Quinta Brunson, a “Child of the Internet,” Revives the Sitcom

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Arts, News, Wnyc, Books, David, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Yorker, New, Remnick

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2022

⏱️ 32 minutes

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Summary

Quinta Brunson made a name for herself as a master of meme comedy and is a self-described “child of the Internet,” yet her ABC mockumentary series “Abbott Elementary” is an unabashed throwback to the sitcoms of her youth. Doreen St. Félix talked with Brunson at the 2022 New Yorker Festival about her influences and the everyday comedy of the workplace. St. Félix believes that Brunson has found “freedom in formula” when it comes to “Abbott,” which documents the lives of the beleaguered staff at a Philadelphia public school. “There is nothing that I could do,” Brunson says, “or [that] anyone can do that is more triumphant than someone going to their shitty job.” Writing in the wake of shows like “Black-ish,” Brunson relishes being able to center her story on Black people without addressing topical issues about race; the school is its own self-enclosed world. Just surviving, she thinks, provides its own form of liberation. “So much has happened to Black people,” she says. “Why are we still here? . . . We really could have called it quits a long time ago, and somehow we just keep going. It’s crazy to me.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:10.6	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. The program Abbott Elementary on ABC
0:16.1	is giving audiences a lot to be thankful for. It takes the form of a mockumentary,
0:22.4	but it's really a warm-hearted ode
0:25.1	to beleaguered public school teachers in Philadelphia.
0:28.5	The character's earnest determination
0:30.2	under difficult circumstances is very much the point.
0:34.3	Abbott finds its comedy in the every day.
0:37.3	Teachers at a school like Abbott, we have to be
0:40.4	able to do it all. We are admin. We are social workers. We are therapists. We are second parents.
0:46.9	Hell, sometimes we're even first. Why? It's showing the money. I can make more work in the street.
0:55.7	Easy.
0:57.1	Now in its second season, Abbott Elementary is already being pegged as a modern classic.
1:02.1	The show stars Quinta Brunson, who writes and produces the show as well, and Brunson has emerged
1:08.4	as one of the sharpest and most sought-after voices in television.
1:12.0	At 32 years of age, she recently signed a multi-year development deal with Warner Brothers.
1:18.1	And she joined us at the New Yorker Festival last month.
1:34.9	I'm notoreen Cepelix, and I am a staff writer at The New Yorker.
1:41.6	I'm joined on stage by the inimitable Emmy Award-winning writer, actor, and producer, Quinta Brunson.
1:51.7	Thank you so much for being here.
1:53.0	I'm so happy to be here.
1:56.8	Good morning, everybody.
	...

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