In the height of the streaming wars advertising is everything. There have been a ton of creative ads in the past that have highlighted a particular streamer’s rich library, but Paramount+ might have just dropped the funniest streaming commercial of all time which sees the return of an iconic Key & Peele character. In the streamer’s latest ad, Keegan-Michael Key returns as "Substitute Teacher" Mr. Garvey who loses it over Paramount’s various kid-friendly IPs.
The ad has Mr. Garvey teaching at Survival School on the classic Paramount Mountain. He’s appropriately dressed up for the icy tundra in just his famous button-up t-shirt. If you’ve seen the previous sketches featuring the humorous character then you know what comes next… roll call. The short-tempered teacher exaggerates and gets everyone’s name wrong as usual, but there’s just something extra funny about Mr. Garvey losing his mind over mostly Nick Jr. characters like Blaze, Blue, and Big Nate. His reaction to Blue aka “Bee-Louie” from Blue’s Clues is particularly memorable as Mr. Garvey threatens war over the iconic dog. There are also deep cut characters like Krumm from Aaahh!!! Real Monsters that will make any Nickelodeon fan of the 90s feel so much gut-busting nostalgia. However, it’s not a substitute teacher sketch without Mr. Garvey breaking a clipboard over his knee as Dora from Dora the Explorer has the honor of pushing the freezing teacher over the edge this time around. Mr. Garvey is definitely not a fan of Spanish, or maybe it was just Dora’s endlessly positive energy that set him off. Thankfully NFL superstar Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams is here to comfort Mr. Garvey in the “A-A-Ron” role.
Key & Peele, in its five season run on Comedy Central, was one of the best sketch comedy shows in television history. It helped propel both Key and his co-star Jordan Peele to superstardom. In an endless sea of memorable sketches, "Substitute Teacher" is arguably their most well known. Its simplicity and relatability paired with Key’s committed funny performance makes the character of Mr. Garvey stand the test of time. No matter how many times you watch Mr. Garvey freak out over a name, it never gets old. That’s why it’s so great to see Paramount bring the character back in all his glory with this new ad. Key hasn’t lost a beat and this survival class will go down in history as one of the funniest ads a streamer has ever done.
Paramount+, when compared to the other streaming services owned by major studios, always seems like it’s having the most fun. Paramount overall as a company has had the best 2022 with hits like Scream, Smile, and Top Gun: Maverick so you can’t blame them. This new comedic ad is certain to get more people interested in Paramount+ which has been one of the most underrated streaming services around. All of Key & Peele is streaming on the service now along with Nickelodeon hits like Blue’s Clues and Dora the Explorer. You can watch the Mr. Garvey-centric ad on Instagram and the previous "Substitute Teacher" sketches down below.