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I feel like I'm Andy Cohen reading for Why is Ava so obsessed with social media? Why you so obsessed with me? Why are y'all so obsessed with social media? Hi, we are the cast of Abbott Elementary and we are going to answer the most Googled questions about the show. Let's do it. Okay, number one. What is Abbott Elementary about? Who would like to answer that? You. Abbott Elementary is about school teachers and a principal and a janitor who are fighting the everyday uphill battle of educating children in the
Philadelphia public school system. They're doing it with a lot of heart and a lot of grit and a lot of love and a lot of laughs. Perfect. Well done. Thank you. This one's a good one. Is Abbott Elementary a real school? It's based on a real school or a compilation of Yes, it was based on my experience when I was younger, the school where my mom taught, Harrity Elementary in Philadelphia, but the school itself like Abbott Elementary is a fictional school that does not exist. Seen a lot of people have trouble with that lately. I saw a viral TikTok where someone's very upset that we do not film in a real
elementary school, so just so you know. The kids got to go there. Not real. Yet. Where does Abbott Elementary go on a field trip? So many places. Where have we been, guys? The zoo. The Please Touch Me Museum. The what now? It's just called the Please Touch Museum. Please Touch. Baseball game. Camping in a park. And another park where we had a relay race. And we did this in several parks. And the park with the big slide. And then you all went to the ocean without Mr. Johnson. When we go to the ocean?
Miami. We went to Miami. That was not a field trip. That was It wasn't a field trip. My mention. Field trip to me. Why is the show called Abbott Elementary? Sheryl, I feel like you can answer this one. Abbott Elementary is called Abbott Elementary because I believe you had a teacher called Mrs. Abbott. Abbott Elementary because of the impression that teacher made on young Quinta. I had to call and ask her if it was okay. Use her name. I didn't I guess I didn't have to, but I wanted to. Yeah. There you go. That's fine.
Yay. Next. Which city is Abbott Elementary set in? I think we can all agree on Philly. OH MY GOD. PHILLY. OH, GOOD ONE. I DON'T KNOW. WHO CREATED Abbott Elementary? [clears throat and laughter] NO ONE. THE QUINTA BRUNSON. I wanted to throw one. Nice. Watch out, wait. NINJA STAR. WHO IS the principal of Abbott Elementary? Ava Coleman. Yes, Ava Coleman. The principal. Ava Coleman. Played by Ava Coleman. Who is the janitor on Abbott Elementary?
Mr. Johnson. William Stanford. Davis. Played by William Stanford Davis. Mr. Johnson. Fun fact about the janitor, was not originally one of the main series cast members, but Stan's performance was so great um as Mr. Johnson, we wanted to have him in every episode. And the best way to do that was to make him a series regular in season two. Oh, this is a good one. You should ask this one to answer this one. That's interesting that's Googled. What would Ava do if she wasn't a principal? I think we've already seen some of that. A little bit of everything including uh motivational speaker.
Yeah, she would she do a lot. Yeah, she does. She does a lot while being. Thankfully, she cares about the children and She is in fact the principal. So, yeah. Yeah. A little bit of everything. I would like for Sheryl to answer this. Who is Tariq in Abbott Elementary? Oh my goodness gracious. Tariq is the best pain in the patootie ever. He's so funny. He was actually Janine's worst boyfriend. Only boyfriend. Now, he has a child in the school.
Not a child. Not his. Girlfriend has a son. Yeah. And he became president of the PTA. Because he cared. And he was not employed elsewhere. Shout out Zach. He's a referee. I love Zach. He's such a wild card. And we just can't get rid of him and we don't want to either. No, we don't. Oh, this is a good one. What song do they sing in Abbott Elementary karaoke? We know one for sure. Last Resort. [clears throat] It's hot out here for us.
I forgot about that. Wait, what song was it we were all singing at the end though? What would you do? We were all together. Oh, what would you do? City High. What was your song? We sung um Baby. I'm not always there when you call. Always on time. Yeah, there it is. And you Oh, no, cuz Ava came late. I was on a horrible date. Who is Gregory's dad? Was it like a Maury Povich question?
Orlando Jones, you are the father. It's Lieutenant Martinelli. Mhm. And he is played by Orlando Jones. The incomparable Orlando Jones. He's fantastic. Why [clears throat] is Ava so obsessed with social media? Why are y'all so obsessed WITH SOCIAL MEDIA? WE AND WE'RE REFLECTING YOU. WE'RE I'M SURE she's making a nice couple of checks. I don't take this poorly at all. I think she's making some good money through her channels. There you go. Where does Melissa get all of her connections?
You don't need to know. Don't worry about it. Weird and a wire? Don't worry What kind of question is that? I know it's weird. I don't know what you're talking about. Who is Mr. Johnson? for the ages. I think this is so funny. beautifully said. What do you mean? Why did you Google that? He is an enigmatic mystery who appears We needed a muscle. He has a kind heart. And um that's all I'm telling you. Sage advice. And followed by inanities.
What happens in [clears throat and laughter] Abbott Elementary season 5 episode 20? Go outside and we lose our minds. Night out. Y'ALL PLEASE DON'T LIE. EVERY EPISODE WE GO OUTSIDE and Is it where I get dragged? Yeah. Gregory's on top of the bar. I turn into uh my character's mom. But I think most importantly, Jacob has an incredible dunk package Oh yeah. that he gets off in the tag. Very end. Melissa, Barbara, and Mr. Johnson pull an all-nighter watching Avatar. Barbara has to come to school in Melissa's clothes. That was fun. And that episode was very much inspired by my mom watching movies. Um Barbara's
reaction to Avatar. The first question my mom had when I started that movie was why are they blue? And I was like why We don't have enough time for this. Oh, what magic tricks does Jacob know? All of them. Um he can't do any of them very well, but he knows them. But he made the money. You can do the hoops, love. Ava still remembers. Who was Mr. Johnson for Halloween? In season 5 or in all time? All time. First he was Vision. I remember that.
No, no, no. He was Lil Uzi Vert. Yeah. Um and then you were Jimmy Butler. Emo Jimmy. That one was so stupid. Jimmy Butler. Wasn't he himself? Last year I was uh Denzel and I know. Oh, that's right. My favorite was the one when the little boy dressed up like him and he goes, "You'll hear from my lawyer." Oh, that was great. Yeah, that was such a good year. How many episodes of Abbott Elementary are there? I should know this, but I don't.
Let's do the math. Okay, so seven will be 100. Yeah. So 93. So then 93. Yeah. Who is the new janitor in Abbott Elementary season 5? Oh, Candy Alexander, Miss Carol. Miss Carol is not only the new janitor, but a love interest for Mr. Johnson. How did ringworm spread through Abbott Elementary? Well, Jacob. I had that person-to-person Jacob. Yeah, there was nothing I could do. Jacob, very clearly. Even those of us who sprayed it away.
I was immune to ringworm. Okay. Nothing you can do. As teachers know, it's not like You can follow quarantine protocol, but you know, no one listens. No one listens to the principal or the CDC. Speaking of the principal, I'm going to ask this one because I think you probably have a really good answer on this one. Oh boy. Why does Ava hate Janine? Hate? Ooh, strong That's a parent's heart. She doesn't hate. Why does Ava tough love Janine? My own theory, maybe sees a little bit of herself in her, wants her to lose her naive optimism to prevent her from being
hurt by it, and maybe is envious of some of her optimism as well. Doesn't Maybe that's beaten out of her by life. She doesn't see the I love it. Yeah. Yeah, I'd agree. I don't think Ava hates I agree with I don't think Ava hates Janine. Can Principal Ava beatbox? Beatbox. one way to find out. It was live. Did you do this in here? ONE JOYSTICK. YEAH. I DIDN'T KNOW THAT UNTIL I DID THAT LINE THAT I COULD. Where does Mr. Johnson disappear to during the school day?
An alternate reality. His office. Another realm. A beautiful office. It really is. I like to imagine he has one behind like how Ava does. Yeah. His office. We No, maybe I won't say it cuz maybe it actually will come up one day, but we have a very crazy story for where Mr. Johnson is a lot of the time. One day we'll What would Jacob teach if he could choose any subject? Oh my. Jacob likes teaching history. Yeah. Why does Jacob always want everyone to like him? Aw. What is his lovely flaw?
Does that seem like something that he dwells on? Don't cry. I'm not crying. No, cuz remember he was all upset because the kids thought that he was corny. That's why they call him Mr. C. And then I mean that was early on, but then comes to realize and through Janine too that corny's okay. You could be corny. And it doesn't That's just who you are. So for all you geeks out there that Google that It's okay. What would Melissa do if she weren't a teacher? She'd be a gouma. Excuse me. What's that mean? That means a mistress. Oh.
Ooh. Is she calling me a woman of loose morals? here's here's a good Here's another good one. Why does Melissa act tough even though she cares even when she cares? Possibly speaking personally, when you come up in a world where you feel like you have to fight for everything and you feel like you might not have uh people supporting you unless you are tough, you act tough even when you don't feel it because it's safer. So she and she's also very protective and loyal to the people around her. So going into toughness to protect them is uh her go-to.
Why is Barbara so calm under pressure? Why do you think that? Oh. Go ahead. No, is that not it? God? The Lord. It is the Lord. I also think that she's been under pressure, so she knows what it feels like. So, when it comes on, she knows how to react. Yeah, as a veteran. Experience. Uh what would Janine be doing if she weren't a teacher? I think that Janine was born to be a teacher. I really do. But, if she weren't one, I think she'd be like a substitute teacher. I think she'd be something with kids. Arts and crafts. Yeah. That's what she'd be doing. Why does Gregory hate small talk?
I love that about him. I would counter that with another great question of why do people do and enjoy small talk? Thank you. Like Gregory's the only logical person in the room. Uh Gregory doesn't like communicating any more than he has to. Okay. And that includes small talk. I wonder if that has something to do with Gregory's relationship with his dad. What is Gregory This one says, "What is Gregory's relationship with his dad?"
Complicated. But, so was yours. Um no, his relationship with his dad is really complicated cuz his dad is from the military and he was raised in a really military style household, not just also on the run. And also because Gregory lost his mom when he was very young. So, there's a part of his relationship dynamic that was never really there. And then I have one last one. I won't put this on you guys to answer, but it just says, "Why is Abbott Elementary underfunded?" And that is a question that we all should be asking ourselves because while Abbott is a fictional school, it is based on and inspired by real schools in Philadelphia that are currently underfunded. There are many different reasons why, but just so you
know, you have the power to help change that being the case by getting involved, by voting, by being part of your community and trying to make a difference to change just that. You can research every reason why. I'm not going to give it to you all, but there's many. Well, the cast of Abbott Elementary, thank you for your questions.
