"Abbott Elementary’ Bosses on Pulling Off That Season 3 Premiere Cameo and Vetting Guest Star Requests."

Abbott Elementary’ Bosses on Pulling Off That Season 3 Premiere Cameo and Vetting Guest Star Requests: “Sometimes It’s Very Hard to Resist."

Major change has come to Abbott Elementary as the show’s lead character, Janine Teagues, played by series creator and Emmy Award-winning actress Quinta Brunson, finds herself outside of the classroom and inside the oft-alluded-to school district at the start of the ABC sitcom’s third season.

“We’re focusing a lot on the district [this season],” “We’re going to start to explore that world … and Janine is going to see what that type of bureaucracy is in counterpoint to the bureaucracy that she has to deal with at Abbott.”

That plotline is set up in the one-hour season three premiere of Abbott Elementary, which aired at 9 p.m. E.T. on Wednesday. The episode sees the return of series regulars Sheryl Lee Ralph, Lisa Ann Walter, Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Chris Perfetti and William Stanford Davis — and the introduction of guest stars Josh Segarra, Kimia Behpoornia and Benjamin Norris, as the district members who entice Janine to participate in their fellowship program.

Janine finds the grass may not necessarily be greener on the other side, however, as her decision to join the district temporarily creates even more ambiguity between her and Gregory (Williams) after they shared a kiss in season two. And when her suggestion of introducing a career day at Abbott Elementary goes a little too well after Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts shows up, the eager educator finds herself still learning that the best laid plans often go awry.

Abbott Elementary, which averaged 9.1 million viewers per episode in its second season.