Economy

'Key and Peele' Brilliantly Mocks the Insane Way We Talk About Sports

July 28th 2015

In a new Comedy Central 'Key and Peele' sketch called "TeachingCenter," Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele discuss teachers the same way SportsCenter talks about athletes.

The comedians point out America's sports-obsessed culture by framing teachers and education in the same overzealous way sportscasters discuss athletes. The segment opens with Peele talking about a "star English teacher" who gets her own press conference to announce she's moving to a new school. The skit also imagines a world in which teachers, who make an average of $46,863 annually, earn millions of dollars as athletes do.

"Apparently P.S. 431 has made [her] an offer she couldn't refuse," Peele says. "$80 million guaranteed over six years, another $40 million in incentives based on test scores."

The segment also features a high school teacher draft and the "highlight of the day," which centers on high school teacher Ashley Ferguson for improving student test scores. We see Ferguson teaching her students and Peele notes her instructor approach as sportscasters note athletic moves in games.

"Now, look at this," he says. "She looks left, then right, looks past the students with their arms up in the air, spots Max near the back, sees that even though his hand isn't up, he's engaged."

"See what she did there?" Key says. "She's bringing the introvert into the discussion, y'all. That's a teacher of the year play right there."

"You know the confidence gained by Max by answering that question correctly will enhance his performance for the rest of the year, " Peele says.

Finally, a teacher stars in a BMW commercial at the end of the ad, seemingly taking jabs at all the car ads on sports channels.

"Key and Peele" is known for tackling a broad range of social justice issues in comedic sketches. Two weeks ago, the show mocked men who get squeamish and immature regarding women's menstrual cycles, and in its season five premiere, the series highlighted the problem of female objectification in society. When "Key and Peele" was in between seasons earlier this year, the show released an online sketch called "Negrotown" that exposes police mistreatment of Black people.

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