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All hail Quinta Brunson.
"It’s a bigger commentary on America’s treatment of lower classes,” Quinta told the Los Angeles Times in a recent interview. “Our country doesn’t care as much about its lower classes as its richer class...and because of that, schools like Abbott are suffering. Our funding should definitely be going more into the pockets of these schools than it is a billionaire’s venture."
"Ms. Abbott has always stuck with me throughout my life," Quinta said, adding that she always went "above and beyond." She explained, "I was in the same building as [my mother], and when I got out and went to middle school, I was a little scaredy-cat. I didn’t want to leave my mom, and [Ms. Abbott] helped transition me out of it."
There are so many shows about high school — both dramas and comedies — so Quinta said she felt that the age group and particular setting were an "untapped playground" ripe for a series.
"These teachers are still people who have lives, who have relationships, who have fun, who laugh," Quinta told Variety in December. "They deserve to be seen in that light without being bogged down by our stratosphere of otherworldly issues.”
Of choosing to portray Janine, Quinta said, "This is a slice-of-life person, and I feel like that’s what I do best. It was also fun to play a character who doesn’t have my name and has different idealism. She’s very optimistic, and I don’t think I’m as optimistic as her in any way, shape or form," adding that she feels like she's "much more of a Barbara."
I'm calling it now: Ms. Howard is a Capricorn. (I say this endearingly, as a fellow Cap.)
You've most likely seen Lisa in 1998's The Parent Trap (that's Lindsay Lohan's version) and Bruce Almighty.
In conversation with the Root, Tyler said he was drawn to the role because he saw "an opportunity to bring voice to Black, male educators and particularly Black men and encourage, represent, acknowledge and validate the experience of the Black man rearing the next generation — whether it be educationally or just in everyday life. I think we don’t talk about that enough or validate it and when we do: we do it in a way that’s very hyper-focused and it seems like it’s rare."
Everyone say, "Thank you, Tyler," for crafting some of the best — as well as most precise and thoughtfully executed — fourth-wall breaks known to humankind.
Randall also worked on another beloved workplace sitcom, Parks and Rec. Indeed, the whole team behind Abbott hails from sitcom royalty, including writers, story editors, producers, and more who worked on shows like Superstore, Modern Family, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and 2 Broke Girls.
She continued, "I think Barbara is right a lot of the time, and I think Janine is right a lot of the time. It’s about finding what that solution is. Everyone can be right, but what’s the solution to the problem? It’s people who try, people who have tried and people who can give knowledge to those coming in."
"We are not going to go there too soon with their relationship," Quinta told Variety. "You’ll see glimpses of something there, but who wants to see people get together right away? I think these characters have a lot of growing to do on their own."
At the end of the interaction, Janine accidentally calls her role model "mom" instead of Ms. Howard, and you just KNOW that Ms. Howard sees her younger self in Janine's unending enthusiasm for educating and nurturing kids.
"She’s got a lot of repressed stuff with her mom, some trauma, but we don’t dress it as such in the show; it is just there. She has to grow and still learn how to keep her optimism," Quinta added.
Still don't believe me? It currently holds a perfect critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes.