r/AbbottElementary

This is in a genuine way not an insulting or rude way. As someone with autism there’s just sooo many times when he does something that gives autism like taking things literally, obviously his confusion + awkwardness in some social situations, fixations (like having the fire drill schedule memorized), lots of other things I just can’t think of rn. Lmk what you think i’m curious

I’ve been rewatching the series, and I can't shake the feeling that Season 3 marked a really weird turning point for the show's reality.

When Abbott started, what made it so special was how grounded and deeply authentic it felt. It perfectly captured the vibe of a struggling, underfunded Philadelphia public school. But lately, the sheer volume of massive celebrity cameos is totally breaking the immersion for me.

Don't get me wrong, the Philly Eagles players (Jalen Hurts, Jason Kelce) made total sense for the setting. But things like Bradley Cooper randomly wandering into a classroom for show-and-tell, or the whole Kevin Hart FaceTime gag, felt way too zany. Instead of feeling like a fly-on-the-wall mockumentary about everyday teachers, it’s starting to feel like a Hollywood pit-stop for stunt casting.

Historically, when sitcoms start relying this heavily on massive celebrity cameos, it’s a sign they are running out of organic story ideas (think late-era The Simpsons or the post-Michael Scott seasons of The Office).

I know the showrunners mentioned they want to scale it back, but with the It's Always Sunny crossover and everything else, I'm worried the core ensemble chemistry is getting sidelined for cheap pop-culture buzz.

Does anyone else feel like the cameos are hurting the "precious truth" of the show, or am I just overthinking it?

Okay, so I wanna start this off by saying this isn't a critique of the writing, I'm aware you can write something uncomfortable about a character and it doesn't mean the show supports it or anything like that, nor am I saying Barbara is an evil monster and that this shouldn't have happened because I actually like when a character does something wrong. It's real and makes me happy! I wouldn't change this scene for the world because vonplex characters are goated. But does anyone else get uncomfortable about the fact that Barbara, who knows about Gregory's food sensitivities, decided to give him a food that could possibly cause him distress?

I mean she had no idea how he would react but that's the point. She didn't really know, but she was given clues by how he'd acted with food before and still decided to give him something without telling him everything that was in it. Yes, Gregory could've looked but just because he could've done something on his end (he did, because he asked what was in it he just didn't look through for some reason? Maybe he was distracted.) doesnt mean it negates Barbara's actions. Food sensitivities can be a lot to deal with and we've seen it be a lot for him and his stressed reactions to foods he hasn't claimed to like (and very much claimed to dislike) before so possibly giving him something that could've hurt him feels iffy for me. Though maybe Barabara made an educated guess based off of what textures he has claimed to like before? That wouldn't account for taste tho, so idk. But what do yall think?