Season Two Premiere of Abbott Elementary Becomes Highest-Rated Comedy Telecast in Three Years

The grades (read: numbers) are in and Abbott Elementary, ABC’s hit comedy series, continues its A+ rating with both the network and viewers, as its Season Two premiere became the highest-rated comedy telecast in three years.

In the show, the teachers return to Abbott for development week, a time to prepare for the upcoming year. All the while, Janine (Quinta Brunson) is determined to start the year off right, having become a newly single woman, while school principal Ava (Janelle James) runs a side hustle out of the school parking lot.

According to Deadline, it boasts a 4.12 rating “among the 18-49 demographic,” which is “73 percent higher than the Season 1 premiere’s 2.38 rating and 623 percent higher than the episode fared in live+ same day. It marks the largest delayed-viewing increase for any ABC comedy in terms of demo ratings.” The episode also garnered “10.4 million viewers across linear and digital platforms, making it the network’s most-watched comedy telecast since the series finale of Modern Family in April 2020.”

In the 35 days after the episode aired, it also gained an additional 7.5 million viewers, doubling its initial count of 2.9 million live + same-day viewers. Because of that, the episode is now tied with a “September 2018 telecast of Modern Family for highest delayed-viewing increase for any ABC comedy ever.”

As previously reported by The Root, back in January, the Quinta Brunson-created show became the comedy to debut at quadruple ratings on ABC. So this recent feat is actually just par for the course at this point. Way to go, Abbott crew!

Abbott Elementary, starring Brunson, James, Tyler James Williams, Emmy-winner Sheryl Lee Ralph, Chris Perfetti and Lisa Ann Walter, follows “a group of dedicated, passionate teachers—and a slightly tone-deaf principal—as they navigate the Philadelphia public school system. Despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life, and though these incredible public servants may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do—even if they don’t love the school district’s less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.”