Teachers

Yes....... I suppose when you watch a show after watching the previous weeks repeat you have to say that you LOVE IT. Brilliant writing and acting. This team of actors look like they've known each other all their working lives, great satirical fun with no cliches. Can't wait for series 3,4,5,6............etc.

When I sat down to watch this show I did it with low expectations as (although I hate to admit it) British series of recent years have not been up to scratch. Instead I have enjoyed watching American series such as 'The West Wing', 'Ally McBeal' and 'ER'. However I was pleasantly surprised by 'Teachers'. As well as being incredibly funny, this show is realistic.

It shows the everyday life of a twenty -something secondary school teacher, Simon, who everyone would love as their teacher as he doesn't seem to want to grow up. We see how he copes with teaching his rowdy class and how he gets on with his workmates. There's Jenny, the teacher who has a reputation for being a bit of a dragon and shows obvious contempt for Simon, which he returns equally (although he has a secret crush on her). There's his two slobby mates who are also teachers and there's his friend Susan who is the head of year and who he consults for advice on his personal life. He also has an on-off relationship with policewoman Maggie (who smokes pot when she's off duty). In my opinion it's unmissable.

Our television guide described this show as a British version of Ally McBeal, with the big difference that the setting isn't a fancy lawyers office but a rundown school. And that's the thing that is so great about this show; it doesn't glamorize anything. Its Protagonist, 26- year old Simon, is a shallow minded antihero, selfish to the core. He's using people to fulfill his own desperate needs, trying to avoid every responsibility if something goes wrong. Then there is Susan, his emotional female buddy, trying to be strict and decisive but with the tendency to have a turbulent inner life. Add Brian and Kurt, two teachers that behave as a pair of 13-year olds, to the mix and you have a very funny show. I also adored the at the surface ice cold Jenny Page. She has that kind of cool and distant beauty that some women have. I truly believe that a woman like her can make a man like Simon mad.

This is how I want to see a comedy show; realistic, filled with dark humor and, most importantly, having a good balance between seriousness and wackiness. You start to loved its flawed yet charismatic characters.

Contrary to other theme-based shows, such as hospitals (E.R., Scrubs more importantly), hotels (Jamie Foxx Show) and crime scenes (CSI + spin-offs), "Teachers" is situated mostly in and around an fictional school and gives us a realistic view on how school life is from the eye of a teacher. While this element might be a bit overdone at some points (it is unlikely that all teachers go to the pub, every night, with their colleagues - not to mention the excessive smoking by all staff members), it does not raise doubts about the reliability of how situations are coped with. If we compare this to far from the truth patient-doctor relationships in Scrubs, miraculous survivals in E.R. and questionable research methods in Crime Scene Investigation, the impression is accurate at least.

Themes in this show vary from teacher-student problems, (the lack of) a sex and/or love life, school events, alcohol, smoking, relationships with colleagues (even cheating with them), maturity and the choice of be(com)ing a teacher. Simon for example, constantly struggles whether he has made the right decision to be a teacher, whereas Matt definitely seems to be having trouble with being faithful and Kurt and Brian have relationship issues -- most relations are purely sexual and usually end up in a catastrophe and are therefor even rumored to have a homosexual relationship.

The teachers are portrayed as very normal human beings, something that a student may forget at that age, or not even think of. But we're all humans after all - teachers cope with sometimes even the same problems as their students; including hangovers and love. You might even say that teachers are not as adult and grown-up as they should be theoretically. From an educational aspect only, it looks as if they are all quite in the wrong business. Though this changes through the course of the episodes, where the actual teaching seems to be educationally correct.

The balance between humor and serious issues seems to be fair and quite random. This is not the sort of show I would stay home for, but definitely to watch when I bump into it. The jokes are mostly unpredictable, while some others lean on clichés and easy puns, for instance; the mispronunciation of 'Mr. Dong' instead of 'Mr. Chong', after the school principle has been looking below Bob's belt and then directs herself at Mr. Chong, an Asian man who is presumably visiting or inspecting the school that day.

The changing of the cast in every season may be frustrating at times, but on the other hand is a realistic view on how things happen at a school. After all, teachers tend to get fired, get promoted, or (take a) leave. Every cast member has their own personality, with the problems that come along with it, including divorce, cheating on your partner, obesity, homosexuality, height, problems with several body features (it is for instance suggested that the size of Kurt's penis is below average) and so on. They might not be all be very detailed, but they give one the feeling you can relate to (at least one of) the teachers.

A definitive plus and highly recommended.

This show is so refreshing and good. First two seasons were terrific, the rest not so much. This happens with a lot of shows when they change the main cast - it just feels like a different show. They've written out characters and gave us unsatisfactory explanations (in some cases no explanation at all) for their absence. I've seen only a few episodes from series 3 and 4 so this review is focused on the first two series.

Simon and Susan were great characters. I could easily identify with them 'cause I work in school and I share some of Simon's attitudes towards students and my colleagues often come to me with their problems - that makes me feel overwhelmed at times, just like Susan.

The relationship between colleagues is warm and close. I like the fact that they could talk about a lot of topics, including silly conversations. They hang out after work, get involved in pranks and some of them are flatmates. The only character I didn't like from the beginning was Jenny, but eventually she warmed up to me. It's a shame that the main cast wasn't there 'till the end, but at least we got two excellent series with them. It's a fun watch, I guess that the young teachers will like it a lot.