Quinta Brunson & ABC Hit With Lawsuit Calling ‘Abbott’ A "Knock-Off"

Television enthusiasts everywhere were taken by surprise by ABC’s smash hit comedy Abbott Elementary starring Quinta Brunson, which proved to be so good that she and the show overall made history with this year’s Emmy nominations.

Unfortunately, the show’s success might all be built on a lie based on a new copyright lawsuit that claims Abbott is a direct rip-off of writer Christine Davis’ undeveloped script, This School Year.

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According to Radar Online, Davis says Brunson and ABC ran with the script for This School Year just a few short months after the script was brought to execs at Hulu. As the story goes, Davis wrote the script for This School Year back in 2018 and officially had it registered at the U.S. Copyright Office in March 2020. A few months later, Shavon Sullivan Wright and Cherisse Parks at Blue Park Productions showed interest in her script and advised Davis that ABC and Hulu were looking for “black, female-led comedies.”

Davis claims months went by with no response, meanwhile ABC began shooting Abbott Elementary in September 2020 with Brunson as the lead and credited creator.

Take a look below at the similarities between both shows below, via Radar Online:

“In court documents, Davis said her show is a television comedy set in a New York City public school. IN her show, the principal hires filmmakers to film a documentary of the school.

In her show, the principal was convinced everything is going well and that the show is well-controlled and that the ‘teachers and students will adhere to her agents.’ However, the teachers, staff and students have their own agenda.

The main character is named Ms. David who is a ‘young, idealistic teacher hoping to get tenure but also trying to convince everyone that the school needs to be reformed.’

‘Abbott’ is a rockumentary style sitcom that focus on a Brunson playing a optimistic teacher that works at a public school with a team of jaded coworkers.”

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Further details in the suit actually compare scenes, characters and plots from both shows that are said to be “nearly identical.” Davis says the opening episodes really sealed the deal, with both featuring a similar rug plot between the principal and central character.

If it proves to be true that Abbott Elementary is in fact a rip-off, does that take away from the viewing experience for you? Let us know your thoughts on this!

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Quinta Brunson And ABC Hit With Copyright Lawsuit Calling ‘Abbott Elementary’ A “Knock-Off” was originally published on blackamericaweb.com