Abbott Elementary’s Tyler James Williams Reveals His Hope for Janine and Gregory — and It’s Not What You Think
Abbott Elementary‘s Janine and Gregory won’t, at least if Tyler James Williams has anything to say about it.
During an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show Tuesday, the actor weighed in on the will-they-won’t-they relationship between his character and Quinta Brunson’s, stating that, “I know everybody’s always mad at me… [but] I don’t necessarily want to see them together.” (The Janine/Gregory goods begin around the 2:40 mark in the above video.)
After the audience audibly gasped, he explained further. “I read a lot of scripts all the time. I watch a lot of TV, a lot of film. I don’t think that we see displays of platonic love between two people often,” he said. “I think it’s really easy to go right to, ‘They have feelings for each other, therefore they should be together.’ I like this dynamic of them exploring withholding that and just actively loving each other where they are. That I’d like to see more.”
Janine and Gregory broke their sexual tension and locked lips in Episode 16 of Season 2 after Gregory got dumped and met Janine at a boozy work conference. But the timing wasn’t right, and Janine later told the documentary crew, “That was a whoops.” The friends’ relationship (or lack, thereof) has been on the back-burner ever since.
Williams defended his opinion with one final thought. “TV allows people to see things that could be their lives for the first time, and I think seeing a healthy friendship that is deeply caring about one another in a working atmosphere needs to be shown more than the relationship.”
What say you, Abbott fans? Do you agree with Williams? Sound off in the comments section.
I appreciate what he’s saying but I don’t think the show has a compelling enough reason to keep them apart. It doesn’t make sense to me why they aren’t together, especially as they are written to still be so into each other. However, them getting together is not an integral part of the show for me. I love the entire ensemble.
This pretty much says it perfectly. He does have a good point, and it’s something I’m often annoyed about… but… I just don’t want them to be the symbol of that 😭. But like you said, the show is fantastic regardless so…
Plus, every time a tv show gets your will or won’t they couple together–it leads a show to a shorter shelf life towards cancellation faster– examples The Nanny or Moonlighting.
Yup. They’ve got a hit that could go for 10 years. And make all the actors 50 million dollars by the end. If they get put together, it could shorten it.
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And dating coworkers is tricky. That is a compelling reason to keep them apart.
There are many MANY examples of contemporary shows that exist in the same domain as Abbott dropping the will-they/wont-they plot early on and still having long successful runs. The Office, Parks and Recreation, Superstore, Brooklyn Nine-Nine all ran far longer with their core couple together than they were in the will-they/won’t-they phase.
I totally agree with this statement. They make wonderful friends but I’ve just never got them as a couple. Unfortunately show runners, and often fans, just can’t seem to accept people on platonic friendships.
Completely agree
I appreciate what he’s saying, but we see that in every other pairing on the show. Both of those characters have that with Jacob, then we have Melissa and Barbara and now Melissa and Jacob starting to have that too. There’s no shortage of platonic love on the show if Gregory and Janine become romantic.
Thank you, Tyler! I love platonic relationships, and the whole wrold does not revolve around romance!
It’s a refreshing take on their relationship. I like how the show draws back the curtain on characters from time to time without completely changing their personalities.
I would agree that most shows go there as a default, or from pressure from Ships. And I would agree that this is the easy way out. There are multiple shows that I wish the showrunners had resisted and kept the relationship platonic (the Mentalist comes to mind). This however is not one of them. These two are meant for each other. But I am not in a rush. The best relationships come out of long friendships. And I think each character has a journey of growth to do before they are ready for each other.
I don’t want them together because the tension builds the friendship and teamwork as teachers. Tyler amd the looks at the camera are hilarious! Great casting on this show.