Quinta Brunson’s Saturday Night Live opening monologue touched on her career journey from wanting to be on the sketch comedy show to hosting it. She also called for teachers to be paid the money they deserve.
“I wanted to be on SNL back in the day, but the audition process seemed a little long,” the Abbott Elementary creator said. “So, instead, I just created my own TV show, made sure it became really popular, won a bunch of Emmys and then got asked to host. It’s so much easier.”
She went on to say that her show is a network show, instead of a streaming one and began jokingly comparing it to Friends.
“It’s a network sitcom, like say, Friends,” the actress continued, “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 explained that creating a show about teachers has been special for her because her mom was a teacher in Philadelphia. She also shared that she wished people didn’t expect her to be like Janine, her character in the show.
“Janine Teague is a caring second grade teacher, who’s good and wholesome, but I’m the opposite,” she joked. “I mean, I’m not a filthy whore, but I like to have fun. I need to be able to live my life without someone recording me going, ‘Damn, Miss Teague is out here getting wasted at Universal Studios.’”
She then segued into a more serious note and called for people to remember how important teachers are.
“Acknowledge the work they do every day,” Brunson said. “And for the love of God, pay them the money they deserve.”
