S01.E03: Wishlist

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

It’s Wishlist Week at Abbott: a chance for teachers to ask the local community for new school supplies. Janine takes to TikTok and with Ava’s assistance, her video is a success and goes viral. Feeling confident, Janine and Ava make a video for Barbara behind her back after she declines their help. Later, Janine encourages Gregory to decorate his classroom.

Airs January 11th.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Janelle James deserves an Emmy already.

[LydiaMoon1]

The minute Ava offered to make a video for Janelle and asked her "do you twerk?", I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Didn't realize it would drop on an unsuspecting Barbara though. I'm glad Barbara never actually saw the video of her being portrayed as old and downtrodden.  The Principal at Abbott Elementary knows no shame.

9 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Janelle James deserves an Emmy already.

She sure does. Her portrayal of Principal Coleman is comedy gold.

[Bookish Jen]

1 hour ago, LydiaMoon1 said:

The minute Ava offered to make a video for Janelle and asked her "do you twerk?", I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Didn't realize it would drop on an unsuspecting Barbara though. I'm glad Barbara never actually saw the video of her being portrayed as old and downtrodden.  The Principal at Abbott Elementary knows no shame.

She sure does. Her portrayal of Principal Coleman is comedy gold.

Principal Coleman would totally get on my last nerve if she was my boss, but I love Janelle James portrayal of her. It's perfection.

And I loved how Janine explained the drawings to Gregory. But a square sun? Aww, kids.

[possibilities]

Did the other teachers have videos, too? I kind of wanted to see what all of them came up with.

I realize the one woman has a supplier through her corporate connections. Not sure about the dude who was trying to re-purpose the printer.

I find Ava intolerable more than funny. I get why she's funny, but I'm too bitter to enjoy it.

[LydiaMoon1]

38 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I find Ava intolerable more than funny. I get why she's funny, but I'm too bitter to enjoy it.

Understandable. I would never want to deal with someone like her irl.

39 minutes ago, Bookish Jen said:

And I loved how Janine explained the drawings to Gregory.

Yeah. That was sweet.

[SHD]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

Not sure about the dude who was trying to re-purpose the printer.

I get the feeling that he's like the eco-warrior of the team and was trying to prove a point.

"What is this, an iPhone 9? It's like a Walkman."

[Crashcourse]

I love Janine's dedication and enthusiasm for her job, but her naivete is beginning to get on my nerves.  

I love Barbara.

[Bookish Jen]

7 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

I love Janine's dedication and enthusiasm for her job, but her naivete is beginning to get on my nerves.  

I love Barbara.

I think Barbara is my favorite character.

[possibilities]

4 hours ago, SHD said:

I get the feeling that he's like the eco-warrior of the team and was trying to prove a point.

"What is this, an iPhone 9? It's like a Walkman."

I agree. I mean I wasn't sure what he's doing about getting supplies. He seems to have the tech savvy to make a video, but we didn't see any evidence that he did it. BTW: Donor's Choose is an organization that lets teachers set up a wishlist so folks can donate for them to purchase supplies. 

1 hour ago, Bookish Jen said:

I think Barbara is my favorite character.

Add me to the Barbara fan club. 

I wonder what it is about Gregory that the kids like so much. He always seems so bored and kind of disconnected, like he doesn't want to be there. I'm sure he's competent, and calm. Maybe that's all it takes. The art on the walls was awesome. I was sure that was where that plot was headed,  but it was still gratifying to see it.

[SHD]

7 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I agree. I mean I wasn't sure what he's doing about getting supplies. He seems to have the tech savvy to make a video, but we didn't see any evidence that he did it.

Oh, I see what you meant. I didn't think he was a teacher - I thought he was the school's IT guy or something like that!

[LydiaMoon1]

I'm a big fan of Barbara as well, but, I gotta say, that custodian is up there near the top too. Loved the running joke about the donation being trash.

[UnoAgain]

"Girl... Tomatoes suck"

[QQQQ]

14 hours ago, possibilities said:

 

I wonder what it is about Gregory that the kids like so much. He always seems so bored and kind of disconnected, like he doesn't want to be there. I'm sure he's competent, and calm. Maybe that's all it takes.

Different expectations students have of male/female teachers, as an extension of traditional father/mother care-taking roles. This is a generalization of course, but the children may be working harder to win the approval of someone who doesn't dispense praise as often or as easily as the others. (My father was an elementary teacher for 40 years.)

[tennisgurl]

 Janelle James in an absolute gift. Principle Coleman would make me want to throttle her in the real world, but as a wacky sitcom villain, she's hilarious. Barbara is my favorite character though, I am really glad she never saw the video that made her look old and decrepit. I would really like to see more of the teachers in the classroom, I am really curious about their teaching styles. 

The janitor might be the runner up for favorite character though. I couldn't stop laughing at him calling all of the donations trash over and over. 

[JakeyJokes]

On 1/13/2022 at 5:30 AM, QQQQ said:

Different expectations students have of male/female teachers, as an extension of traditional father/mother care-taking roles. This is a generalization of course, but the children may be working harder to win the approval of someone who doesn't dispense praise as often or as easily as the others. (My father was an elementary teacher for 40 years.)

Oh, this is such an interesting point! I never had a male teacher until third grade — he looked like Tom Skerritt and his humor was dry as a bone and he once had me rewrite an assignment because I was “going on a tangent”. In third grade! And he was absolutely brilliant and I am now In my thirties. He probably would have hated Janine and Jacob and been good friends with Barbara as long as she kept the Jesus talk to a minimum.

[Nilo]

“I have shapes to grade,” or whatever Barbara said made me laugh so hard.

I always feel so ungrateful saying this, but no, I don’t usually want someone’s old coloring books after their children have used them.  As a teacher, yes, I often find myself using my own personal funds to buy things for my students and classroom.  But I am fairly picky when it comes to hand-me-down items.  Also, the district gets pretty upset if a kid gets hurt on a non-approved piece of furniture.

[Darian]

I adore this show and it's one I watch without glancing at my phone or laptop. I don't want to miss a look at the camera or touches like Janine turning the "hello" sign on Ava's desk to face to guest and Ava turning it back to face herself. It's just packed with humor and wit. (I have a lot of teacher friends so have donated books to classroom libraries and sent wishlist items and it still makes me mad they're a thing, especially because of how and why and where they are). 

[Ailianna]

I really loved Barbara's speech about teaching her kids that they were just as good without all the material supplies, because that was something to carry with them. She embodies the sort of person who could teach in a poor district for so long without truly becoming cynical or burnt out. She respects her kids and herself and what each has to offer.

[topanga]

On 1/13/2022 at 6:30 AM, QQQQ said:

Different expectations students have of male/female teachers, as an extension of traditional father/mother care-taking roles. This is a generalization of course, but the children may be working harder to win the approval of someone who doesn't dispense praise as often or as easily as the others. (My father was an elementary teacher for 40 years.)

And Gregory (is that his first name or his last name?) does seem like a calm presence in the classroom, which the kids must appreciate. His kids aren’t loud or disruptive, and he does actually teach them rather than show Pixar movies all day—even though he’d rather be doing that. I think he’s a little more engaged one-on-one.  Like when the little girl showed him the picture she drew of him him hitting a home run. I don’t know why he thought it was him running the bases—he still had a friggin bat in his hand. 

I loved all of the drawings of him wearing a Du-rag. 

[Moose135]

On 1/12/2022 at 9:43 AM, Bookish Jen said:

And I loved how Janine explained the drawings to Gregory.

"How is that Santa Claus?"

"The big belly, the white beard, the presents, the red suit..."

We're really loving this show. We didn't watch when it started, but caught up on it over the weekend. We don't watch a lot of new stuff, but this is certainly on our list now.

[love2lovebadtv]

On 1/12/2022 at 7:31 PM, LydiaMoon1 said:

I'm a big fan of Barbara as well, but, I gotta say, that custodian is up there near the top too. Loved the running joke about the donation being trash.

He just kept popping up: "Trash?" So hilarious!

On 1/18/2022 at 10:19 AM, Darian said:

I adore this show and it's one I watch without glancing at my phone or laptop. I don't want to miss a look at the camera or touches like Janine turning the "hello" sign on Ava's desk to face to guest and Ava turning it back to face herself. It's just packed with humor and wit. (I have a lot of teacher friends so have donated books to classroom libraries and sent wishlist items and it still makes me mad they're a thing, especially because of how and why and where they are). 

I loved this episode for a lot of reasons - one of them is that it maybe raises awareness about what some schools have to deal with just to teach!

On 1/20/2022 at 7:21 PM, Ailianna said:

I really loved Barbara's speech about teaching her kids that they were just as good without all the material supplies, because that was something to carry with them. She embodies the sort of person who could teach in a poor district for so long without truly becoming cynical or burnt out. She respects her kids and herself and what each has to offer.

That speech made me tear up a little bit. I agree that's how she's done that job for so long!

[kathyk24]

I liked this episode. Ava's obsession with social media was put to good use. I disagreed with Barbara her students might not need new supplies but that doesn't mean they shouldn't have them. The donations mean that Barbara won't have to pay for supplies out of her own pocket. The woman who donated the printer annoyed me. How did she think the teachers would use the printer without a cord? I'll bet the printer didn't have any ink either. It was nice to see the friendship start between Gregory and Janine.  

[Black Knight]

On 1/12/2022 at 3:59 PM, possibilities said:

He seems to have the tech savvy to make a video, but we didn't see any evidence that he did it.

They addressed that obliquely when Janine was asking his input on the video she'd made. She said something about knowing he has ethical issues with everything (loved her delivery of that bit) but to please just look at her video. So I think we can take away from that that he didn't make a video because social media is teh evil and perhaps he didn't make a wish list at all - maybe he has issues with new stuff (given his storyline with trying to use the printer) or he thinks it's wrong to ask people for things that the school district/city should be providing and if there is this other avenue then they will never step up.

[Annber03]

Awwwwwwwwwww, the ending with the drawings on Gregory's walls :). That was so cute and sweet. I too loved Janine explaining what the drawings were supposed to represent. I loved Gregory guessing the one drawing was of Don Cheadle XD. 

I loved Janine starting to remove her earrings when the camera crew and whatnot arrived. It really speaks to how ridiculous our priorities are as a society that schools have to ask for the basics like this, but I like how this show explored that issue, from all perspectives. I agree, too, that Ava would be a lot to deal with in real life, but on this show, I get a kick out of how gleeful she is at stirring up chaos :p.