There are very few celeb cameos that are actually meaningful. Sure, you might see a Jonas Brother stopping by The Righteous Gemstones, or Captain America briefly making an appearance in Free Guy, but it’s rare that a celebrity cameo really makes a viewer stop in their tracks. Enter: America’s favorite orange fluffy monster.
After scoring multiple wins at this year’s Emmys, Abbott Elementary returned for its sophomore season with a bang. “I managed to get the only celebrity that matters to come and surprise our kids on the first day of school,” Quinta Brunson’s character Janine says at the start of the episode. “America’s favorite orange furry sweetheart: Flyers mascot Gritty!” And the crowd went wild! Except for Gregory.
Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty (who celebrates a birthday on September 24th, just a heads up) enrolled in Abbott for the premiere episode, and it honestly seems like royalty graced the set. “Gritty, to me, is such a beautiful representation of Philadelphia,” creator Brunson said of the big orange guy. “The way he looks, the way he is joyful, the way he feels, the way he is.”
In the premiere, Gritty agrees to come to greet the students on their first day. Which doesn’t work out quite as planned. Classic sitcom hijinks. “There are a lot of people who might be iconic in Philadelphia, there are a lot of people that might be loved in Philadelphia,” Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph said in a behind-the-scenes clip. “None of them come close to the love and admiration that is given to Gritty.”
Obviously, he was a huge hit both on the show and off. It’s amazing he never breaks his character! Perhaps he’s into method acting.
You can catch Abbott Elementary on Hulu and Wednesdays on ABC.