Shout Out / Abbott Elementary

Season 1

• "Pilot"
  • Miss Teagues' class dances to Baby Shark while she does away with their pee-stained carpet.
  • Ava sings I Believe the Children are our Future while walking away in victory.
• In "Light Bulb", the power switches for the school are labeled with "Boyz II Men" songs.
  Jacob: It's ironic, because I'm "On Bended Knee".
• "Wishlist"
  • Ava jokes about being the other famous Ava director.
  • She then compares having to erase her Barbara video to be the same as Beyoncé being forced to delete Lemonade (2016).
• "Gifted Program"
  • Ava mentions the film 127 Hours while talking with Jacob and then gives the okay for him and Janine to re-open their "mutant academy".
  • Jacob compares himself to Robin Williams as he leads the gifted program.
• In "Work Family", Jacob admits to loving Green Book despite its racist implications.
• "Step Class"
  • Janine's step class is compared to Stomp the Yard and she herself is christened as Major Payne.
  • After Gregory defends himself saying he was "Born This Way", Jacob tells him not to slander Lady Gaga's good name.
• "Open House"
  • Taylor compares Janine's wardrobe to the late Mr Rogers.
  • Ava sings ''Mary J. Blige's "I'm Going Down" in the last scene of the episode.
• "Zoo Balloon"
  • Mr. Johnson enjoys watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off whenever Abbott has a major field trip. Later he compares his situation to The Breakfast Club when he has to watch a group of kids who couldn't go with everyone.
  • Barbara recounts a time a boy named August got lost in a chocolate river.

Season 2

• "Wrong Delivery"
  • The episode starts with Jacob stating that the Spiderman film series is due for a reboot while his coworkers suggest different celebrities to replace Tom Holland.
  • During his lesson, Jacob describes Pocahontas as the original Avatar.
  • Ava was inspired by Shark Tank as a way for the Abbott staff to present their ideas on what to do with the grant money.
• "Story Samurai"
  • Josh Gad was a former member of the Story Samurai and is still respected by them.
  • The group also performed in a Bernie Sanders rally without his permission.
  • During his performance, Jacob pretends to be a tiger who wants to sell cereal.
  • In The Stinger, the Story Samurai pay homage to Michael Jackson by dancing in the halls.
• "The Principal's Office"
  • Micah is a huge fan of Bluish, and frequently disrupts Gregory's lessons with references to it. Gregory later figures out a way to deal with Micah's disruptions by putting pictures of Bluish and Bongo on the board and using them in a story problem to engage with him.
  • Kirsten calls Janine "Bilbo Baggins" after greeting her at the door.
• In "Juice", Mr. Johnson prays to the Mario Brothers to watch over the plumbers who'll have to fix Abbott's broken bathrooms.
• "Candy Zombies" have multiple references to various characters thanks to the kids dressing up in costumes.
  • Several to the Marvel Comics and Marvel Cinematic Universe; namely, Storm, Wanda Maximoff, Thanos and there are two students dressed as Thor and a Dora Milaje.
  • When Baby Thanos is caught, he removes the foam gem from Mr. Johnson's forehead and Mr. Johnson screams, with the camera focusing on Melissa desperately reaching for him, referencing Avengers: Infinity War.
  • There are also several students dressed as Disney and Pixar characters such as Buzz Lightyear, Aladdin and Jasmine, Moana, Raya, Ariel, Russell etc.
  • Ava lends her Marylin Monroe costume which is based on her character from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to Janine.
  • At the end, Mr. Johnson also reveals he's had a fake '20s style picture of him made a la The Shining just to spook people.
• "Attack Ad"
  • Tariq kept merchandise of Pokémon, Gundam, and Attack on Titan (among other interests) at the place he shared with his now ex-girlfriend.
  • Jacob finds out about the commercial from a student talking about One-Punch Man.
  • Greggo knows that Janine's favorite movie is Jumanji.
• In "Egg Drop", Melissa mishears "The One with the Bitch Tattoo" as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She liked the book but thinks the movie was "meh".
• In "Sick Day", Ava mistakes a child's drawing of her mother for The Babadook and turns down having to read "Amelia Bedelia".
• "Read-A-Thon"
  • The principal compares the Holiday Hookah club to a Disney Channel grinding fest.
  • Barbara reveals that she always disliked Ms. Frizzle.
• "Fight"
  • Janine purposefully misinterprets Zara's threat of "beating up" Joya as "beaming up".
  • Ava references Stranger Things when she sees Gregory standing like a statue in the hallway.
  Ava: What's your favorite song Gregory?!
  • Janine frequently plays Toy Story movies for her class to watch. Though she can't watch 3 anymore because it makes her cry.
• In "The Fundraiser", Ava calls Henry "Bruce Banner who's in the middle of a growth spurt". She also calls Jacob Conan O'Crien'.
• In "Fire", Ava compares Janine's round face to the Sun Baby from Teletubbies.
• "Mural Arts"
  • Jacob mentions that he grew up with Ed, Edd n Eddy and boasts at how intellectually layered it is.
  Melissa: They're friends with a hunk of wood with a face drawn on it!
  • Janine's old school mural featured SpongeBob wearing a durag. Ava also brings up how Joshua, a regretful traitor, called Mr. Hill "Squidward".
• In "Teacher Appreciation", Janine, her friends, and sister are playing Drought. Jacob hypes it up as a popular indie board game, though the others seem to find it too complicated.
• "Festival"
  • Jacob mentions that he's been called Stuart Little by a parent who likes him.
  • Mr. Johnson sweeps Draemond off the stage like Sandman during Amateur Night at the Apollo.
• In "Teacher of the Year", Ms. Teagues comments that Juneau, the capitol of Alaska, reminds her of another funny movie.
• In "Mom", Melissa pays homage to Regina George when "complimenting" a teacher's sweater.
  Melissa: Hey! Teal sweater! Yeah! (to Greg) You see I'm lying, that sweater's hideous.
• In "Franklin Institute", Gregory asks Janine to cover him in the event that the exhibits at the museum come to life because of a magic spell.