For a longstanding comedy series like ABC‘s Abbott Elementary, creator Quinta Brunson faces the challenge every season of expanding characters’ backstories and keeping things interesting for those who have watched since Season 1.
One of the ways Season 5 faced that challenge was taking the familiar squad of teachers to an abandoned mall for a couple episodes. Brunson took inspiration from real-life situations in L.A. schools after the wildfires in 2025.
“I’m inspired a lot by what is happening with actual schools,” Brunson said during Deadline’s Contenders TV panel. “I learned about many schools going into malls. It happened here [in L.A.], actually, with the fires. A school where a friend of mine worked, they wound up in an old Sears because their school burned down in the fires.”
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Another way Philadelphia culture was incorporated in Season 5
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