| Episode |
"Gifted Program" is the sixth episode of the first season of ABC's hit mockumentary-sitcom Abbott Elementary. It was directed by Matt Sohn and written by Jordan Temple. The episode first aired on ABC on February 1, 2022, with 2.77 million viewers and received positive reviews from critics.
Description[]
Janine is inspired to start a gifted program when a relatively smart kid transfers to Abbott, she employs Jacob to teach the class. The program faces controversy when students start feeling left out. Janine starts teaching the gifted lessons in her homeroom, which somehow gets a snake accidently released into the school building. When Gregory tells her his opinion about the program, she dismantles it and replaces it with a "rotational enrichment program" for all students. Meanwhile, Barbara is trying to get Melissa to hook up with the vending machine operator.
Plot[]
Janine teaches Math to Sydnee using potatoes.
Janine tries to teach one of her students, named Sydnee, Mathematics using potatoes. Sydnee has a hard time grasping the lesson and Marie, another student, answers the problem with ease. Janine then tasks Marie to sharpen pencils and after that, grade her classmates’ worksheets, so that she can do something after finishing ahead of her classmates. Just then, Wendell, a cafeteria worker, takes away the potatoes and Sydnee cheers.
The following day, Ava introduces a transferee student named Malcolm to the staff. He used to go to Elway Academy, a private school, but his parents wanted him to go to school with other Black kids. Ava then adds that he’s a straight-A student, who was in the gifted program. Janine shares that she, too was in the gifted program. After Malcolm leaves, Janine proposes that Abbott should also have a gifted program so that her students can have something else to do after they finish their schoolwork. The other teachers chime in, saying it’s a good idea. Janine asks for Gregory’s opinion, and he just brushes off the question. Ava tells them that while they have the budget for such a program, they can’t proceed unless they find someone to teach the gifted program. Melissa agrees, saying that they barely have enough time in their own classes to teach in the program. Janine, however, refuses to give up on the idea of the program.
Melissa flirts with Gary, the vending machine operator.
In the teachers’ lounge, Melissa and Barbara are having a conversation when Gary, the guy who operates the vending machine, walks in. Melissa and Gary start flirting with each other, with Gary giving Melissa her usual weekly fruit juice. Barbara notices that Gary likes Melissa and encourages her to ask him out. Melissa refuses because she is afraid that he’ll end up like her ex-husband.
Meanwhile, Janine needed someone who was enthusiastic and had free time and thought that Jacob could do the job. They go to Ava to have the gifted program curriculum approved, along with the proposal of having Jacob teach it during his free periods. Ava approves this with the ulterior motive of outdoing her sorority sisters’ achievements.
A few days later, Gary returns to the teachers’ lounge to restock their vending machine. Melissa and Gary go back and forth with their flirting, so Barbara encourages Melissa to ask him out once again. She decides to do so, but when Gary excitedly tells her of his plans of where he’ll be taking her, Melissa retracts her offer for a date, telling the camera that she spotted a red flag with his date suggestion.
Janine's class watches the gifted program hatch some chicken eggs.
In Gregory’s class, Ava pulls out three of his students for the gifted program. Gregory protests, saying that those are the only ones who participate in his class. When the camera crew asks him what he thinks of the gifted program, he doesn’t answer the question directly, saying that if everyone else is into it, then it’s great. Sometime later, Janine’s class pass by the gifted program class where Jacob teaches them about the chicken’s reproductive cycle. Just in time, the children witness a chicken egg hatching, and a chick emerges. Janine’s students see the kids in the gifted program having fun and asks if he could also go to the “chicken school” with his classmates chiming in that they, too, would like to go.
The following day, Janine announces to the teachers in the teachers’ lounge that some of the kids who aren’t in the gifted program were feeling left out. Gregory agrees and complains that since they took all his “talking kids,” he now has to do all the talking in his classes. Janine thinks on how to remedy the situation so the other kids won’t get left behind and will still be successful. She says that there isn’t anything wrong with the gifted program itself, but that they just need to organize it better. Barbara comments that if the program is making the other kids feel bad, then it isn’t worth it. Janine, however, refuses to give up on it and tries to find ways to lift up the other kids instead. Janine goes to Ava to ask for some funds to buy chicken eggs she could use to hatch for her class. Ava doesn’t approve her request, saying that the funds were only for the gifted program.
Gerald brings Barbara lunch.
During lunch break, Barbara’s husband, Gerald, joins her and Melissa to eat in Barbara’s classroom. Gerald brings them their lunch and Melissa praises Gerald’s thoughtfulness, saying that he set a high bar for men and that she won’t settle for anything less. Barbara tells Melissa that Gerald wasn’t always that way, but she took a leap of faith, and it paid off. Melissa realizes that Barbara is trying to help Melissa take her leap of faith with Gary. Melissa remains cynical and tells her that after her divorce, that was it for her. However, during her class, she cyber stalks Gary. Janine walks into her class and she asks her what she thinks of Gary. Janine then asks Melissa for chicken eggs that will hatch for her class. Melissa agrees to the request and asks for a week.
A week or so later, Janine is teaching her class when the eggs Melissa provided start to hatch. The class excitedly observe this, but the students notice that instead of chicks, snakes are hatching from the said eggs. Animal Control is called to retrieve the newly hatched snakes. After the incident, Gregory suggests that they get rid of the gifted program since it wasn’t working. Janine can’t believe his suggestion but realizes that he never really said that he liked it. Gregory then shares that when he was a kid, he didn’t get into the gifted program and this made him feel he wasn’t good enough, so he checked out. He says that when you tell kids that’s all they aren’t “gifted” they’ll believe it. He then explains that there is more than one way to be intelligent, pointing out how his students are intelligent in their own different way.
Meanwhile, Barbara asks Melissa if she was ready to see Gary again in the teachers’ lounge since it was time to restock the vending machines. Melissa answers that she isn’t ready, but Barbara tells her that the only reason she’s not ready is because she says she isn’t. Melissa ponders on this and decides to call her ex-husband, Joe. She asks him if he was afraid when he started dating again. He answers that they were young then, but she deserves a chance at something better. She then goes to the teachers’ lounge to find Gary. She gives him a chance and asks him out for dinner.
Janine, Jacob, and Gregory go to Ava and propose a change in the gifted program. They propose that instead of a select few going to the gifted program every week, every kid should have the opportunity to join the gifted program every few weeks so that no kid feels left out. Ava approves their proposal.
After school, Gregory and Janine exchange a few jokes and Janine tells the camera crew that she’s glad that Gregory is starting to open up. She adds that it’s nice to have another friend at the school.
Starring[]
- Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues
- Tyler James Williams as Gregory Eddie
- Janelle James as Ava Coleman
- Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti
- Chris Perfetti as Jacob Hill
- Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard
Guest Starring[]
- William Stanford Davis as Mr. Johnson
- Bruno Amato as Gary
- Richard Brooks as Gerald
- George Sharperson as Wendell
Co-Starring[]
- Nicole Blume as Animal Control Person
- Tandi Akwen Fomukong as Sydnee
- N'Laijiah Freeman as Marie
- Jayce B. Johnson as Malcolm
- Idris Marvel as Ronald
- Mariah Pharms as Little Kid
- Pat Tanzillo as Ex-Husband
Ratings[]
"Gifted Program" was watched by 2.772 million viewers, earning a 0.59 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale.[1]
Media[]
Episode stills[]
References[]
- ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (February 2, 2022). SHOWBUZZDAILY'S Tuesday 2.1.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated. ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved on December 12, 2022.