The New Yorker:

With “Abbott Elementary,” the comedian and writer found fresh humor and mass appeal in a world she knew well.

By Molly Fischer

In mid-January, two days after Quinta Brunson accepted the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her starring role on the ABC show “Abbott Elementary,” she was in a hair-and-makeup trailer on the Warner Bros. lot at 7 a.m. “I actually was a little late this morning, which I hate, but a pipe burst in my house,” she said. Her voice was still hoarse from a weekend that also included several galas and the Critics Choice Awards. At the Emmys, the television luminary Carol Burnett had presented Brunson with her trophy—she was the first Black woman in more than forty years to win the category. Onstage, Brunson had worn a pink crushed-satin Dior dress with a nineteen-fifties-prom-queen silhouette and proclaimed her love for her family, her show, and her medium. “I don’t even know why I’m so emotional,” she said through tears. “I think, like, the Carol Burnett of it all.”

In the trailer, Brunson sat before a mirror in a loose navy sweater, a Dior-logo print scarf over her hair. Lisa Peña-Wong, a nail technician, was in the process of swapping out Brunson’s glittery awards manicure for a simpler look—something more befitting Janine Teagues, her character on “Abbott,” an eager-beaver second-grade teacher who’s still finding her personal and professional footing. Brunson has a connoisseur’s appreciation for sitcoms, and for the constrained pleasures of a fictional world that stays nearly the same week after week. “Small growth is important, especially in TV, especially if that TV’s going to last a long time,” she told me from her makeup chair. First-season Janine did not get her nails done; third-season Janine does. “I think it’s what people are secretly signing up for,” she said.

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