As you may know, Trivia Mafia is offering “Abbott Elementary” trivia all of September. For this week’s Friday Know-It-All, Editor Ruby is here to fill in the backstory of the actors who make the show work.

First up: creator and star Quinta Brunson, who plays Janine. Brunson rose to prominence through her digital work, much like future collaborator Issa Rae. Her “Girl Who’s Never Been On A Nice Date” Instagram series got her hired at BuzzFeed, making videos like “What It’s Like Being the Only Black Friend” and “If Everyone Was Honest At Job Interviews” (remember when this was the whole internet?). Mostly from this period I remember her from this video of her milly rocking in front of the pyramids, which I’m not sure I’ve ever seen with sound before. She made her way through several canceled or not-on-a-real-platform or never-picked-up series before landing on “A Black Lady Sketch Show” two years before she conceived of and launched “Abbott Elementary.” She is, in my opinion, Millennial excellence: came up making jokes on BuzzFeed about how broke she was, got screwed over by corporate mergers and venture capital nonsense for years, wrote a book about it, and ultimately prevailed by making the last (ever?) high quality network sitcom, which also happens to be one of the most pro-union shows on TV. Impossible not to root for Quinta.

Tyler James Williams has been acting since age 4, with his first credit as Jack Black’s son on “Saturday Night Live” (I’m sure that was very tasteful and has aged great). Before “Abbott Elementary,” for me, he was clearly “the kid from ‘Everybody Hates Chris,’” but in researching this, I remembered he was also the main guy in the movie of “Dear White People.” He was good in that! Don’t miss his great facial impressions explaining how he knows what fans recognize him from.

Sheryl Lee Ralph, the icon, is the daughter of Ivy Ralph, who designed the Kariba suit, which you may not know by name but you definitely will recognize from a picture. Her first role was in the Sidney Poitier-directed “A Piece of the Action” in 1977. She originated the role of Deena Jones in “Dreamgirls” in 1981. She released a song that hit No. 6 on the Dance Music Singles chart. “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit”! “Moesha”! “Claws”! “Oliver & Company”! She’s done it all.

For a dive into the long career of Lisa Ann Walter, I recommend this clip from the podcast “Love It or Leavitt” where she played a game called “Was I In This?” She was, of course, Chessy the nanny in the 1998 “Parent Trap” with Lindsay Lohan, a peak “shoulda been gay” performance. Before she did almost anything else, she starred in a Fox sitcom called “My Wildest Dreams” which I did not watch, but only because I was 6 at the time. If it had come out five years later I’m pretty sure I would have been all over it.

Janelle James was primarily a stand-up before “Abbott,” and it’s only her performance as Ava Coleman that makes her stand-up look low key (NSFW language in those clips). Chris Perfetti did a handful of television and film roles before playing Jacob, but I am interested in a 2019 theater adaptation of “Three Sisters” he did called “Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow.” Almost the inverse, you should check out this “Variety” interview with William Stanford Davis about having his breakout role at 71 after 30 years in the business.
We are circling back around to Quinta Brunson’s roots finally with this BuzzFeed video of the “Abbott Elementary” cast taking an elementary school pop quiz. Watch up, and join us for “Abbott Elementary” trivia all month long.