Quinta Brunson Explains How 'Abbott Elementary' Has Changed Because of the Writer's Strike

Quinta Brunson is revealing how the recent WGA strike has affected her popular show, Abbott Elementary.

The 33-year-old stars in the ABC comedy series, which she created, co-writes, and produces.

The strike has been especially challenging to navigate for Abbott Elementary because of how the story specifically follows the calendar of a school year.

Keep reading to find out what she shared…

“Last year, we started airing in September, when school started,” Quinta noted to Deadline. “We’re not doing that this year. It’s not like coming back to a family show where you can pop in on that family on any sitcom-y thing. It’s really like, what’s going on in the school?”

She shared that Season 3 will have fewer episodes than Season 2 “because of the strike, and because of the airing schedule, because of what ABC has room for on their schedule.”

Nevertheless, the show creator is finding the silver lining. “We did 22 last season, and that’s a lot of TV, in particular for me because I’m writing and producing and starring in it,” she said. “So for me, I welcomed a shorter season because it was tiring, exhausting work. Love it, but exhausting for me.”

The Abbott Elementary Season 3 writer’s room was supposed to get to work on May 1, the day that the strike actually began. When it officially ended on September 27, Quinta and her co-writers were more than ready to start writing.

As far as the season premiere, she acknowledged that there is “a lot of heavy lifting to do” to “[explain] our absence…in a way that we think engages the audience, protects the world we built.”

“So that felt inspiring,” Quinta told Deadline. “To build something that was both grounded, and for this premiere, splashy enough to bring people back at the same time.”

The actress recently attended the Los Angeles stop of Beyonce‘s Renaissance World Tour, and there were lots of other celebrities in that crowd, too.