The writers ofAbbott Elementaryshed light on their Roomy Award-winning process.
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
How do you craft a crowd-pleaser likeAbbott Elementary?
The series is always sprightly in its ability to fuse real-world concerns withAbbotts own peculiar internal dynamics.
That agility is thanks to its writers, who are the first winners of Vultures Roomy Award.
And what I usually do is call Justin [Halpern].
He and Pat [Schumacker] are my co-producers, and we talk about the ideas.
I feel like its a sign that our room is in a very good place.
Most of us have been here since the first season.
After that, we start the room and do blue-sky ideas.
It helps lead us to story lines.
But we like to talk to an administrator to kick things off.
Am I missing anything?
Justin Halpern:No, thats largely how it goes.
Its also sort of the safe space to pitch whatever you want at that time.
Im curious how you all approach the beginning of a season.Q.B.
:Somebody get in there.
Im gonna start calling on people.
You want me to do that?
All right, fine.
Kate Peterman:Can you repeat the question?
:You just got the absolute essence of Kate right there.
Im not gonna say it!
I feel like you have to say it.J.H.
:It doesnt make any sense.
:Actually, Brittani, do you want to go for it?
:Im gonna hand it over to Brittani!
Brittani Nichols:Ill pass it to Ava.
:No, Im so serious.
Because thats when the gears start turning, you know what I mean?
Because break is break, so Im relaxing when were off; Im not using my brain.
And then sometimes the ideas get shot down!
Like really good ideas, like a cold-open idea!
Apparently really good ideas!Q.B.
:When I say balloon friends, what does that mean to you?
[To the audience]Anyone?Q.B.
:You see the empty faces?
Nobodys responding to that
K.P.:Yet!
:Balloon friends is not a thing.
When the season ends and an idea doesnt get used, they keep it in their back pocket.
Do you have any of those youd be willing to share with us?Q.B.
It was really fun working with a writer who is also a director on our show, Justin Tan.
That was a new experience for me.
We had a fun guest cast as well.
It seems like such a crazy story, but so many people relate.
It happens to teachers a lot.
Parenting is hard and teaching is hard, and you might find common ground through the struggles.
But its competitive and its hard to keep a childs attention.
I feel like it was a really grounded story that we got to have a lot of fun with.
:You ate that.
:We dont get ideas from them.
Its important to have that clarity, because its important for writers to know that, period.
:Thats a really important distinction.
Most shows that are about a real environment hospital shows, etc.
they are not going and mining.
You make the story, and then you check in.
:But yeah, thingsarebased off of peoples lives.
Gregory doesnt like food Brian [Rubenstein] doesnt like food!
That came from Brian!
:A fun fact is that Brian doesnt like food at all.
Is he a psychopath?
:Hes just so unlikable!
Brian Rubenstein:They said, No woman would like this guy.
It made me so happy, because Id stare at Brian during the calls.
Then one day out of nowhere, a white kid came to the school.
So one day last season, I said, How about a white kid comes to Abbott?
I didnt think it would happen, but Quinta was like, Yes, were doing that!
Are there guardrails forThis is too accurateorThis is too wacky?K.P.
Although maybe who can say?!Q.B.
:Who can say?
Thats the fun of fiction thats nice to keep alive here, and the fun of a sitcom.
Its not real life.
Its not a documentary.
Like last season, we did the drug episode.
:It was the same for me.
you’re able to kind of take it down the line, and its very satisfying.
Thats a really cool thing about this show.
:You make a really good point about how were filming and editing at the same time.
Thats the benefit I see.
Is there a special way you guys approach those in the room?
Do you pick certain holidays per season to focus on?Q.B.
:Oh my God, I wish we could do that!
No, we get an airing schedule at the beginning of the year.
Id love to do a Thanksgiving episode, but we have not gotten Thanksgiving on the schedule yet.
Its fun; Im a huge fan.
Its nice to know were airing at a time and put people in the festive holiday spirit.
That episode is actually one of our wackier episodes by one of our wackier writers.
:That was one of the hardest episodes to break.
:That was another example of when things change in the edit.
:God love her.
I feel bad that she didnt get it.
She was supposed to run up and go AHHHH!
But it just didnt work out, so we lost that, and it was one continuous scene.
:Our kid who was originally dressed as Mr. Johnson got sick and had to come out Malcolm.
:He was so cute!
:He was so cute, and it was so sad.
He was trying so hard.
:Im dealing with a lot of mucus!
In this scene, the kids steal two years worth of Halloween candy.
But there isnt punishment in the show, right?
Are there guidelines within the room for how to write conflict involving the kids?J.T.
He was a good kid.
:Thats something we do well: Theres always a solution.
There are always lessons, but were not trying to hit you over the head with it.
We get to work that into how the students are treated when they make a mistake.
:And that goes into the ethos of the hiring process.
When we were hiring, we werent just hiring writers.
We were hiring people good people.
K.P.:See?
:And notice, really quickly, how the white men in our room are being quiet?
:They let everybody talk!
Be the change you want to see.J.T.
:Its about time.
Its a natural order.
The bald people get to speak before the people with hair, the Black people get to speak first.
I cant explain it to yall!
:I dont know where I stand in this!
:You get to speak first!
No, Black women first, then you.
Then Justin, then Kate, then the people who are bald and the people with hair!
Is there anything you guys want to say about that?Riley Dufurrena:Thats fair!
Heres a clip from the season-three finaleParty,written by Chad Morton and Rebekka Pesqueira Q.B.:Chad!
Chad is my son!
Thats something that were losing with these shorter orders.
:So did Pat!
:This is true.
Q.B.:Exactly!
Thats how long its been!
:I have a kid now.
:I have five kids!
:Some people are still single, so Im going to throw a party.
But let me getmybearings together!
Everybody cheered for the kiss, right?
And Quinta,you saidthat you knew that the end of that season was the right time.
:I wonder what you guys think.
We havent heard from you.
That was tough, especially when wed come off the strike and hadnt been working for a long time.
:Yeah, absolutely!
You dont have to couch it!
:No, I just didnt want to honk our horn too much.
Youre accepting an award for your writing.Q.B.
Even though our first season was just 13, this is data pipe television.
We had a lot of story to tell very quickly.
They say pressure makes diamonds, and I feel like we are a fucking diamond.
How does that work?P.S.
So we had charter schools in season two, and then it was the district in season three.
This feels like a good time to bring out the medal and the awards.B.N.
:I thought this was symbolic!
J.H.:Hardware!
Q.B.:Medals?
Thank you so much!
Thank you guys so much for the work!P.S.
:What does it say?
:It says VultureRoomy Award:Abbott Elementary.
And it has all of our names.
Were gonna hang it in our room.
This is a real honor.
People do not acknowledge the writers enough,ever, at any point, at any time.
Do we get medals?
Yeah, you get medals as well.Q.B.
:Its like a Nobel Peace Prize!
Exact same level of respect.
[Each writer gets a medal.]
:I feel like fucking ShaCarri Richardson right now!
This is so cool!
Before we go, I want to ask a few questions about the future of the show.
Theres been a lot of talk about theAlways Sunnycrossover.
What can you tell us about that and having those guys in the room with you?G.W.
:Its my episode.
I got extremely lucky, and it was amazing.
Were huge fans of what they do, and to have them there in person.
Charlie was sick and he still Zoomed in.
So everybody was gung-ho and really excited to do it, and we got to push everything pretty far.
:Our episode will air in January.
I dont know when their episodes gonna air, but probably in June.
Their episode will betheir versionof what happened in this story line.
:Urkel onFull House.
:Urkel onFull Housechanged my life!
:I want the teachers to go on a game show.
I really want our teachers to go on that show.
Justin says it cant happen.
:Owned by another data pipe.
:Im gonna make that one happen!
Does anyone else have any ones that they would love?J.M.:9-1-1!
Q.B.:No!
:They have to get rescued, they go to L.A.
I have it all in my head.
I think everybody wants that.Q.B.
:I love that.
Hed be so good onThe Golden Bachelor!
:I dont know if his wife would like that though.
:It ended up being the very best version of a crossover that could be done.
Im so proud of it.
Weve done some cool things this year.
:Its not like theSunnygang shows up in our cold open and then theyre gone.
:Lemme tell you what happened.
I said, I want to do this, and Justin says, There is no way.
And Kate very rightfully pointed out one day
K.P.
Otherwise, if you say, Youcantdo that
Q.B.
:…
