'English Teacher' on Hulu

WOW - looks great.

But, I don't have HULU...

Wouldn't it be more interesting if he taught French and Greek?

How many American high schools teach Greek?

As for French, I doubt he wanted to go through the process of learning it, that just adds to the costs of production. Spanish would have been an option, but I think they were going for a comedic juxtaposition of him being an English teacher (who are usually on the stodgier side) and being more woke than his students.

Looks funny. I love that they used the same high school from the movie "Love, Simon".

r3, if you are in a large High School that's well funded you could have Greek. Rare but not unheard of. Maybe you went to a small/poor school, sad.

Just heard about this today. It looks great and BJA is adorable. Can’t wait.

Flop. Brian blew people to get this gig.

^ so, that takes initiative.

R6 You sound jealous.

[quote]if you are in a large High School that's well funded you could have Greek. [bold]Rare but not unheard of.[/bold] Maybe you went to a small/poor school, sad.

That's the point I was making – why make this one of those rare schools when you could instead not complicate your life (and the whole production) and just make him an English teacher instead. Way more relatable. I won't dignify the rest of your crude reply with an answer.

Anyway, this all really is quite irrelevant. I'm looking forward to the show, seems wholesome.

r9 because they will probably play up the storyline that his job is redundant for the very reasons you stated.

I had a part-time French teacher in HS. He was short and sweet little gay man. But he was pissed that the district wouldn't hire him full-time, so instead of actually teaching us French, we watched Family Guy DVDs (thanks Indiana). Safe to say, I struggled with French when he was let go and the full-time teacher lead my Sophomore and Junior French classes. I had to pull a Char and argue for a passing grade because the school failed me during my Freshman year. She would pass me.

J'accuse!

Some guy named Jon Ebeling posted a veiled allegation about being sexually assaulted by Brian Jordan Alvarez by referencing the Netflix series "Baby Reindeer" that has a plot point about the wannabe comedian lead being raped by an established comedy writer.

Brian Jordan Alvarez is super talented and I loved Caleb Gallo. I can’t wait to see what’s he done with this new series.

The lead actor, Brian Jordan Alvarez, reminds me of a young version of Michael Weston.

Will air on FX and stream on Hulu..

He's cute. Glad he found a series. I'll watch.

r4, Regarding studying other languages in high school discussed here - I'm Greek-American and have no idea why anyone would want to study Greek (Modern or Ancient). It takes an entire semester to just learn the alphabet, which I did as an adult. The grammar is impossibly complicated, worse than English or German. I grew up in California. Greece is a tiny country.

My despised father insisted that I learn Spanish, so I took French from 7th grade through 12th grade because my mother spoke basic French. Wish I'd taken both. While Spanish would have been so much more useful, my B+ French opened up a new world for me while traveling.

Greek and Latin would have been great for learning root words for medical school, which I didn't do.

Looking forward to watching this series.

Glowing reviews left and right. First two episodes out today.

Wouldn't it be more interesting if he taught French and Greek?

—Anonymous Attention DL: The above post was a JOKE. GOOGLE 'French active/Greek passive'. It means what is now termed 'bottom/top' regarding oral and anal sex. JFC some of you are so LITERAL and humorless.

Anyway R2 I thought it was funny

Or it's just a shit joke. Which is probably the reason I've never heard it before. And you can calm down with the all-caps, it's not that serious.

R19 HAVE A BLESSED DAY.

r11 But unlike Baby Reindeer, he didn't even press charges? It's interesting how people still don't do that in this post-MeToo world, but instead wait and resort to public shaming on the socials once that person hits it big. Sounds to me like he expected a job in the writers rooms in exchange for giving up his bussy, and it never materialised. Sucks, but that's not sexual assault.

*Sorry, I had Martha in mind, I had completely forgotten about that other assault with the writer, which Richard never reported either.

Partner and I just watched the first two episodes and really enjoyed them. Can’t wait to see more.

R23, I also just watched the first two episodes and loved them. Really looking forward to seeing the rest of the season.

Hilarious first two episodes, the dialogue is so damn snappy. Of course, it helps that it's only around twenty minutes, so there's practically no chaff.

The redhead teacher has fantastic hair and is very likeable, with a hot husband to boot. The new teacher, played by Langston Kerman, is an absolute dreamboat with an adorable accent, cannot wait to see more of him.

Great music, love the pink title sequence, the "messaging" doesn't hit you over the head. What's not to love?

The aggressively straight hosts of The Watch podcast were raving about it earlier this week, which caught me off guard, but is a very good sign! I thought for sure the gayness of it all would be too much for them to handle. Now if they could only relent and watch Interview as well...

R9 It’s stupid to make the fucking teacher a Greek or French teacher because then the fucking actor would know have to have to speak Greek or French and there there would be scenes in which many of us won’t understand the language for the sake of realism. As a fkin English teacher the class can discuss classics from Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Hurston, and Twain and drawing parallels with the plot with dramatic irony and an overall more exciting watch for the classroom scenes. It’s that fucking simple. Gheesh.

He corrected a kid's grammar in the second episode, I hope we get more of that, you know how anal some of us on DL are about that. I also hope we get some discussion of the classics, like r27 mentioned.

Another great episode. Harry is just the cutest guy with the most precious accent. I hate that the actor is straight and happily married.

[quote]I'm thinking it might be good if you unpair Harry and I.

[quote]So if something happens between you and I, it's not gonna be good.

Am I going crazy or did Evan misuse the subject pronoun twice in this episode? Like, I've always been so bad at this, but this feels wrong to me? And if it is wrong, was it done as a joke, because he's the English teacher?

I like it but there’s just something missing. I’m not laughing out loud and I thought I would be.

The show has finally found its footing in episode 3.

I just started watching this last night. I literally Lol'd several times.

I hope it keeps up the comedic pace and doesn't go all "The Bear" on us.

I love the way they thoroughly subverted my expectations with Henry using POV trickery. I was starting to be convinced he was a stalker type, then realised Evan was making it up in his head, then again thought that maybe no, Evan was right all along. Very nicely done.

*Harry

I love how he shows off his pits.

New episode was not as funny as the first three episodes, but it was still decent.

I hope Evan realizes what he has with Malcolm and stops chasing that other teacher. We all know it won't work out anyway.

My high school used to teach Greek. Not anymore. Just French, Spanish, Latin and Mandarin.

They also used to teach Russian and German

That’s nice dear. We don’t care.

I love the snappy but meaningful way they dealt with the gun issue that made me (maybe for the first time ever) see sides from both perspectives, but at the same time didn't engage in botsidesism. Kudos to the writers for even wanting to deal with social issues when they could have just as easily taken the easy way out and given us just another generic funny show. Did you see Evan in the class with the book when he was talking about gun issues – he looked like a fundie preacher. And then dismissing that kid's opinion because his parents are too progressive for him? Really clever writing.

Not the biggest fan of Firstman but I agree with r37, Malcolm is good for Evan. But I also miss Harry because the actor is so dreamy!

The redhead is still my favourite part of the show, she's awesome.

The whole episode with the Tourette's Syndrome (asymptomatic) was brilliant. Not only the millennial craziness but also how they all 'supported' her. Truly funny.

And any show that includes the ex-boyfriend line "lemme give you some head" deserves a writing Emmy!

I noticed that, too R29!

Poor conception and lazy writing. How is a drag queen teaching hs boys an old hat drag routine supposed to answer a call for female realness?

And he's going to date that other teacher, right? I'm only 2 eps in. And he knows it's fireable. He's a mess.

I like the sassy kids. Adults suck on this show.

[Quote]Not the biggest fan of Firstman but I agree with [R37], Malcolm is good for Evan. But I also miss Harry because the actor is so dreamy!

I agree. Harry is very dreamy, but I think Malcolm is good for him.

Malcolm is annoying. I'm not saying he needs to pursue Harry, but ugh, Malcolm is such a handful. Shocking that they didn't work out. Shocking, I tell you.

During S2 of ABC's "Abbott Elementary" there were people tweeting at Quinta Brunson about how the show should address school shootings. She said they weren't going to explore that, so nice to see English Teacher at least address it. It stated both positions without taking a position and Brian Jordan Alvarez looks good holding a gun, so a win for all.

Evan letting it be known that he is a top was funny.

I enjoy the studenta. Sofia Coppola and Thomas Mars' of Phoenix daughter plays the vapid blonde. She's pretty good.

Is my fav Enrico Colantoni just taking up space or is he actually getting a good role?

Colantoni is great in this!

R47 a school shooting wouldn’t happen at Abbott Elementary. It’s an inner city school in Philly. Black chirren don’t do that. And older black teens going through things ain’t going to Call of Duty a local school to say fuck society.

They should bring back the insecure oversharing gay waiter every once and awhile. Fits the theme of fucked up people in Austin, such as Trixie's character.

I also thought the waiter was fantastic R51; and he should definitely be a regular. He was a riot.

Jimmy Fowlie, who played that waiter, also had an occasional guest appearance on The Other Two where he was even more hilarious.

All the times Fowlie was on "The Other Two" was great, but the standout was his appearance in season 3, episode 4. Hysterical.

I think the principal's (colantoni) role has been developed already.

The ep with the drag queen was SO unrealistic

I also really like Markie, the gym teacher.

Such an entertaining show, I find myself eagerly looking forward to a new episode each week. "Condoms?!"

Having said that, I'm really starting to miss Harry. I thought he was going to be a regular character.

In college in the 80s I took an interesting course called Greek and Latin Roots of English Words. Very informative and i actually retained quite a bit.

Episode 1-3 were the best. 4 and 5 were not as funny imo.

I like Sean Patton. I am a bear lover.

R60 that’s my gripe with the show. Where’s the comedy?

R61 I like him too. Just something about him.

I like it so far. Has Trixie Mattel lost a significant amount of weight?

Hilarious episode. Jenn Lyon's Linda was as magnificent as her witch character in Dead Boy Detectives (RIP), where she stole every scene she was in.

I listened to a podcast interview with BJA recently and he said the show was a lot "meatier" initially, but then they decided to just double down on the snappiness and make it as lean as possible. And it's worked out so well, there isn't a single second of dead space in it.

Totally agree, r65. This show gets better with each episode. Jenn Lyon was great. Funny, hateful and somehow sympathetic all at the same time.

Evan's facial expressions at the restaurant during Linda's seemingly endless narcissistic "Look at me!" performance cracked me up. He was like, "Are you gonna wrap up your little routine anytime today or...?"

I like the, but I wish the plot resolutions were a bit less simple. "OK, rewrite your Red Badge of Courage essays and try to do better" this week, and "I don't want to come to your parties, I just want to be invited" the week before. Try to do better! (That said, there are always some funny things along the way.)

^^ like the SHOW

[quote]"OK, rewrite your Red Badge of Courage essays and try to do better" this week

This episode was (stealthily) about more than just that, it was about the influence school boards and rich parents have on what gets taught in school.

The "I just want to be invited" was simple, but also very relatable. It's hard making new friends when you're an adult for most people, so every time you're excluded hurts.

My partner is like that, he generally doesn't want to go anywhere, but he's hurt if he's not invited.

I'm usually relieved to not be invited.

This show is funny. I don’t get why they use all the ‘80s and ‘90s music though. It takes place in the present, doesn’t it?

It’s Gay Abbott.

I admit I couldn't finish the first season of Abbott, even though I found it charming enough. Humour was too inoffensive for my (current) tastes and the glances to the camera (i.e. pauses for laughter) got too tiresome, even though I used to love that shit on Parks & Rec.

Having said that, I do think Rothwell's How to Die Alone, which just wrapped, was even funnier and even more meaningful.

How to Die Alone is absolutely great!

Stephanie Koenig is a Tina Fey clone.

[quote] I don’t get why they use all the ‘80s and ‘90s music though. It takes place in the present, doesn’t it?

Brian explains:

What I really wanted to do, and what I often have the craving to do, is make something classic. Something kind of timeless. That’s why there’s ’80s music, these iconic moments.

I just watched the first five or six episodes last night. I didn’t realize they were only 21 minutes long, so one ends and another begins—it makes for easy viewing.

The show has some funny moments and is overall enjoyable. The talent level, apart from the lead, isn’t quite up to par with what they have on *Abbott Elementary*, but this series has potential. My only issue is that I'm this far into the season, and the episodes still feel like pilot episodes. You know how new shows can be a bit clunky, with stilted acting and off writing? The way it’s shot feels pretty uninspired, too. I know, I know, it’s a TV show, but it lacks the polish of higher-budget productions.

That said, if it gains an audience, it might attract some better writers to elevate the show and connect the stories a bit more. Right now, it feels a bit scattered, with a different topic each week. *Abbott* does the same thing, but it flows better. This feels like a cartoon, with a new overblown issue for the gay teacher to fix—or make worse—before it gets better.

One last thing: I laughed and felt for the actors during the flag football practice scene. They were clearly outside in the dead of winter—sun shining, but you could see everyone’s breath. The actresses had to be in short shorts and short sleeves; you just know they were freezing! A show with a bigger budget would have hidden the condensation from every word the actors uttered.

I rewatched all the current episodes this weekend (about two hours) and I love this show. Hopefully we won’t have to wait a full year for more episodes.

There’s so many things that make me laugh and it’s an equal opportunity show - all of the character, kids and faculty - are funny and memorable.

And one moment that stays with me, from the camping episode, when they’re on their way home and Evan says, “Becca…! Go sit with Tiffany! She’s your friend!” And he and Gwen tell the girls, you’ll be glad you did this, etc. Obviously, the show has a lot of heart, it’s how we would want teachers to be. The after school book club meetings crack me up as well.

Plus, the use of Dan Hartman and Fine Young Cannibals. I still think it’s anachronistic but I love the music choices.

The only beef I have with the show is that now that BJA is doing this, I get far less Marnie. I love Marnie. I need Marnie. I need to sign up for her classes.

Bit of a disappointing episode this week.

I hope they show that coach naked.

I liked the episode.

I cracked up when the always sexy Ken Kirby said that for the after-party, they went to this total dive bar which was brand-new. So simple, but so hilarious.

Also, their faces when the principal was about to do his Arnie joke. But it worked!

The term "boyfy" (more than a booty call, less than a, well, boyfriend) made me laugh. And I see you, BJA, with your show creator privilege, showing yourself shirtless or working out or both in nearly every episode! (Not complaining, he's got a nice frame.)

I thought the final episode of the season, "Birthday" was the funniest, yet.

Same, it was awesome. They did a nice arc with Harry and explained away his absence by saying he was avoiding Evan since the kiss. Having said that, I really got the impression in the premiere he'd be a series regular and I feel a bit shortchanged in that regard. He'd be a nice addition because let's face it, we're dealing with an all-white cast here. It helps that he's also extremely fucking attractive.

Gwen is lowkey the best part of the show for me, she always puts something extra into her lines. Like her menacing "watch this shit" when her husband is about to turn the jets on at the end of the episode. He's her real-life husband, apparently.

Linda Harrison must come from from BJA's "Rich Southern Aunt" character on Instagram.

But one of my favorite BJA characters is Timothy, a small town gay who moved to West Hollywood. He met his 56 year old boyfriend at the Abby who immediately makes him the CEO of his business, and makes him put his name on all necessary paperwork, and take out loans in his name. Dan, his boyfriend, never tells him the type of business. But Timothy is just happy to be a Businessman doing business things, meeting people and carry briefcases across state and country lines. We still have yet to find out whatever happened to Timothy.

I disagree about this episode. Even though there were some funny moments, I thought it went off the rails. I also don't understand why his character ends up with his not very attractive obnoxious ex.

This show works better when it focuses on the classroom.

The adult characters are less interesting on their own.

I disagree, I find the kids kinda cringe, to be honest. Doesn't help that they're all kinda shitty actors with a painful delivery most of the time.

They sound like whores

Agreed that the show should stick more closely to the school. Which doesn't mean it has to focus on the students (who nearly all look like they're in their mid-20s). Abbott Elementary strikes a better balance -- the students are rarely the A plot and usually aren't given many lines (because they're young children -- and still better actors than this show's teens) -- so the teachers and staff carry more of the weight. And while you could not pay me enough money to be a teacher, either at the elementary or high school level, the Abbott teachers largely seem to enjoy their work, while the ET ones largely do not.