Quinta Brunson Says Broadcast Comedies Like 'Abbott Elementary' Are Still Holding Strong

"Abbott Elementary" creator, executive producer, and actress, Quinta Brunson just said she didn't think she deserved the credit for the return of broadcast comedies. Since the start of the mockumentary in 2021, it has become one of the most critically acclaimed comedy shows of the year.

The series followed a group of teachers who tried to navigate an underfunded Philadelphia public school named Abbott Elementary. The show premiered on ABC and, by the second episode, gave the network one of its best numbers for a comedy series.

In a recent interview, Brunson shed some light on her favorite moments in the series and its success. She also denied credit for spearheading the return of network comedy and highlighted several other projects she described as "big comedies."

Brunson doesn't think she's behind the return of the network comedy. Via Variety, the actress revealed that while she was grateful for the love and success of "Abbott Elementary," several other popular "big comedies" were on air for much longer.

She said, "Network, all this time, has still been putting big comedies on the air. CBS especially was banging out shows with super high ratings, like 'Young Sheldon.' 'The Big Bang Theory' was on the air forever. And ABC: 'The Conners,' 'The Goldbergs,' 'Black-ish.' They're holding their own."

Regardless, "Abbott Elementary" has pulled no minor acclaim and paved a new way in the comedy landscape. By episode two, the workplace comedy reportedly brought in ABC's best numbers since 2020, when "Modern Family" wrapped up. The show is also No. 2 on CBS under new comedy in the adults 18-49 demographic, with "Ghosts" as No. 1.

Further on, Brunson revealed that she thought "Abbott Elementary" served as a means to bring more viewership to the network. The writer said, "'Abbott' is interesting because of the audience it seems to bring back to network [TV]. I can't put my finger on it. Some people just say millennials, but it's not.

She continued, "It's a certain type of viewer that wasn't watching network TV, and 'Abbott' has given them a show to watch." This is evidenced by the ratings of the show's season one finale. According to Nielsen, there was a 200% spike following a week of delayed viewing.

This means that around two-thirds of the 18-49 adult demographic saw the episode via Hulu, DVR, or other streaming platforms besides the original airing on ABC. March marked another notable moment for "Abbott Elementary" when Twitter announced it as the most tweeted TV comedy of 2022.

Brunson shed some light on a Twitter thread she composed in April in response to a critic's comment on "Abbot Elementary." According to the unnamed person, the show was "undramatic" and had "more nice than funny" scenes.

Brunson replied, "I wonder if that has to do with it being a 22-minute sitcom." The writer then encouraged fans interested in drama to tune in to "Severance" or "Succession." She ended the thread by saying, "I'm not mad at critique by the way. I love "good" critique. makes me better. but I saw that, and that was dumb. better go watch Ozark and leave me alone before I pull your wifi and end your social life."

https://twitter.com/quintabrunson/status/1518614905833897984?s=20&t=chYmcu0Jcr3eL1xrogKrHg

Brunson revealed that her post wasn't made to "dunk" on anybody, and she was only tweeting her thoughts aloud. "I wasn't dunking on anyone. I was just tweeting a random thought I had. It made me think about where we are in the state of comedy," she said.

Brunson added that while she loved "dark, prestige comedies." She also enjoyed a short "pop-in, pop-out" style comedy. "Both of those things can exist, but it seems people feel like the 22-minute comedies take less thought of less art," the actress said.

According to Brunson, the part of the ABC comedy she found "most unique" was episode eight, titled "Work Family." In the episode, Janine, played by Brunson, found out that her colleagues only saw themselves as friends in school and was hurt by the knowledge.

The episode also showed her deadbeat boyfriend, Tariq, in the middle of a performance at the school assembly to promote his upcoming rap career. Brunson revealed that she was proud of how her character learned her worth and moved on from Tariq. She was also satisfied with how she portrayed the character as a bad boyfriend without being an actual bad person.

She said, "We have these Black main characters, and I saw an opportunity to make sure that they were fleshed out and dimensional. We don't very often get to see that. Yes, there have been other black shows, but not as many. So, I don't think that Tariq is a villain. I think people are just growing up. Tariq is doing the best he can, and we wanted to show that too."