Substitute Teacher (Key & Peele)

"Substitute Teacher"
Key & Peele segment
Mr. Garvey scolds Aaron
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 4 (segment)
Directed byPeter Atencio
Written by
Original air dateOctober 17, 2012 (2012-10-17)
Running time3 minutes

"Substitute Teacher" is a segment of the sketch comedy television series Key & Peele. It first aired on Comedy Central on October 17, 2012, as part of "I'm Retired", the fourth episode of the series's second season. "Substitute Teacher" was directed by Peter Atencio and written by multiple writers, including the eponymous Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. In the segment, Mr. Garvey (Key) is the substitute teacher of a biology class. While taking roll, Garvey begins stating the names of students in the class and pronounces their names incorrectly. As each student corrects him, Garvey becomes progressively angrier.

Upon being uploaded to YouTube, "Substitute Teacher" became a viral video; as of May 2025, the video has over 224 million views. The sketch spurred a sequel, "Substitute Teacher Pt. 2", as part of the first episode of the third season. In 2015, Deadline Hollywood reported that Paramount Pictures had purchased a pitch for a feature version of the sketch. Key reprised his role as Mr. Garvey in a November 2022 advertisement for Paramount+. Since its debut, "Substitute Teacher" has received positive reception and has been analyzed for its racial commentary and educational insight.