I Know the Secret Behind TV’s Funniest 90 Seconds

They are 90 seconds of comedy perfection at the start of one of America’s funniest shows.

Each episode of the ABC hit Abbott Elementary begins with a “cold open” totally unrelated to the rest of the show.

Chris Perfetti, 37, who plays sixth-grade history teacher Jacob, told host Kevin Fallon on the premiere episode of Obsessed: The Podcast that the opening scenes are a chance for the show to move at the “speed of fun,” with the entire principal cast frequently performing together.

In Perfetti’s favorite open, Gregory, played by Tyler James Williams, enters the teachers’ lounge with a new hat he seems to have taken directly from Indiana Jones’ head. The other teachers “absolutely rip him to shreds over it,” Perfetti remembered.

Perfetti also recalled another Season 2 cold open in which the older teacher, Barbara, played by Sheryl Lee Ralph, keeps mixing up Black and white celebrities, including Carrie Underwood for Kerry Washington and Will Ferrell for Will Smith. The joke became so beloved by fans and show creators that it has become a recurring gag.

Peretti called it, “gift that keeps on giving,” and said, “We show no signs of slowing on that.”

Perfetti is currently in his fifth season as middle-school history teacher Jacob on Abbott Elementary, which returned to ABC on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. It streams the following day on Hulu.

And Perfetti also delved into an apparent feud with the showrunner, Quinta Brunson, prompted by her appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in December.

When Bruson appeared, Perfetti and co-star Janelle James, had both been nominated for Critics’ Choice Awards.

“He doesn’t think about awards, or nominations, or anything except for acting,” she told Kimmel. “He’s the exact type of person you want to see something like this happen for.”

“In the same way you want to see someone who doesn’t drive win a car,” joked Kimmel.

Perfetti told his Instagram followers not to listen to Brunson, sharing the clip with the caption, “DON’T LISTEN TO HER” and calling himself “a menace who lives on external validation.”

Speaking to Kevin Fallon, he joked that their relationship was “pretty contentious.” “We’re not on speaking terms currently. She knows she needs me, so we’re working on it,” Perfetti said.

Then he finally—partly—relented. “To know Quinta Brunson is to love her. She’s such an unbelievably talented person. It makes truly no sense that she would be as generous and as kind as she is on top of that,” he said. “And I can’t believe she said all that dumb stuff about me on Kimmel."

Perfetti did not win a Critics’ Choice Award, with his category going to Ike Barinholtz for The Studio, but James did go home with a win.

Perfetti told host Kevin Fallon that he’s actually been a “menace” since his own elementary school days. “I think my artist’s brain was locked in even from a young age, so I was a terrible student. I p---ed a lot of teachers off.”

“I’m so excited for people to see what she’s cooked up this season... Particularly as it relates to Jacob,” Perfetti said of his character, who is gay.

“It was really important from the jump to paint a totally full picture of a very authentic person, but not make it the crux of his character,” he explained.

“We’ve had a lot of sitcoms where the gay best friend is solely and exclusively that, and I think any person who’s underrepresented in storytelling will tell you that it’s a beautiful gift when you get a fully formed, flawed character that you feel like speaks to your experience,” Perfetti told Fallon. “And that’s what we’re after.”