February 08, 2024
Gilles Mingasson/Disney
ABC's 'Abbott Elementary' returned for its third season Wednesday with surprise Zoom cameos by Eagles players Jalen Hurts, Jason Kelce and Brandon Graham.
"Abbott Elementary" returned for its third season on Wednesday night, bringing with it new characters, major plot developments and a special guest appearances by some Philadelphia Eagles players.
The two-part episode has the teachers of Abbott Elementary preparing for a career day, the school's first in decades. The event was suggested by eternal optimist and striver Jeanine Teagues (played by the show's Philly-born creator Quinta Brunson), who we learn has recently taken a role with the School District of Philadelphia.
In characteristic Jeanine fashion, she secures guests perfectly suited to her coworkers' interests. Gardening enthusiast Gregory Eddie (Tyler James Williams) gets a botanist, while Jacob Hill (Chris Perfetti) gets his requested speaker — Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis), the school's enigmatic custodian. Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Walter) is initially annoyed that Jeanine assigns a marketer to her class, until she learns he works for the Eagles.
Since talking about email blasts quickly bores the kids, the marketer brings out the big guns: a Zoom call with Jalen Hurts. The entire school subsequently descends into chaos.
"Jalen Hurts’ people actually emailed us in the middle of season two to say that he was a big fan of the show, and if there was ever an opportunity he’d be interested in being on it," co-showrunner Justin Halpern told The Hollywood Reporter. "Sports are a big part of Philadelphia. It’s in the DNA of the city ... So we were like, 'oh, it’d be so great if what f***s up her career day is the fact that she ends up getting somebody who’s too famous in terms of Philly.'"
Hurts — or as Melissa calls him, "America's sweetheart" — only appears briefly, but he makes an immediate impression by mistaking Jeanine for a student. Later, when the school's shameless principal Ava Coleman (Janelle James) asks the quarterback what he dreams about, Hurts blurts out, "That I'm the prince of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis."
As the episode continues, it's revealed that Hurts is not just there for career day. Melissa's boyfriend Gary has enlisted him to help propose, despite her repeated insistence that she does not want to get married. When Melissa turns Gary down, Hurts' teammates Brandon Graham and Jason Kelce hop onto the call to see what's happening.
"Another proposal?" Graham asks. "Jalen, you gotta say no to this kinda stuff. Boundaries."
"You know my boundaries porous as hell," Hurts quips.
Melissa and Gary take their conversation outside, and seemingly agree to part ways. She returns to class in tears, but gets an immediate pep talk from the Eagles crew.
"We just wanna say, we think it's cool you trusted your gut," Kelce says.
"Your call with your beau!" Graham adds.
go birds pic.twitter.com/QMQxRonHZm
— Nick Piccone (@_piccone) February 8, 2024
The Eagles stars weren't the only new faces in the episode. The season premiere also introduced a trio of new characters from the school district, who convince Jeanine to take a fellowship. Their casting was announced in January.
After a 10-month hiatus made longer by the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild of America strikes, "Abbott Elementary" returned to its usual Wednesday night slot on ABC. The next episode airs at 9 p.m. on Valentine's Day.
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