The mockumentary-style comedy Abbott Elementary finds a documentary crew following the lives of the teachers at the underfunded, predominantly Black Philadelphia public school Willard R. Abbott Elementary. The series is currently airing its fourth season on ABC, but the third season makes its way onto DVD this week thanks to Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment. The series comes from creator Quinta Brunson, who also stars in the series as second grade teacher Janine Teagues.

The third season of Abbott Elementary brings a new school year and lots of changes to Abbott Elementary. After the events of the second season, the district has hired new superintendent John Reynolds (Keegan-Michael Key), who is eager to make some positive changes in the district. Principal Ava Coleman (Janelle James) also seems to have changed over the summer, getting her degree in Education and becoming more inspired to be a good principal—though this is short-lived, and it isn’t long before she’s back to her old tone-deaf, self-centered ways. As the season opens, district representatives Manny (Josh Segarra), Simon (Benjamin Norris & Emily (Kimia Behpoornia) are impressed by second-grade teacher Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson). Manny likes Janine’s ideas and attitude, and offers her a fellowship, so that she can join his district team and help to implement her ideas. Janine jumps at this opportunity to make some real change in the school, but misses working directly with her students. So she often pops in to (disapprovingly) check on the series of substitutes that are take over her classroom while she’s away. She constantly fids herself torn between her new role with the district and her classroom/former co-workers, and must decides which to pursue.

One of Janine’s big initiatives is to hire a librarian, Rosalyn Inez (Cree Summer) to run the school’s library, which had previously been more of a free-for-all. However, it isn’t long before Abbott mainstay Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph) butts heads with Rosalyn—she is used to doing things her own way. Other changes this season include neurotic history teacher Jacob Hill (Chris Perfetti) becoming the unlikely housemate of fellow teacher Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter) after he breaks-up with boyfriend Zach (Larry Owens). We also see Jacob start up a new relationship with EMT Avi (Karan Soni), and Melissa get into a physical relationship with firefighter Captain Robinson (Mike O’Malley). The will they/won’t they between teacher Gregory Eddie (Tyler James Williams) and Janine is also in full force this season. Will these two ever just admit their feelings to one another?! Gregory also discovers that he’s the “cool” teacher, which he eventually embraces, and kicks off his own Gregory’s Garden Goofball initiative.

In its third season, Abbott Elementary continues to be a smart, funny series, and makes for an easy, enjoyable watch. I originally watched the season as it aired on ABC, but it was great to be able to binge through the episodes again on this DVD set—I had forgotten a lot of the hilarious things that happened. In addition to the main cast, the season also has some new and returning guest stars, such as the fun string of quirky subs who take over Janine’s classroom, including Jessca (Sabrina Brier) and Mx. Cassidy Geoffrey (Sabrina Wu). We also see the return of Janine’s ex-boyfriend Tariq Temple (Zack Fox), who takes a more active role in the school’s PTA after he starts dating the mother of one of Barbara’s students. We meet Ava’s former sorority sister Crystal (Tatyana Ali), who is now a rival principal at another school. There’s also Olivia (Lana Condor), a coworker of Avi’s who goes on an awkward date with Gregory. Some of the other guest stars this season include Taraji P. Henson, Michaela Watkins, Aparna Nancherla, June Diane Raphael, Jennifer Elise Cox, Lana Condor and Richard Brooks, and as themselves, Bradley Cooper, Kevin Hart, Questlove and Philadelphia Eagles Jalen Hurts, Brandon Graham & Jason Kelce.

The third season was shortened due to the writers; strike, so it’s only 14 episodes, but the characters are still taken on what feels like a complete arc over the course of the season, which begins with the first day of the school year and ends with the last day of the school year. There are certainly a lot of memorable moments in the third season—from Career Day, to the awkward Say No to Drugs campaign F.A.D.E. (Friends Against Drug Exposure), discovering the racist origins of the school’s namesake, Ava facing off on a panel with her rival, the teachers using AI, the return of AVA Fest, a book club discussion that gets out of hand, a Mothers’ Day brunch, a field trip to the local playground, a wild party to close out the school year, and so much more.

As I binged my way through the third season on this DVD release, I found myself thoroughly entertained and wanting to just keep watching more of these teachers and their wacky exploits. The writing is great, mixing laughs with surprisingly emotional moments for a sitcom. Each of the characters is given a chance to find some personal growth over the course of the season—even Ava!

It’s unfortunate that Warner Bros. has only been releasing this series on DVD, despite the fact the the series airs in HD on ABC. (Though it is available for purchase digitally in HD.) The DVD picture quality is generally clean and more than sufficient, but it definitely lacks that extra level of clarity and detail that you got in the original HD presentation. The audio track provides clear dialogue, and a generally immersive ambiance throughout.

The third season’s 14 episodes are evenly split across 2 discs, which reside on a swinging tray inside a standard-sized DVD case. Our review copy did not include a slipcover, and there is no bonus material or digital copy included with this release.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (5:02:06)
• All 14 episodes of the third season:
  Disc 1 (2:30:31): “Career Day”, “Gregory’s Garden Goofballs”, “Smoking”, “Breakup”, “Willard R. Abbott”, “Librarian”
  Disc 2 (2:31:35): “Panel”, “Alex”, “2 Ava 2 Fest”, “Double Date”, “Mother’s Day”, “Smith Playground”, “Party”
• 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English SDH​

Extras:

There is no bonus material included on this release.

Final Thoughts:

In its third season, Abbott Elementary continues to mix humor and heart to provide a thoroughly entertaining experience that will have viewers laughing out loud. The characters are well-developed and given a chance to grow, the writing is witty, and the situations are often hilarious. It’s a little disappointing that there is no Blu-ray release being offered as the series originally airs in HD, but the DVD picture still looks quite good. The third season is a bit shortened due to the writers’ strike, but the 14 episodes tell a complete arc, and make for an entertaining binge. Unfortunately the DVD does not include any bonus material, but still comes recommended based on the quality of the series itself.