‘Abbott Elementary’ lands on the (fictional) Philadelphia Inquirer front page
The teachers and students may have had to move their classes to an abandoned mall. But that hasn't stopped them from success or finding love.
On this week’s episode of the sitcom Abbott Elementary, the teachers get a visit from a surprise guest: a reporter from The Philadelphia Inquirer.
But don’t worry, it’s all good news.
The character Tracy, played by actor Samantha Cutaran, shows up to cover the unexpected success that the school has seen while operating out of an abandoned mall. (They were forced to relocate after Abbott’s furnace broke.)
Four weeks into the disruptive move, student grades begin improving and incidents go down.
“You’re changing the face of education,” Tracy tells the teachers. “So much so, we think this is worthy enough for the front page. You guys are rockstars!”
It would’ve been funny to see how each of these characters would act in an interview — Janine (creator Quinta Brunson) might be nervous about saying the wrong thing, Jacob (Chris Perfetti) would (hopefully) praise the free press, and Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) would be skeptical and uncooperative — but the show cuts directly to the newspaper delivery. (Yes, we’re still in print!)
“Extra, extra, read all about…us!” says Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) as she drops the paper on to a table.
Designed by Abbott Elementary’s props and production team, the mock front page pictures the teachers and principal Ava (Janelle James) surrounded by students with the headline, “Do schools even need schools?”
Janine is thrilled that the article includes her quote, “‘Teaching is fun.’”
“Did they use mine?” Melissa asks. “‘The Giants suck.’ Is that in there?”
(Sadly, it’s not.)
The reporter, in her objectivity, excluded that insight (no matter how many real readers would agree) but Melissa is still impressed.
“The Schemmenti family name on the front page,” she says, “and nowhere does it say ‘evasion, tax or conviction.’”
The Inquirer calls the Abbott crew “heroes” for the work they have done, drumming up positive press for the school district and leading Scholastic to donate new school supplies.
But the excitement peters out when the shrewd guidance counselor (Marcella Arguello) points out that the school district continues to be vague whenever the teachers ask when they’ll be returning to Abbott. The students are performing so well, she reminds them, so there’s “no sense of urgency.”
They later discover that the district has pulled Abbott’s construction crew to address facility problems at other schools.
It’s not all bad news, though: While the rest of Abbott Elementary was caught up with The Inquirer (we love that for us), Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) clashed with the new janitor who was sent to help him clean the massive mall, Miss Carroll (played by newcomer Khandi Alexander).
“I may be old-fashioned, but women have no business cleaning,” Mr. Johnson tells the camera. “You ask me? They need to get back to where they belong — in the Wall Street board room and coaching in the NFL.”
The feud doesn’t last as the two bond over using the same homemade cleaning solution. It’s a sweet turn for the mysterious Mr. Johnson; audiences have heard many tales of his backstories, from being a Jill Scott stalker to a member of the mafia, but he hasn’t yet had a romance plot.
Until this episode, that is.
Mr. Johnson’s odd jobs — some 400 before he came to Abbott — are part of the fun for Davis.
“I’m always surprised at what they want me to do, and I try to embrace that and have as much fun with it as I can,” said the actor in a recent interview with The Inquirer.
Davis himself has worked his fair share of odd jobs, throughout his career, like DJing a country western radio station, driving a limousine, cooking at a truck stop, and other “survival gigs,” as he calls them.
“I try to bring those real life experiences to Mr. Johnson, because they weren’t all very pleasant either, but it helps me to continue to develop this character,” said Davis. “As an actor, you’re supposed to be able to play everything that a human being can be, and so I try to connect to Mr. Johnson’s truth, even though his truth is a little stranger than most people’s…He’s a honest, living, breathing human being. He’s just a little different than everyone else, and he’s a little smarter than everyone else.”
There is one job that Davis hopes the writers will work into Mr. Johnson’s lore: “I’m waiting on them to make me an astronaut.”