English Teacher

Nailed it. Haha. So I wasn't impressed with the promos, but this is a clever satire of teaching at high school in 2024. This isn't for everyone, but they hit the multifaceted influences of politics on education and every changing Zoomer / Alpha generation. The obsession with phones and recording teachers is real. The high schoolers saying they feel targeted, bullied, and triggered while exchanging insults is spot on. The teachers are obvious caricatures of very familiar teacher stereotypes. The only thing not believable is how small the football stadium is at a high school in Texas, and the students look like they're in their early 20s. If you like silly sitcoms that are spoofs of teaching high school, you'll like this. If you don't like it, then don't watch it.

It's a refreshing situation-comedy full of satire and sarcasm, it's not politically correct and it is very, very funny. I'm glad that the censors didn't butcher it by cutting pictures, topics and dialog. It plays against stereotypes, like Markie the PE teacher and coach who is smart and has figured out the students and is not a stereotypical brainless jock/coach.

The scripts for the first three episodes I've seen are very original, with great characters who are well written. The dialog is funny and original. Brian Jordan Alvarez, Stephanie Koenig, Sean Patton and Enrico Colantoni are exceptional. And kudos to the young actors/actresses who play the students, they're very good.

FX only ordered 8 episodes, this should have received 18 or 22 episodes it's so well written. This will be copied by other networks because it's so original. I normally hate sit-coms because they'd stupid and not funny, this one is very funny without a laugh track or an audience.

Am reviewing after only one episode, but based on that, would offer a cautious recommendation. The actors do a commendable job, and the writers nail the myriad issues in today's cultural/political environment that high school students, their parents, and the teachers have to navigate in today's overheated times. In doing so, there are a handful of laughs intermixed with some more poignant moments, and those make for entertaining viewing. But the overall tone tends to run a bit shrill and overplayed which diminishes the impact. Worth giving a look but at least so far not the succeess one might hope for.

This is what good writing looks like.

I consume a lot of comedy -- A LOT -- and this was the best pilot I've seen in a very long time. The cast is strong and the relationships between every character feel incredibly natural. The dialogue is on point as well. I've seen too many school based shows where the students just don't sound natural. These ones do.

I'm only two episodes in, but I can already tell this is a show I'll be rewatching many times --- the world feels real and I'm immediately immersed.

Give it a chance, especially if you love workplace comedies like I do. You won't regret it.

The pilot of this new series comes out of the gate fast and strong. The writing is tight, sharp and witty. It handles (and skewers) a lot of timely topics and political correctness without being preachy or heavy handed. It's one of the stronger starts to a comedy series I've seen in a decade. If somewhat R-rated comedy offends you, I'd recommend skipping this. If a gay man as a lead character makes you angry or uncomfortable, also skip it (and maybe do some self reflection on that).

The handful of negative reviews either seem upset that the gay lead character has a love life OR the that the comedy doesn't execute with a *ba-dum-tish!* laugh track style that tells you when it's time to laugh like so many, tired sitcom shows. This ain't The Big Bang Theory and that's a good thing.

It's clear the cast all understands the tone and pacing and the sarcasm comes through very effectively. If the show doesn't take off/ find its audience right away, I think it'll develop a following down the line.