Quinta Brunson hosted Saturday Night Live last weekend. She was great and for the most part, they gave her good material to work with, so it made for a good show. While Quinta was not in the Trump indictment-based cold open, she had a solid opening monologue. It felt too short, but that was because it was a tight set and her jokes landed. Those things usually drag on when the host is flailing. The biggest joke from Quinta’s monologue was the one about Friends and the rest of it was just as good. She talked about how much she’s always wanted to do SNL but instead of trying out, she developed a TV show, had it become popular, won some Emmys and then she got invited to host because it seemed easier. She also seamlessly humble-bragged Obama into a bit. While talking about her show Abbott Elementary, Quinta said people expected her to be her character outside of the show. After several jokes about how that hampered her social life, Quinta ended with a plea to honor teachers and pay them what they’re worth.
Live from Studio 8H, it’s Quinta Brunson!
The Abbott Elementary star, 33, hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time over the weekend, where she was joined by Lil Yachty as the musical guest.
During her opening monologue, Brunson opened up about the success of her hit sitcom Abbott Elementary, at one point comparing it to Friends. “Except instead of being about a group of friends, it’s about a group of teachers. And instead of New York, it’s in Philadelphia. And instead of not having Black people — it does,” Brunson joked.
Brunson then explained in her monologue that viewers keep expecting her to fix problems within the public school system in real life, much like her character, teacher Janine Teagues. But as she shared, she’s the “opposite” of her character, and the success of the show has introduced her to some pretty big names. Showing a video she and Barack Obama sent to her mother thanking her for being a teacher, Brunson then concluded that teachers get “taken for granted.”
“Please remember how important teachers are, acknowledge the work they do every day and for the love of God, pay them the money they deserve,” she said.
Like I said, it was a tight set and Quinta closing on the teachers was the perfect cap. There is a teachers’ crisis in this country right now. I know it’s going on everywhere but it’s so bad here in Los Angeles currently, I’m a bit myopic. LAUSD just went on strike and since that’s the second largest school district in the country, you can imagine how many children were affected. But the pandemic broke teachers as much as it did kids. Parents were not prepared to teach their kids and made life hell on teachers who were dealing with figuring out how to educate all of their students from their houses with their own families home. After the country reopened, a lot of people reevaluated where they were in life, and I think plenty of teachers asked if the stress they endured on a day-to-day basis was worth the paltry pay they received. Remember the only upside to the pandemic for schools was there were no school shootings, which is another horror teachers must face on barely-there wages. If you ask any teacher why they don’t demand more, they’ll tell you it’s because they have to decide between making enough so they don’t have to work a second job to make rent, or their students getting textbooks or whatever supplies they need. And every time it comes to a vote, the public votes it down. I hope Quinta has a more persuasive voice on this.
Outside of the monologue, Quinta had a few good sketches too. Even a couple that were just okay, she elevated. The best one was the Traffic Altercation in which she and Mikey Day mime out their road rage at each other with assists from Chloe Fineman and Ego Nwodim. It sounds dumb on paper, but Quinta and Mikey really make it work. Like Peridot, I cannot wait to see Tajaji P. Henson as Janine’s mom on Abbott. I hope we eventually get the three Teagues women in one show. Until then, can you imagine Momma Teagues up against Ava Coleman?
Photo credit: Instagram and Cover Images
I loved that she used that monologue as a PSA on behalf of teachers. Watching politicians, starting with the shameful Scott Walker, successfully demonize public education and the teachers who deliver it over the past decade-and-change, has been difficult and it’s past time for people with platforms to stand up for teachers. (Like my mom, who died in 2018, and my grandson’s other grandmother and his aunt.)
Thanks to Quinta!!
Yes!!!! We have to stop the passage of these ridiculous and inconceivable laws!! Repugnant’s aren’t board certified to teach and they should leave it to the actual teachers to choose what should and should not be taught. The same goes for the librarians as well, many of whom hold PhD’s and Master’s degrees in their respective fields.
My condolences to you and your family @ Amy T.
She was so great on SNL….I actually stayed awake for it, for once. As the proud mom of a 4th grade teacher in a school for children who come from families with lower incomes, I love how she stands up for the teachers!!
I am a teacher. It is a real crisis. I never entertained the thought of leaving the profession, but every year I feel like I get closer and closer to leaving. We’re expected to do so much – to be everything for every kid….and our own children at home. Parents and kids have zero expectations compared to the teachers. If a kid doesn’t do their work, the teacher has to do something to more to engage them or make them get their work. If you contact parents, they inevitably blame you. I’ve worked in “failing” public schools and ultra ritzy private schools, and both places it’s the same: the teachers are blamed as the problem and not doing enough. I left the public schools because I was emotionally spent. I knew it would be really tough to go home to my own child and have almost nothing left to give to her after giving it all to other peoples’ kids all day.
@ NMB, I commend you for your commitment and dedication to teaching the youths of today. Teachers in today’s society are being met with indifference, combative, unreasonable and unrealistic expectations from not only parents but the school board and administrators as well!!! There is NO excuse for teachers having to take on an additional job(s) so that they can have the supplies that they need or to supplement their incomes. We all must stand up for teachers as they are vital to our children’s education and pay them a livable wage!!! Unfortunately and understandably, after the pandemic teachers left in droves and I don’t blame them. They not only had to face the difficulties of teaching virtually, they were also subjected to death with those who reopened schools much, much too early. On top of the issue that teachers are placed in harms way due to the increasing mass shooting’s at schools. Would the parents be willing to teach under those circumstances???? No, of course not but they expect and demand that teachers do.
Long gone are the days that teachers were given the respect that they deserved. Today’s society, along with Repugnant’s passing ludicrous laws against teachers as well as librarians, has got to stop!!!! Parents aren’t board certified to dictate what is and shouldn’t be taught as well as the governors as well.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to Quinta! I’m at a Big Ten university that’s pissing all our money away on football and doesn’t want to pay the grad students and part-time lecturers a decent wage, and we’re on the verge of striking because of it. Our country has its priorities completely upside-down when teachers have to fight to be paid like this.
Also, completely different note–she looks gorgeous in those promo shots.
What a great way to use your platform and still deliver the comedy. There’s so many times SNL fades away for me and then they get great hosts. Cliche, but, yes, I love Quinta.
Awesome 🔥
Teachers go to work and risk their lives every day for a country that shows them over and over again, that it doesn’t care if they (or their students) die. How much money is that worth? They deserve hazard pay and then some at this point.
So well said, Bears – I just wish this wasn’t true. I always appreciate your comments on this site.