Fans can’t wait for school to be back in session to find out what happens on season 4 of Abbott Elementary.
The hit sitcom, which debuted in 2021, focuses on teachers in a Philadelphia public school. After premiering on ABC, the show quickly became critically acclaimed and picked up many accolades, including Golden Globe and Emmy Awards.
There have been a wide variety of characters — and story lines — to root for throughout the seasons. But nothing could have prepared fans for the season 3 finale that ended with Janine (Quinta Brunson) and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) finally deciding to date after a lot of will-they, won’t-they moments.
After the episode aired, Williams made it clear there was “no going back” now that Janine and Gregory are actually exploring a future together.
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“They have to live in the reality of this choice. I’m not sure the audience has really thought about all the ways it could go right and wrong. I think we’ve just kind of been in this place of hoping that it happens,” the actor teased to TVLine in May. “But there’s going to be unknowns that they’re going to have to explore. This is the first time we’ve seen them actually in a place where they’re accepting their feelings at the same time. We’ll be taking season 4 to really explore what comes with that.”
Brunson, who created the series and serves as an executive producer, also opened up about why now was the perfect time to commit to a romance.
“It just felt like the right time,” she told Deadline in May. “To me, I feel that I always envisioned season 3 would be the season that leads these two characters together after seeing a lot of growth for them as individuals.”
In addition to Janine and Gregory’s future, viewers are also invested in Jacob’s (Chris Perfetti) love life, Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and Melissa’s (Lisa Ann Walter) friendship and the latest antics from Ava (Janelle James) and Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis).
Not to mention the potential guest stars after season 3 surprised fans with cameos from Bradley Cooper, Jason Kelce, Kevin Hart and more.
Keep scrolling for everything to know about season 4 of Abbott Elementary:
When Is ‘Abbott Elementary’ Coming Back to ABC With More Episodes?
The series is returning on October 9, 2024, with one major change. Instead of its usual 9 p.m. ET time slot, Abbott Elementary is now going to be airing at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Which Stars Will Come Back?
Brunson, Williams, James, Ralph, Walter, Perfetti and Davis are returning as main cast members on the show.
Fans are also holding out hope for appearances from guest stars such as Zack Fox, Taraji P. Henson and Ayo Edebiri.
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Will the Episode Count Be Larger?
The first season of Abbott Elementary received a 13-episode order but after becoming a hit, the sophomore season got 22. However, the third season was reduced to 14 due to the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Fans can breathe out a sigh of relief because the upcoming fourth season is returning with a whopping 22 episodes again.
What Is the Season 4 Vision?
Executive producer Patrick Schumacker previously hinted at how a larger episode order brings some good changes for season 4.
“Hopefully we’ll have a longer runway and a longer episode order. When you get 22 episodes, you can have some of those smaller episodes that just focus on one character or one aspect of one character and just meditate on it and have fun with it and dig into it in a way,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in May. “When you have less episodes, you kind of have to [hit it every time], like boom, boom, boom. We’re all looking forward to having a little space to maybe do some weird ones next season.”
As fans wait to see how Janine and Gregory’s story goes from here, they can also expect updates on Jacob and Melissa being roommates and the fallout of Janine no longer working for the district.
A teaser for season 4 didn’t give away much — except there would not be class pets for the kids. The trailer showed Ava mocking her staff’s complaints about basic classroom needs. School dances and HR visits were also teased ahead of the show’s highly-anticipated return.
Where Does Melissa’s Journey Go From Here?
Despite not knowing much about Melissa’s journey during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Walter had plenty of guesses.
“Quinta plays it so close to the chest,” Walter noted in July. “Every once in a while she’ll come up like when we’re at a For Your Consideration event [to say], ‘You are gonna be so excited about this story line for your character. Oh wait, I’m not gonna tell.’”
Walter speculated about where Melissa’s love story could go after her split from the school’s vending machine guy Gary (Bruno Amato).
“For Melissa, I know that what Quinta said ‘You know, we all love Bruno. He was so sweet and he was like the perfect guy for Melissa. He was accepting of her being big and ballsy and outrageous. He loved her anyway,’” Walter explained. “And that was too safe and too calm for Quinta.”
Walter joked that Melissa might be in a new era, quipping, “Maybe she’ll continue to be a ho!”
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What Does Season 4 Mean for Janine and Gregory?
Not a lot of details have been revealed about Janine and Gregory’s relationship status — except for the fact that Williams will no longer pretend he wants the characters to just stay friends.
“Oh, I was lying. I knew what the finale was, and I was misleading. I kept getting asked about what was happening with Janine and Gregory, and I’m like, ‘Uhhh, they should be friends.’ No, I’ve been waiting to get to this moment just as much as everybody else has,” he revealed to TVLine in May. “It’s just very difficult, in a world full of spoilers, not to allude to that.”
Williams continued: “I’m one of those people who have a hard time hiding what’s on my face, and I feel like every time I’ve been asked about them romantically, I’ve been trying to hide knowing where this goes. I’m actually really excited to explore where they’re headed, because for so long, it’s been kind of stop-start-y. Now, I can actually lean fully into the intention that has been simmering with Gregory for some time.”
What Do Fans Know About the Upcoming Crossover?
Brunson teased the exciting news during the Abbott Elementary panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July, saying, “We will be doing an interesting crossover this season. 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.”
That same month, Brunson elaborated on what viewers can expect from the crossover.
“Those things are what reinvigorate TV viewers, TV watchers, and I think it’s always fun to find ways to reinvigorate our audiences,” she told Variety. “What’s important with Abbott is we protect the show. Because it’s a mockumentary, we have to protect what we’re doing but … 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.”
Walter joked during the panel that HBO’s House of the Dragon was Brunson’s pick. Fans have since had fun by suggesting other shows including Grey’s Anatomy, The Bear, The Bachelorette, 9-1-1, Euphoria and more.
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Will There Be More Surprise Guest Stars?
It feels safe to assume more star-studded cameos are in the works. Schumacker previously revealed that Bruson gets contacted “a thousand times more than she lets on” about celebrities appearing on the show.
“Justin [Halpern] and I only hear of a small fraction of the celebrities and very, very famous people wanting to be on the show,” Schumacker told The Hollywood Reporter in February. “But I think all of us are in agreement, and this comes down from Quinta, that if it can’t make sense in the context of what we’re treating as a real documentary about a real school in Philadelphia, then 95 percent of the people who want to be on the show and play themselves, like their real-life counterpart essentially, it doesn’t really make a ton of sense. We don’t want to break that sort of precious truth that we’re trying to seek out with the show. That said, sometimes it’s very hard to resist.”
