ABBOTT ELEMENTARY Post-Mortem: The Cast Gushes Over ‘the Biggest Celeb Cameo of All Time’

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the season 2 premiere of ABBOTT ELEMENTARY.]

ABBOTT ELEMENTARY returned with one heck of a surprise guest: mascot superstar Gritty.

“He is very special to us—he is the biggest celeb cameo of all time,” ABBOTT ELEMENTARY creator/star Quinta Brunson told reporters during the show’s Television Critics Association panel. “But a fun fact: we almost had Gritty for the pilot of our show. He’s been invested from the beginning, before you guys even knew about the show. So it was wonderful to get this opportunity to have him be involved. Gritty is just as vital to the particular Philadelphian spirit of this show as the Eagles are or cheesesteak or pretzels, etc. So getting him was like a dream come true. I was over the moon. I was star struck.”

“Gritty is a phenom that I feel like relates to everybody on a human level, a cellular level,” added Tyler James Williams.

Janine (Brunson) recruited Gritty to come to the school as a surprise to the kids. But as she was still reeling from her breakup, she accidentally scheduled the mascot to the arrive on the first day of the teachers‘ year instead. And while Gritty couldn’t speak, Jacob (Chris Perfetti) stepped in as translator, and told her his schedule was too packed to return.

“Gritty is undeniable,” Lisa Ann Walter admitted. “But I will say that, in person, he is even better…because his improv is stellar. Gritty is a comedy genius.”

ABBOTT ELEMENTARY, Season Premiere, Wednesday, September 21, 9/8c, ABC

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