- Y'all are like, so beautiful
(audience cheering)
- [Sheryl Lee Ralph] Thank you.
- Look how cute.
(audience cheering)
- Thank you.
- I think y'all just got more applause than the Rock.
(ladies laughing)
- I'm not joking.
- I think us three combined is more powerful than the Rock.
- Yeah.
- [Kelly Clarkson] He would probably agree.
- I love-- Did y'all all meet, like,
when did you all meet?
Obviously, not the first time you did the show. Right?
- Mixed.
First time I met Sheryl was at an event,
an AIDS event.
I think it was Broadway Cares,
but out here.
And you were sitting at my table
and the first thing you did was introduce me
to your husband.
I was like, oh, Sheryl Lee Ralph,
I'm such a fan.
And she said,
"Have you met my husband Senator Hughes?"
- And I said,
"This woman's gonna stay married a long time."
- She's a fan of him, yeah.
- But I never met Quinta-
- The first time I met Lisa was on set
for the pilot. - [Kelly] Wow.
And it was, she, you know, auditioned for the pilot.
So I met her via that kind of
our first table read, which was over Zoom.
- [Quinta Brunson] But the first time was
really doing the show.
- I was just a fan of her and a fan
of her comedic career.
- [Kelly] Yeah. - I was just like honored
to be talking to her. And then-
- When did y'all first meet?
- The first time I met Quinta,
the first time I actually met Quinta was
on this one of the CBS lots.
- Oh my God.
- [Quinta] Okay, I didn't know if you were gonna say that.
- Yeah. The CBS lots.
And you had just sold one
of your first shows? - Yes.
- And my daughter and I were walking across the lot
and my daughter, Coco, says,
"Mommy, that's Quinta Brunson
and she's gonna be big.
You have to meet her."
She was right.
- Coco did like, yeah- - [Kelly] She called it.
- Yeah, she called it. - [Kelly] She called it.
- Yeah. - Yup.
- I, they probably caught this on camera,
but when you open your mouth to speak,
like you have one of the most beautiful like,
singing voices, obviously,
but talking voices and like one
of the most recognizable like, I just,
so many memories here.
It's just this trip with nostalgia.
Like listening to you. - [Sheryl] Oh, thank you.
- Just when you started talking,
I was like I have no idea what you just said.
Cause I was,
I literally went to a place
like that I was like,
"Oh my God,
your voice is just magical." - Kelly.
- Thank you. - Kelly, she hypnotizes you.
Just imagine- - It does.
- It happens to me all the time.
- I'll sit next to her in a scene, and she,
when she goes into this-
- Same thing happens to me.
- And I just am like
- The same thing happens to me.
- My eyes just turn into spirals.
- And she'll be telling me,
and Sheryl will tell me a story
that will be the most ridiculous story.
It will be ridiculous and funny.
But by the end I'm like,
"I'm sorry. What did you say about?
What are you talking about?"
- You know, it's interesting.
Your tones that come out of your,
it's the vibrations from,
it's just like so magical.
And I just really, sorry,
I didn't hear a damn word.
- Sometimes when I'm at the airport, you know,
you know very often at the airport people are working
with their heads down and you know,
sometimes they've had a hard day
and they wanna give attitude and they'll say something,
and I'll say something like,
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"
And they'll look up and they'll say,
"Oh, Miss Ralph, how are you?"
- [Kelly] No, literally.
- It's so recognizable.
You can't go anywhere. - [Sheryl] Thank you.
- Unless you're disguising your voice.
Like it's crazy cool. - [Sheryl] Thank you.
- I just didn't even realize that was gonna hit me
like that until in person.
And I'm just having a moment.
- I love that.
- I'm having a moment.
It's so funny 'cause I'm a singer,
but I can't stand my talking voice.
I don't leave,
I haven't left a voicemail since like the nineties.
- I love your voice. - [Kelly] Oh my god.
- We all love
her speaking voice. - I was gonna say.
- [Kelly] Oh my God.
- All lies.
- [Lisa Ann Walter] Kelly,
America loves your speaking voice.
- You have gotten me to buy so much Wayfair.
(studio laughing)
- [Quinta] My entire home.
- That's all because of you.
That's all because of you.
- Oh my God.
I'm telling you, I can't listen.
I can't listen to my speaking voice.
But yours is... - [Sheryl] Thank you.
- [Kelly] It's like a whole thing.
- I'm lost right now.
I'm gonna get back on track. Okay.
So you also work with like a ton of kids on this show.
Is that hard to wrangle them all?
- I would say that, no.
One, I have to give credit.
We have studio teachers.
- Yes.
- You have Wranglers. - Yes.
And AD's that help keep the kids together.
I do think that all of us
as actors bring a really special presence to the show.
The way they react to Sheryl,
the way they react to Lisa entering the room.
I feel like both
of these women have two different energies
of mom presence. - That's right.
- That the kids really respect.
With me,
they really do think with Janine's clothes and demeanor,
and where I am in character,
that I am their teacher.
- [Kelly] Love. - They do.
- They either think I'm a teacher
or a big kid they need to listen to.
- That's right.
- So, it's not really hard.
I have to give our kids credit.
- They're they're great.
- They're really good.
- I am shocked at the way
our casting department is able to cast what I look
at as the future of entertainment and TV.
These kids are so smart- - [Lisa] So smart.
- And so talented.
- [Quinta] Yeah.
- It's amazing. - [Quinta] We had a kid-
- And they follow direction.
- First of all,
Quinta gave an opportunity
for a lot of young children of color
to come and be on TV shows.
- [Kelly] That's really cool.
- They didn't have a career before.
- No, they didn't have a career before.
- It's a cool thing you're doing for a lot
of young actors- - [Quinta] Thank you.
Writers, directors-
All of the above. - [Quinta] Thank you.
- And for folks like us,
because we have an intergenerational show.
And I love it
that you have these different women of different ages.
All working together.
- I love that.
- It's a blessing.
- So congrats on the Emmy's
this year. - Thank you.
- This is so excited.
(audience cheering)
- Have y'all found a place to put it like in your house?
- I have not yet.
I haven't even,
I have not taken mine out of the box.
I haven't.
- what are you doing?
- I don't know.
I just don't- - What?
- I don't know.
What people have to realize is I am
in the middle of making the show
like writing the show, producing the show.
So I'm busy.
So I just haven't had the time to like
- I get that.
- But wait, you don't know where you're gonna put it
in your house or?
- No.
I don't know.
- Well, that's all right 'cause I put mine by the bed.
Yes.
(studio laughing)
- [Sheryl] Yes, I put it by the bed.
I opened up that box, and I stand it on the box.
And when I wake up in the morning,
and I open my eyes, I'm like,
yeah, it happened.
- Yeah. It happened. - [Kelly] I love that.
- I mean,
everybody has told you this on the planet,
but the acceptance speech,
the song, the moment, the words,
the meaningfulness,
like it was just- - [Sheryl] Thank you.
- It was so beautiful.
- Thank you.
- [Kelly] It was really, really beautiful.
- I lost my mind in that moment.
I honestly, when they called my name, I-
- You sat there for a minute.
- Yeah, because I was taken out
of my own self. - Was.
- And all I heard,
I could hear Quinta say,
"Get up.
Get up."
- I really, yeah.
- And I couldn't get my brain to tell my feet
and my body to move.
I don't remember getting center stage.
But when I got there
I remember it's like I could hear my dad
from heaven saying,
"Calm down.
Calm down."
And I exhaled.
I took a moment.
Everything had left my brain,
and I went for what I really knew.
And it was a song.
- [Kelly] I loved it.
- And that's how it happened.
- You know what's funny though,
is your daddy in heaven might've been calm,
but who wasn't calm
were your two children.
(ladies laughing)
I saw, wait,
we have to show, do we have this video?
'Cause I love this video
of your kids just losing it when you went.
It made me cry.
- Yes, mommy. - Yes, mommy.
- They were, you guys- - [Sheryl Mommy.
They were Screaming, "Mommy, mommy."
- [Kelly] You guys, they were screaming, "Mommy"
They were like, I mean,
it was literally the most beautiful thing.
I mean, as a momma of two, like,
I'm just like,
there's nothing, we do a lot of things, right?
And you love what you do,
and you're proud of your moments.
But when your kids think you're doing something cool,
when your kids are, "Oh my God",
feel that,
I'm gonna cry again.
But like
it would just made me cry.
It was just like sobbing, watching it going,
"That is such a beautiful moment.
Like, they see their mama like soaring."
You know?
- It was very,
being a mom and having gone through a divorce
and making it up
in my mind
that I had to raise happy, healthy people.
When I saw my children cheer for me
in that moment,
and I could hear them from the stage,
I was like,
I could, I believed in my mind.
I said, "I did it.
Thank you God.
Thank you mom and dad for the support.
Thank you.
I did it."
- I'mma cry again.
- I tell her all the time.
'Cause again,
the four kids and also went through the divorce.
We have share a lot of things in common
in terms of struggles
after a divorce, like many women.
And I tell her all the time
when I watch those kids
and how they are with her,
I'll just sit there in awe and say,
"Your children with you are so,
they're so proud.
They are such good people." - [Kelly] Beautiful.
- She has raised amazing people,
and I'm very proud of my kids.
But I just hope that the twins one day like recognize,
I'm like, you know, I'm on TV.
- They do.
- I got a show on. - They're just,
they're like, that's great for you.
- The older two, yeah, but...
Like, "I'm on Discord."
(studio laughing)
- [Lisa] They don't care.
- I'm like, America loves this show, by the way.
But her kids always, always supportive and beautiful.
- They better.
You know what I went through to have them?
(studio laughing)
- You better support me.
- [Kelly] I love that.
- Tyler James Williams was here.
Another cast member.
And he said Quinta used things
from his personal life.
All of a sudden, they would appear in an episode.
And I love it 'cause
like I'm a writer too.
Be careful who you date.
Like, I'm just saying.
- I'm dating. Hey. - That's a threat.
- Does she, does she- - I'm just saying.
- No. You can't talk yet.
Wait, does she do that to y'all too?
- Absolutely. She will.
I made one mistake. - Hold on.
- What? What?
- Look, can I say something?
- Yes, sure. - Okay.
- What I would like to say is
Tyler was a little,
he was half right, half wrong.
Tyler says,
Tyler happens to be similar to Gregory
in some ways. - [Sheryl] Yes.
- That's the truth.
He just happens to be similar to him.
Tyler is very,
he has his paths.
He has the way he sees things,
and he has the way he likes things done.
Now the Sheryl thing,
I just wanna say
what she's gonna say is 100% true.
So I just wanna set that up that Tyler was half wrong.
Sheryl's completely right.
So go ahead.
- What did she do to you?
- Okay, so I just wanna say
when you hear the name Darren Star
tell me you don't think
of a six foot basketball player.
Now you know Darren Star sounds like a black man.
Thank you.
I got it wrong.
Now you know Orlando Bloom.
- Yes. - Tell me you don't think
about a nice bruising football player, black man.
Okay, so I got it wrong. - [Lisa] Definitely the wrong-
- It was the wrong Orlando. - [Lisa] Orlando, right.
- And it was funny.
- [Kelly] And it was funny.
- And it was funny. - She ends up
writing a whole- - [Lisa] It's so funny.
- Episode.
- Cold open.
- It's so funny.
- It was hilarious.
- [Lisa] It was hilarious.
- Oh, look at that Little Carrie Underwood.
- Little Carrie Underwood.
That was so good.
- It was really funny to us in the moment
because it was me in my room.
We didn't understand the logic of how Sheryl saw it.
We were like, so wait,
is it black actors who she thinks are white
or is it just a name mix up?
And I was like, what if it's everything?
And we can get that to Barbara,
and it'll be good. - [Kelly] God.
- Everybody seemed to love it.
So anyway.
- It's so funny.
- But the day that she opened the script and read it,
the day of the table read,
she literally went like this:
"Quinta."
- She did.
She like stopped reading for a second.
I was like, I had to.
I don't know what to say.
- You can't now, in Quinta's defense,
you can't offer up
that kind of material - [Sheryl] No.
- And just have it wasted. - [Sheryl] It was brilliant.
- That is amazing.
- Neil Sedaka sounds like a white woman.
- I've never,
Who was that?
- Nevermind.
- Did you just say, "Who is Neil Sedaka?"
- It was a boomer moment.
Just let it go.
- Kelly, do you have anything you need to move on to?
They eat me up.
- I do know Neil Sedaka.
- Oh, okay.
Y'all know Neil Sedaka? - I just wanna know what of me
that you did that it was in my real life.
- For you?
- Is there anything?
Like punching people - For you?
- No. - Okay, good.
- For you, it went, oh,
that's not out yet.
There is an episode coming up that is very funny
and very...
- [Lisa] Have I read it? - [Kelly] Inspired?
- No.
- No, you have not read it yet.
- Okay, good.
Well, we'll all be surprised together.
- It's coming.
It's coming. Yes, it's coming.
- I can't wait. - [Kelly] Love it.
- Okay, Quinta, so with this show,
you're also able to give back to teachers.
That's cool. - [Quinta] Yes, yeah.
- It's so exciting.
We weren't gonna be able to make a show
about teachers and not help teachers.
It's just too much of what I consider to be
a marginalized group and career.
While it's one of the oldest,
most continuous professions - Under appreciated.
- It still is so underappreciated.
And I guess it's just a me thing
because I think it's crazy
that people are like,
"Wow, you guys help teachers."
But I'm like, "How could I make this show and not?"
And I'm very fortunate that both ABC, our network,
and Warner Brothers, our studio, were on board.
I didn't have to convince them that
that was something we needed to do.
We found many different ways to do it.
Our first season,
we had a supply bus that ran around different cities.
We did this Scholastic Book Fair.
- I love Scholastic Book Fairs.
- [Quinta] Me too.
- And so this year,
we partnered with the water bottle company
to make sure each kid had a reusable water bottle.
That was super exciting.
- That's cool.
- Really, really cool.
We're still giving away supplies like constantly
because teachers just constantly need supplies.
- No, 'cause you know what,
teachers always have to pay for them.
My mom always had to pay for a bunch of her stuff.
- Well, and then now I feel like people
go on for wish lists and- - Well, I was gonna say
- That's what's good to show- - Everyone on our staff,
I mean, like Lisa is constantly putting out DonorsChoose
and GoFund Me's of the teachers
online who reach out to us.
- Well, last summer- - [Quinta] Carol-
- When we got picked up
I just paid for everybody's DonorsChoose.
And I went, I'm gonna go broke.
- And you will.
But like that kind of stuff.
Sheryl, you just helped raise, I think,
what was it, $30,000 for the Texas,
what was the school?
- Oh, no. Jackson State. - [Quinta] For Jackson State.
- $350,000.
(audience cheering)
- Oh my god. - Excuse me.
- That's like several cars.
Not just one. - Yeah, sorry,
get in the line, please.
No, but it was-
- That's incredible.
- [All Ladies] Yeah.
- I honestly feel that teachers are
some of the most underprivileged people on the planet.
- [Kelly] Underappreciated. - [Lisa] Underappreciated.
- And unappreciated.
The mere fact that these are people who have spent,
who are spending their lives molding
at the hearts and minds of our future.
They're not babysitters.
They are educators,
and they deserve much more than we as people
in our country are giving them.
- Well, you know- - Much, much more.
- Because it was an historically female profession.
It's part of what we do.
We undervalue women in professions quite often.
It's why nurses are undervalued as well.
So I think that it's an extension of that.
And we need to, you know,
realize that we've gotta get more teachers.
They have a shortage of teachers-
- [Sheryl] Absolutely.
- And part of the reason is
people can't make a living. - [Kelly] I was gonna say.
- I will never, ever retire.
Don't worry. Thank you.