TEACHERS LOSE THEIR CLASS ON TV
As favourite targets of comedy, they have history of being beaten up for our entertainment, writes Bethonie Butler.
Teachers have one of the hardest jobs, but you wouldn’t know it by watching on. Three new comedies this year portray teachers as inept, inappropriate or some unfortunate mix of both: TV Land’s Teachers, TruTV’s Those Who Can’t and Vice Principals, now airing on HBO.
Comedy is the key word here, and poking fun at teachers helps the shows mine humour, to varying degrees of success. But in the grand scheme of workplace television shows, teachers get a particularly bad rap.
Here’s a list of memorable shows featuring teachers and school administrators, ranked from the most respectful of the profession to the least.
WELCOME BACK, KOTTER (1975)
Based on a comedy routine by Gabe Kaplan, this ’70s ABC sitcom features Kaplan as Gabe Kotter, teacher to the Sweathogs, a diverse group of high school students in need of some remedial coursework. Despite his constant joking, Kotter took his students seriously when no one else seemed to.
SAVED BY THE BELL (1989)
True Saved by the Bell fans know that the show was conceived as a revamped version of Good Morning, Miss Bliss, a short-lived Disney Channel show that focused more on Miss Bliss (Hayley Mills), than on her students. Principal Belding (Dennis Haskins), was one of a few characters who appears in both shows, and he remains a memorable fixture.
BOY MEETS WORLD (1993)
As Cory Matthews and his friends navigated their way through adolescence, they met Mr. Feeny (William Daniels), a no-nonsense teacher-turned-principal who happened to be one of the Matthews family’s neighbours, and his younger, cooler counterpart, the motorcycle-riding Jonathan Turner (Anthony Tyler Quinn). The show has since resurfaced as Disney Channel spinoff Girl Meets World, which features Cory as a middle school teacher.
BOSTON PUBLIC (2000)
David E. Kelley’s foray into the education system gets points for focusing on teachers and the challenges in the classroom. Despite mixed reviews from critics, the Fox drama won a Peabody Award in 2002 for Chapter 37, an episode that features frank conversations between faculty members and students about the use of the N-word.
DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION (2001)
The long-running Toronto-set series — now airing as the Gen Z-focused Degrassi: Next Class on Netflix — has had its share of well-intentioned teachers and administrators, though a few have engaged in inappropriate relationships with students. The difference between Degrassi and, say, Pretty Little Liars, which prominently features a studentteacher relationship, is that Degrassi tends to treat such pairings as a cautionary tale.
GLEE (2009)
The Fox musical comedy demonstrates you can make fun of teachers while still respecting what they do. Glee was about rooting for the underdogs, and that included passionate glee club adviser Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison), evil (but secretly warm), gym teacher-turned-principal Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), and obsessive-compulsive guidance counsellor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays).
TEACHERS (2016)
This comedy follows six grade school teachers as they navigate recess, picture day and impromptu parent-teacher conferences with attractive single dads. The show’s humour relies heavily on shtick and the juxtaposition of their efforts to shape the next generation and their inappropriate conversations in the teachers lounge.
THOSE WHO CAN’T (2016) It lives up to its unfortunate title with inappropriate antics (one teacher whips up a pitcher of “virgin, barely alcoholic” margaritas for his Spanish class), and physical comedy. Does every piece of furniture have to break? VICE PRINCIPALS (2016)
This comedy scrapes the bottom of the barrel as Walton Goggins and Eastbound & Down’s Danny McBride star as two vice-principals vying for the top job at their suburban high school.