear to have used the district money to buy fish and guinea pigs, but the scaly and furry friends clearly pose some problems. Janine wears bandaids on her fingers as she warns fellow teacher Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter) that one of the guinea pigs is a “biter.”
Another calamity occurs when Jacob Hill (Chris Perfetti) informs his fellow teachers that a student in his class has ringworm, a contagious fungal infection. This sends the Abbott staff into hysterics, as the hilariously tone deaf Principal Ava Coleman wears a hazmat suit and Gregory Eddie (Tyler James Williams) hides in his classroom in the fetal position.
“I love you like a son Jacob, but I will beat you down,” custodian Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) exclaims in the trailer.
Representatives from the school district seem to be involved in some of the Season 4 drama. A human resources worker (Ben Onyx Dowdy) that Janine met last season during her short-lived stint with the district pays a visit to Abbott. Plus, there’s a new character played by Matt Oberg, who voices the villainous Kite Man in the DC animated series “Harley Quinn,” which Brunson and Williams made a cameo on last year. It’s unclear who Oberg’s character is, but it doesn’t seem he’s BFF with the teachers.
“You want to dance pretty boy? And I mean that as a compliment, your skin is fantastic,” Jacob says to him.
The trailer also features a dance scene led by the ever-suave kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph), the teachers griping over ever-present money woes, and some of Ava’s zingy one-liners. But one thing the trailer does not provide is answers on the status of the budding relationship between Janine and Gregory. The Season 3 finale of “Abbott Elementary” gave many sitcom viewers what they hoped for as they shared a kiss that finally seemed to solidify their relationship. Season 4 will likely shed some light on where they stand after summer break, but viewers will have to wait until October to find out what’s happening with the lovebirds.
Watch the full trailer below: