Abbott Elementary fans need to watch this new comedy series with a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes

ABC Abbott Elementary School is a hit sitcom about teachers at an underfunded public school in Philadelphia, and it's set to return for its next season on October 9. However, it's still on hiatus for another month, even as real school starts back up. Fans who are eagerly awaiting the next season are in luck, because FX's new series English teacher It's a great show to keep an eye on.

As Abbott Elementary, English teacher takes place in a public school, and both deal with social issues in their own contexts. The show's creators also have had similar careers, which influences the comedy of both shows and gives them a similar, modern feel.

Abbott Elementary and English Teacher Show the Humor of Public Schools

Elementary Abbot, as the name suggests, it is set in an elementary school (although the upper floor is a middle school) in Philadelphia. Filmed in a mockumentary format, it is a humorous workplace sitcom that follows the school's teachers, especially the new teacher, Janine Teagues, as they navigate the challenges of teaching in an underfunded inner-city school and try to make things better for the students. Likewise, English teacher takes place in a public school. However, English teacher It is set in a high school in rural Texas, with a more adult tone (some sexual content and frequent profanity) due to both its network and its older student body.

Aside from these small differences in setup, however, Abbott Elementary School AND English teacher have similar settings. For one thing, while each show has a dynamic main character in the form of Janine and the titular English teacher, Evan Marquez, They also have a very good choral cast, made up of the other teachers of the school. While Abbott Elementary School has characters like longtime teacher Barbara Howard, Janine's mentor, or Ava Coleman, the hilarious principal,English teacher stars Gwen Sanders, an energetic and rather frenetic history teacher, and Mark Hillridge, a vulgar but ultimately well-meaning gym teacher.

Both shows Additionally, school students are often featured in their ensemble casts. Although only a few episodes have been released so far, English teacher appears to feature more students as recurring or supporting characters, with Evan's book club acting as his supporters in both episodes of the two-part premiere. The plot of the second episode, “Powderpuff,” focuses on the students as they prepare for the Powderpuff pageant, where the cheerleading squad plays football and the football team dresses in drag and gender-swaps to cheer them on. Abbott Elementary School also features some heavily student-centric episodes, such as season 1 episode 5, “Student Transfer,” which focuses on the brilliant, but apathetic and rebellious student Courtney, or season 2 episode 6, “Candy Zombies,” in which a student steals the school's Halloween candy and distributes it to other students in advance.

Both Abbott Elementary and the English teacher explore social issues

In addition to using public schools similarly as sources of comedy, both Abbott Elementary School AND English teacher exploit their settings to address current social issues. One of the Abbott Elementary School the best quality is that realistically discusses the difficulties of teaching in an underfunded school, where problems such as damaged property and outdated technology abound. The school in the series is also predominantly black, and some episodes focus on racism while maintaining a comedic tone, such as Season 3, Episode 6, “Willard R. Abbott,” in which the protagonists discover that Abbot's namesake was a racist and attempt to claim that the name is derived from another Willard Abbott.

English teacher, on the other hand, faces the difficulty teaching in a Texas high school, with a particular focus on sexuality. Evan is a gay man and in the pilot, worries about losing job after student's mother files complaint against school for kissing her boyfriend in front of the students. The second episode deals with the tension that comes from the Powderpuff performance, with the school's LGBTQ club opposing the boys' performance, calling it a mockery of trans women and drag queens. To prevent the performance from becoming a controversy, Evan invites a drag queen friend (played by Trixie Mattel) to coach the boys for their performance. English teacher is adding an important artistic element in the era of educational restrictions like Florida's “Don't Say Gay” law.

The main characters of both shows share a passion for making school better for students. Janine's character is defined by his ambition and his desire to change things, Which Abbott Elementary School also shows in her family relationships. This trait can sometimes create bigger problems, like when she tries to fix a flickering light by herself and ends up electrocuting herself and blowing out all the power in the school. She even ended up working for the school board and teaching less in the final season because she wanted to change things from above. Evan, meanwhile, openly expresses in the first episode that he wants to continue working at the school he's at, rather than go to a city like Austin where parents and staff might be more tolerant because the students in conservative areas need him most.

If there is a place where Abbott Elementary School excels more than English teacher, it's out of compassion for the students. English teacher more was invested showing the harm that regressive school policies do to teachers rather than students; Mark even solves Evan's problem in the pilot by contacting the parent who accused Evan and threatening to spread the word that his son is, himself, gay, by throwing him under the bus. The show also sometimes casts students as the villains in ways that Abbott Elementary School never does. While it's certainly not one of the worst fictional schools for students, the school in English teacher is not entirely invested in children (at least not yet). However, this is also a powerful source of comedy for English teacher, AS Teens ignore any commands to stop cursing or to return to the topic with comedic jokes.

Quinta Brunson and Brian Jordan Alvarez became famous online

Both Abbott Elementary School AND English teacher can thank their creators, Quinta Brunson and Brian Jordan Alvarez, for their current comedy. Both shows are driven by their creators, with Brunson playing the role of Janine and Alvarez playing the role of Evan. In particular, The two found some of their initial fame online. Brunson was known for her online career with Instagram sketches and work with Buzzfeed before coming to TV, with early roles on shows like New girl,A sketch show by a black woman AND Magical Girls Friendship Team before creating Abbott Elementary School. At first, Alvarez had some roles on TV such as in Will and grace AND Joan the Virgin; However, His real fame came with his 2016 web series The Merry and Wonderful Life of Caleb Gallo and, more recently, the fame of TikTok.

Alvarez's web series
The Merry and Wonderful Life of Caleb Gallo
It was the origin of the meme “Sometimes expensive things…are worse.”

Memes and the Internet are major influences on both Abbott Elementary School AND English teacher. Abbott Elementary School features many other internet stars, like Casey Frey, a former Vine star who went on to make longer videos, and Sabrina Brier, a sketch comedian on TikTok. One of the students was also found on TikTok, junior JaBria McCullum, whose stepbrother started making TikToks of her and her classmates asking them questions. English teacher shows students who are deeply involved with the Internet, even trying to frame one of the teachers for saying something problematic while being recorded; they are often on their phones, which is even reflected in the show's poster. Both capitalize on the growing trend of internet culture inspiring TV and movies.

With only the first two episodes out, English teacher is already making a big impression and certainly has plenty of time to impress audiences even more. Its perfect release timing aligns it with back-to-school season, so teachers, parents, and older students can all follow the start of the school year live for the characters as well. With its traditional TV style, It also has the potential to become a much-discussed weekly staple and keep fans hooked for a long time. It will certainly keep Abbott Elementary School Fans, as well as other comedy enthusiasts, were entertained in the weeks to come.