This is a preview of our pop culture newsletter The Daily Beast’s Obsessed, written by senior editor Kevin Fallon. To receive the full newsletter in your inbox each week, sign up for it here.
I am an adult, rational human in the year 2022, and, as such, I know not to expect good things.
Things that are lovely, nice, or delightful—heartwarming, even—are simply not of these modern times. Call it cynicism, call it pragmatism, or call it what it is: reality. Therefore, it’s unsettling to observe what is happening with the most “good-thing” good thing of all: my beloved Abbott Elementary earning so much deserving goodwill and enjoying a lasting, bonafide cultural moment.
Moreover, us garbage people haven’t found a way to ruin it yet. To quote Emmy-winner Sheryl Lee Ralph’s Barbara Howard: Thank the “sweet baby Jesus and the grown one, too.”
Abbott Elementary won two major awards at Monday’s Emmys. Ralph won Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy for her role as a veteran teacher. She is the second Black woman to ever win in the category, and the first to do so since Jackeé Harry won for 227 35 years ago. It was a coronation after decades in the business, a most-gratifying moment for those of us who can recite all of Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit by heart.
Quinta Brunson won in the writing category—also the second Black woman to do so—and was the rare triple-nominated star; she also competed in Best Actress and Best Comedy Series, as Abbott Elementary’s creator.
What was evident by the audience and social-media reaction to both of these wins is that there isn’t just a groundswell of support for this series but a veritable tidal wave. Both Ralph and Brunson received ecstatic ovations for their victories, providing two of the night’s highlights, for several reasons.
Ralph’s speech was an all-time great one. To watch it once is to have it bookmarked on your computer so that you can watch it hourly, at the very least, throughout your day: either for the surge of serotonin or as a catalyst for a cathartic cry you might need. Meanwhile, Brunson was trending on Twitter, because people were aghast that presenter Jimmy Kimmel’s comedy bit threatened to distract from her speech—and also because they were so impressed with the grace with which she handled the situation.
Even the hullabaloo surrounding that speaks to the purity of this show in contrast to the toxicity of our times. The Kimmel thing sparked outrage. He was made the villain of the moment in headlines and on social media. All the pieces were in place to set up the next celebrity-feud news cycle—except Brunson had no interest in doing that.
The situation resolved itself in a way that is surprisingly quite lovely. Ralph spoke about the stern, dignified conversation she had with Kimmel about the disrespect. Kimmel apologized. And Brunson shrugged it off, refusing to fan any flames. She then made a good-natured appearance on Kimmel’s show.
Brunson also had this to say in a new interview with Variety: “I was totally in my own world and having a really beautiful moment that I will never forget or let be. I also understand that as public figures, you exist for people’s own politics. I know that I exist for my own life. But when you become a public figure, you become something for people to talk about. So there’s nothing I can do. I understand how it looks to people. And if I was home, I probably would’ve been pissed if I saw that on TV, but my moment did not feel that way. I’m fine. I do want them to know I’m fine and happy and have loving people.”
It fits that, against all forces in the universe driving this news story towards prolonged chaos, this is how everything shook out instead. It’s so very…Abbot Elementary.
This is a show that is inspiring at the exact right time. As extremists and racists with no experience in education crusade to determine what can and can’t be taught—or even acknowledged—in schools, actual educators are resorting to GoFundMe campaigns to make sure their students have pencils to write with and chairs to sit in. That outrageous dichotomy is never preached about in Abbott Elementary; it just exists there, because it exists in life. The series is not only a touching, illuminating portrayal of what it takes to be a teacher, but it’s also a sweet and, truly, hilarious comedy.
I recently watched the first two episodes of the new season, which premieres on ABC Sept. 21. Watching them reminded me of the thrill of watching episodes of The Office during its peak run of episodes. The comparison is easy, given the mockumentary format of the workplace comedy. But I mean in the way the new season similarly is able to go deeper on what makes this perfect cast of eclectic characters click—both what makes them funny and what drives our emotional connection to them.
There is so much heart without sacrificing the refreshing ridiculousness. There is a scene in the Season 2 premiere that made me laugh out loud, then genuinely start crying—until it became this wonderful laugh-cry combination that only a show like this could create.
Some people count Abbott Elementary’s success to be in line with that of several other recent “feel-good” shows, which have become so popular as counter-programming to life’s hellscape these last few years. But what helps the show stand apart, at least so far, is that the praise for Abbott seems to be unanimous. The expected backlash hasn’t arrived.
You were the coolest (read: most insufferable) person of 2020 if, as everyone skipped around effusively talking about how much they loved Schitt’s Creek, you scoffed judgmentally, “I don’t know. I just can’t with that show.” Those killjoys came out of hibernation to circle the new season of Ted Lasso, puffing their chests about how evolved they are because they “don’t see how anyone could think these new episodes are good.”
It’s the pop-culture version of the kids smoking in the alley behind the school, mocking how unenlightened everyone was for daring to enjoy something popular and have a good time. The joke with that attitude has always been the same: The people they were dismissing were the ones who were, again, having the good time.
What I’m trying to say is that nothing ruins hype in pop culture quite like…hype. That Abbott has managed to evade that fate so far is miraculous—and deserved.
I’m bummed that the show didn’t win Best Comedy Series Monday night. But, in that Variety interview, Brunson says she’s sort of glad it didn’t. Unsurprisingly, her reasoning is absolutely right, and a perfect elucidation of why you should be so excited to watch Season 2 next week.
“There’s this grace that’s given to a show when they haven’t won yet,” she says. “A nation is rooting for it. It’s the underdog. It was so exciting that the first season was so well received by fans, and critically acclaimed. But I want us to be able to keep growing. I’m not sure I wanted audiences to expect prestige yet. I want us to have fun and get to be an awkward toddler.”
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