Quinta Brunson explains her switch from the internet to network comedy

Quinta Brunson used the internet to help build her platform, but with her goals as a storyteller, she knew it was time to give it up.

“I didn’t feel I could tell a cohesive story on the internet. I didn’t feel like I could really target an audience,” she tells Deadline. “I wanted to tell long-form stories, like Abbott, and, as we know, that’s just not what the internet is built for anymore. As a storyteller, I just had to honor the fact that that was not my ministry anymore. The internet was not my preferred platform.”

Quinta particularly appreciates “the access of network comedy,” noting ABC felt like “a very safe place to go” considering people know how to get to the channel and watch it. She says appointment television allows her to build a relationship with the audience, which she finds difficult to do online.

“It’s kind of like when you go to the theater, you’re making a commitment to sit in that seat until intermission and watch that,” she explains. “I’m entering a deal with you as an audience member that you’re going to watch this and respect it. That’s what’s hard on the internet. That relationship isn’t there. I have a deal with the audience members, and I don’t want to make something without that deal anymore.”

Quinta’s relationship with her viewers won Abbott Elementary three Emmys for its first season. She already has season 3 planned out and, beyond that, knows how the show will end when the time comes.

Until then, she’s embracing all the accolades and praise coming her way. “I have no reason to think that I’m not good at what I do, or that I don’t deserve to be in the position that I’m in,” the actress says.

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