English Teacher Review: FX's Exceptionally Sharp School Comedy Earns High Marks For Brutal Honesty
High school has been a reliable TV sitcom setting since the days of Welcome Back, Kotter, but the situation in American schools is so fraught these days, it's not exactly a laugh riot. FX's English Teacher, though — premiering Monday, Sept. 2 at 10/9c; I've seen the first three episodes — bravely wades into those choppy waters and finds plenty of laughs there by taking a refreshingly frank look at our current educational system. It's one of the funniest new shows of the year, and it's a triumph for star and series creator Brian Jordan Alvarez, who announces himself here as a major talent.
Alvarez plays Evan, who works at a high school in Austin, Texas where the teachers are tired, the students are uninspired and the principal (Enrico Colantoni) is completely checked out. As a public school teacher, Evan has to tiptoe around a politically correct minefield, with what's considered offensive changing by the day. (When students complain about the tradition of powderpuff football, where the players dress up as cheerleaders, Evan brings in a drag queen named Shazam to show the boys how to "werk.") His students can be annoying, yes, but they're thoughtful and generous, too, and English Teacher resists the urge to turn them into whiny caricatures.
As Evan, Alvarez — who you may remember from the Will & Grace revival and Jane the Virgin — is the perfect mix of sarcastic and sincere. Evan still clings to his ideals as a teacher ("I need a job that means something to me... which I hate"), and his identity as a gay man is front and center here, even when he doesn't want it to be. (He's asked to explain the concept of being non-binary to students, even though he protests, "I'm binary!") The cast is loaded with excellent supporting turns, too, including Stephanie Koenig as Evan's teacher pal Gwen, Jordan Firstman as his wild-child ex Malcolm and Sean Patton as gruff gym teacher Markie, who manages to find common ground with Evan despite their completely opposite worldviews.
The style of comedy here is low-key deadpan, which allows for lots of boundary-pushing one-liners, and the retro '80s soundtrack lends the show a surprisingly romantic vibe. (The arrival of a cute new teacher, played by Langston Kerman, only serves to complicate things even further for Evan.) This may be Alvarez's debut as series star and creator, but he's guided by the steady hand of comedy veterans Paul Simms — who's worked on everything from Larry Sanders and NewsRadio to Atlanta and What We Do in the Shadows — and Portlandia alum Jonathan Krisel. Together, they find a nice, offbeat rhythm for Evan's story: Just when you think it's getting too cynical or too starry-eyed, it hits you with unexpected twists to keep you on your toes.
Actually, English Teacher serves as an interesting counterpoint to the comparatively sunny Abbott Elementary, where the teachers are still mostly enthusiastic about their jobs. This show's take is definitely unsentimental, by comparison, but there are still a few glimmers of hope lurking around the edges. English Teacher makes its mark by not shying away from the very real challenges that teachers face these days. But it doesn't skimp on laughs, either — and for that, it gets extra credit.
THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: FX's sharp, savage English Teacher takes a refreshingly unsentimental look at public schools — and is one of the year's funniest new shows.