Reputed for churning out great comedies, FX has now invested in English Teacher, a half-hour straight comedy. Created and starring comedian Brian Jordan Alvarez, the show has quickly been scrutinized for its similarities to Abbot Elementary, another widely popular workplace comedy produced by ABC.
While Abbott Elementary follows a group of teachers in a low-funded public school in Philadelphia, English Teacher is about Evan Marquez, a high school teacher in Texas, who finds it difficult to manage his professional and personal life as the world around him changes.
While it is understandable why the two shows would be compared based on their settings and storylines, there are also enough differences between them. Let us look at the similarities and dissimilarities between Abbott Elementary and English Teachers.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from Abbott Elementary and English Teacher.
Similarities between English Teacher and Abbott Elementary
First, let us talk about where these two comedies are similar.
1. Both Abbott Elementary and English Teacher show public school comedy
As is evident from the name, Abbott Elementary is set in an elementary school in Philadelphia, the top floor of which is a middle school. Shot in a mockumentary format, the show is a funny workplace sitcom that follows the school's teachers, focusing on Janine Teagues, as they try to help the students in the underfunded public school.
English Teacher also has a similar theme. The show takes place in a high school in rural Texas and focuses on teacher Evan Marquez. He’s gay and has to navigate various complications while performing his professional duties.
The shows essentially discuss teachers and how they manage their personal and professional lives. This is one of the major similarities between the two shows.
2. Both Abbott Elementary and English Teacher focus on social issues
Another similarity between these two shows is their focus on social issues. Taking advantage of their settings, both Abbott Elementary and English Teacher address various social problems in the existing landscape.
Abbott Elementary beautifully depicts teachers' struggles in a school that lacks funds and has issues with outdated technology and damaged property. Moreover, since the show is predominantly black, it talks about racism in certain episodes while maintaining a comical tone.
English Teacher, on the other hand, focuses on a high school teacher, Marquez, in Texas, who is gay, which makes life more difficult for him. Right in the pilot episode of the show, Marquez finds himself in a complicated situation as one of his students’ mother files a case against him for kissing his former boyfriend in front of the class.
Both shows use their setting to discuss different social issues, marking another similarity.
3. Both Abbott Elementary and English Teacher are led by their creators
Another apparent similarity between Abbott Elementary and English Teacher is that their creators lead them. Quinta Brunson and Brian Jordan Alvarez are the creators of Abbott Elementary and English Teacher, respectively.
What is interesting here is that both these creators had found their initial fame online. Brunson initially became famous with her Instagram sketches and worked with Buzzfeed before she moved on to TV with roles in shows like New Girl, Magical Girl Friendship Squad, and Sketch Show before finally committing to Abbott Elementary.
Alvarez, on the other hand, initially secured roles in shows like Jane the Virgin and Will & Grace. However, his rise to fame was with the 2016 web series The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo before he started leading English Teachers.
The creators of both shows have had similar trajectories regarding fame, which highlights another aspect of their similarity.
Differences between English Teacher and Abbott Elementary
Now that we have discussed the similarities between the two shows let us know the differences.
1. English Teacher and Abbott Elementary have different formats
While Abbott Elementary is a mockumentary-style comedy show with a resemblance to the format of The Office, Abbott Elementary is a single-camera traditional sitcom.
The huge difference in the format also implies that the shows deal with thematically similar subject matters in different ways, marking a major dissimilarity between them.
2. English Teacher and Abbott Elementary deal with different settings
Another notable difference between English Teacher and Abbott Elementary is that the two shows focus on two hugely different settings.
Abbott Elementary is set in an elementary school in Philadelphia and focuses on black characters. On the other hand, English Teacher is set in a high school in Texas, where the key character has to deal with homophobia.
This difference in setting also highlights how the social issues dealt with in the shows differ from one another. English Teacher requires more maturity to understand, as questions and stigmas related to sexuality are dealt with here.
On the other hand, Abbott Elementary deals with a majority black population, which is the foundation of the show itself. Therefore, the show not only deals with themes of racism but also provides a storyline where the characters have to deal with blackness and its meaning themselves.
This drastic difference in settings is another massive point of difference.
3. The protagonists of English Teacher and Abbott Elementary are very different
Another key difference between The English Teacher and Abbott Elementary is their different protagonists. While both shows’ key characters are teachers, in Abbott Elementary, Janine has the ambition of being the best teacher in the school despite facing multiple setbacks.
However, in English Teacher, Evan seems more flustered and jaded by constant requests to grandstand as the students' representative and help them with various hot-button problems.
The differences in personalities of the protagonists and their different outlooks toward teaching mark another dissimilarity between the shows.
Despite certain similarities and differences, English Teacher and Abbott Elementary are two great shows. Both have found their audience and have been praised by the critics.
English Teacher Season 1 is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, and all three seasons of Abbott Elementary are available on the same platform.
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