TheAbbott Elementarypanel at the San Diego Comic-Con 2025 demonstrated that ABC needs to put more energy into promoting the popular comedy. Themockumentary seriesis about to enter its fifth season, which is a significant achievement for a network television show in the current era; it has been proven repeatedly thatAbbott Elementaryis one of television’s best comedies.
ScreenRantattended theAbbott Elementarypanel at San Diego Comic-Con, and although it did offer some information aboutAbbott Elementaryseason 5, there were some logistical and content issues that made it less useful than it could have been. These oversights are especially disappointing given the series' popularity.
Abbott Elementary’s SDCC 2025 Panel Is Utterly Disappointing
It Focused Mostly On An Already-Aired Episode
AlthoughAbbott Elementary’s panel was supposed to give insights and information pertaining to the upcoming season, the programming for the event didn’t reflect this goal. Instead,the panel began by screening an already-aired episode ofAbbott Elementary, which was followed by a discussion of the episode.
The panel was only an hour long, and the episode screening plus discussion took up the majority of that time. This content decision is especially disappointing considering that the majority of the main cast joined the panel.
This would have been a tremendous opportunity for entertainment journalists and fans to ask theAbbott Elementarycast questions about the upcoming season,their characters' arcs, and other items of interest. Unfortunately, that opportunity was squandered because of the way the panel was structured.
Abbott Elementary’s SDCC Panel Is More Packed Than Hall H
This Panel Was One Of The Most Popular Of The Entire Event
ABC’s decision to highlight a past episode rather than create a value-packed panel forAbbott Elementarymakes little sense, considering how popular this event was.More people chose to attend theAbbott Elementarypanel than those who attended a discussion in Hall H— the biggest room available at the San Diego Comic-Con.
Theoretically, since Hall H is the largest room, the most in-demand discussions should take place there, and on some occasions, it becomes too full for everyone who wants to attend. However,Abbott Elementary’s panel was more difficult to get into than the events in Hall H, further demonstrating how beloved this series is.
Clearly,Abbott Elementarywas one of the main draws of the convention, given how many people were eager to hear what the cast had to say about season 5.
TheAbbott Elementarypanel’s audience was filled to capacity, with some unlucky convention-goers unable to attendbecause the room was already full. Clearly,Abbott Elementarywas one of the main draws of the convention, given how many people were eager to hear what the cast had to say about season 5.
ABC should therefore have made every effort to ensure that this large audience left the panel with exclusive sneak peeks of season 5. Attendees did get exclusive insights into the episode that was screened at the panel, as the cast offered thoughts related to it.
However, this is not as exciting or worthwhile as information about upcoming episodes.If ABC wanted to offer this type of behind-the-scenes information, it should have screened one pivotal scene and used it as a springboard for discussionbefore moving on to a discussion about season 5.
The content issues were exacerbated by the fact that the panel began late. While sometimes such logistical problems are unavoidable, in this case, it seemed disrespectful to the audience’s time.The lateness would have been more forgivable had the panel offered more valuable information instead of wasting time screening an entire episodebefore discussion began.
ABC Needs To Do Better By Abbott Elementary
The Panel Is Syptomatic Of A Larger Problem
Evidently,the SDCC panel didn’t seem to takeAbbott Elementary’s popularity into consideration. Instead of thoughtfully planning a program that would be exciting for the show’s many fans, ABC offered little more than a repeat airing of a previously broadcast episode.
These decisions communicate that ABC doesn’t think this show is worthy of a strong promotional effort.
While insights into how a certain episode was produced, why characters made certain decisions, or how the actors approached it are interesting, they do not match the expectations of a pre-show event such as a Comic-Con panel. These decisions communicate that ABC doesn’t think this show is worthy of a strong promotional effort.
This panel shows disrespect to the series' many fanswho were waiting eagerly for it. Additionally, the delayed start followed by a program that offered little of value suggests that ABC simply threw this panel together at the last minute.
The disappointing program at Comic-Con is only a symptom of the larger problem, however.ABC has not treatedAbbott Elementarylike the strong asset it isin recent years.Abbott Elementaryseason 4 started unusually late, as it did not broadcast its premiere episode until Oct. 9. Conversely, many other ABC programs began in mid-to-late September.
This late start forced audiences that lovedAbbott Elementaryto wait for longer and likely resulted in some drop-off in the ratings. Additionally, there is little marketing or promotion done for this series, and the poor planning for the Comic-Con panel reflects that oversight.
Abbott Elementaryseason 4struggled with ratings, so ABC might have thought there was little point to putting a lot of energy into promoting it. However,the attendance at Comic-Con shows that the series is more popular than is reflected by such metrics.
The disappointing Comic-Con panel is illustrative of bigger issues with this show.Abbott Elementaryshould have had one of the strongest and most exciting panels at the convention, considering how many people wanted to attend, and ABC needs to do better by this powerhouse of a sitcom in the future.
