S01.E01: Catfish

[Princess Sparkle]

Quote

Jack Griffin loses out on his dream job and becomes a high school teacher of Advanced Placement biology in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio. 

[bilgistic]

Oof. This was rough. I watched it because I am a Patton Oswalt fan and he's been hyping it up on Twitter for weeks. Nothing was remotely funny. I'll give it another episode because I know pilots can be dicey, but I'm not feeling good about it.

Glenn Howerton always kind of creeps me out, and his character here didn't help that. I'm not a fan of his on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

This just isn't doing anything new or different. There's a whole genre of shows (and YouTube personalities) based on "white dudes getting away with acting shitty".

[Galileo908]

I feel like Dennis Reynolds would hate Jack because he has empathy and is growing into a more well-rounded character. This guy actually realizes that he's a bad influence on people, but also doesn't put up with many people, either.

51 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

There's a whole genre of shows (and YouTube personalities) based on "white dudes getting away with acting shitty".

Yeah, and while Jack got arrested for public urination and resisting arrest (as did that kid), it's pretty much swept under the rug and will most likely be forgotten about by the next episode.

And that's exactly what it felt like. Dennis Reynolds plopped into a network comedy, and is NOT around other jackass sociopaths. I found this show funny, maybe it's because I do like Glenn Howerton and his performance as Dennis on It's Always Sunny.

[Caseysgirl]

I'll give it another chance but it wasn't an auspicious beginning. I kind of hate angry, privileged white men who are their own worst enemies, but I like Patton Oswalt so I'll see if the second episode is any better.

[Phishbulb]

For some reason I laughed a lot at the kids trying to put together a rap for him, and the one kid in the closet with a saxophone (and a smoke machine?) "You were going to have a sax solo as part of your rap?" And then telling the kid, "why don't you just throw that bad boy in the trash" and dumping the saxophone in the garbage.

That kind of absurdism reminded me of some of the films Mike O'Brien did for Saturday Night Live; I would like to see more of that as the show goes forward. O'Brien was also a writer for the last season of "Man Seeking Woman"; I feel like he's probably able to juggle silly elements like that with the normal storylines of a sitcom.

[nichelle]

I guess I'm the oddball as I laughed out loud at this show.

[Peace 47]

I was curious to check this out because I like It’s Always Sunny well enough and think it’s very funny (although I’ve only seen a small percentage of it), and I like Patton a lot, but yikes.

I completely do not buy the premise of this show:  that a school would be so enamored with having a Harvard professor on staff that they would overlook the negligent, and in some cases criminal, actions of a non-tenured, brand new teacher.  But that said, it’s possible for me to suspend disbelief if a show is funny enough.  However, 

12 hours ago, Caseysgirl said:

I kind of hate angry, privileged white men who are their own worst enemies,

This times 1000. Seeing some entitled asshole petulantly stomping around for the half hour block is not compelling.  It was “nice” that he owned up to his fault at the end, but he went right back to torturing bright, nice high school students.  The only part that I remotely liked was the union rep’s defense of the teacher by going after Patton.

I haven’t really sampled many new, out-of-the-gate shows in the last couple of years (I’ve become a binger of critically praised shows after they’ve been in awhile), and this show makes me a little bit sorry that I did.  Ugh.

[FnkyChkn34]

2 hours ago, nichelle said:

I guess I'm the oddball as I laughed out loud at this show.

I guess I am too, because I did as well.

I didn't see this show as "privileged white guy gets away with acting shitty" because he isn't actually getting away with anything yet.  He got fired from his dream tenure job, he lives in his mom's creepy house, he has a new job he hates, he didn't woo back his ex-girlfriend, he got arrested, etc.  He even had to buy his own new chair.  

And since I don't watch that much Netflix, and definitely don't watch YouTube as a source for television shows, I found this to be rather different.  I also have no idea who the main actor is because I can't stand It's Always Sunny.  (Now that show is stupid, IMO.)

So yeah, I thought this was good.  I'll be watching it again.

[Hero]

I really liked this episode. Jack has some Dennis Reynolds in him. Like how he gets obsessed with getting back at someone. 

[themadman]

That was miserable, I'm afraid. 

[Lovecat]

4 hours ago, nichelle said:

I guess I'm the oddball as I laughed out loud at this show.

My LOL moment was when the gym teacher/coach barked "You, with the glasses.  Read!" and 3/4 of the kids in the class started reading out loud.  That was hysterical.  But for most of the show I kind of stared at the teehee with a slightly perplexed look on my face, trying to figure out if it was funny or not.  I'll give it at least another episode when it officially premiers.

[Hero]

The NBC app on my Roku has episodes 2 and 3 on, I think they're even funnier than the 1st episode. 

[Suzysite]

18 hours ago, nichelle said:

I guess I'm the oddball as I laughed out loud at this show.

I laughed, too, and I had zero hopes for this show.  I can't stand It's Always Sunny, so anything is better than that.  The only thing I didn't like were the 3 female teachers.   If sass and man-bashing is all they've got, it's going to get old fast.

The coda scene of "Linda" sending the message to the rival professor was funny.  I'll look up the next 2 episodes on the NBC app.

[rejnel]

I don’t doubt that there’s a tradition of “white dudes behaving badly” entertainment, but I’m not familiar. I do see a trend of “Bad X” comedies the last few years—give a responsible job to a loser or borderline sociopath and watch the laughs roll in—Bad Judge, Bad Teacher, The Mindy Project. When done well (the original School of Rock), they can be great. But they mostly just come across as lazy. I guess it’s harder to write well-meaning characters doing their best (Parks & Rec, Brooklyn 99), but so much more rewarding to watch.

There’s plenty of talent here, and I’ll give it a few more episodes (I almost always do).

[Giuseppe]

Yeah, I couldn't tell if I kind of liked it, or if my odd crush on Glenn Howerton colored my perception. Parts were funny, parts were not. What was funny wasn't all THAT funny, but I could see the potential if the writing is tightened up.

One thing I really didn't like was the "let's everyone begin to shut up. Let's everyone begin to take your seats" lines that seem like will be a recurring thing whenever he enters the classroom. Just sounds so clunky and not terribly funny.

I'll keep watching for a bit. I hope they change up his wardrobe, though. The sweats with the cardigan is not flattering.

[Oscirus]

It seems like Glen's going to have to work pretty hard to carry this show as he's not being given much help at all. Fun timewaster. Extra points to this show for giving us a female poindexter. If you're going to copy a nerd, copy the best one.

[Ikki]

I watched this show while also doing other things, and I thought it was okay. Then afterward, I started thinking about it, and it's just really not a premise that's meant to be thought about. I'm a teacher, so there are (often major) details that raise a lot of questions for me. Like, I'm stopping myself from going off on a rant right now.

Obviously with TV, there's going to be some suspension of disbelief needed. But while I find the show somewhat entertaining in parts, I don't know if it's entertaining enough to warrant the extent I'm telling myself not to think about things.

[plurie]

I love Patton Oswalt, but this show is TERRIBLE! There's no way the parents of the students in his class would let the school get away with this. They're taking A.P. Bio to get college credit, which they won't get if they don't do well on the A.P. exam. They would demand a teacher who can TEACH them the subject matter, not a former Harvard philosophy professor who was denied tenure.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I can't get over the amazing turquoise palette that suffuses this show.

[Sunshinegal]

On 2/5/2018 at 9:56 AM, Winston9-DT3 said:

The part that bugs me is that he says he's only teaching that ONE 50-minute class.  I understand this is a unique situation but I don't think teaching high school ever really works like that.  

Yes, though at least they made the students care.  But parents pay like $90 for each AP exam and if the student doesn't get like a 4 or 5 out of 5, they usually get no college credit for it, so it's wasted money.  But then again my high school AP student has had mediocre teachers and there's not much I can do about it.  In this case at least the school has the Harvard justification.  

I can't see any parents letting this school get away with this.  First of all they would want a science teacher and a philosophy teacher from Harvard won't cut it.  Also students taking AP classes are usually high achievers who want to go to college.

I took AP classes when I was in high school.  I was nervous about the test at the end of the year for each test I took.  Also, AP Bio involves labwork.  If the teacher doesn't know how to do labwork, that just screws with the preparation for the exam.  This premise just seemed flawed because I know parents would be involved.  A school takes pride in the AP scores.  It can distinguish a school and bring good students to a school.  Test scores are a part of life for schools.  It can determine funding they receive on a federal and state level.

It fucks around with students education.  I will be very angry if this guy was my professor.  I would already be anxious about the test.  My parents will ask me about my class and what I learned in my class.  The principal will definitely get flack.  From the parents, students and school board.  It is totally irresponsible.  I can't see how he can keep his job. 

I don't know how much AP exams are now, but in 2000 it was around $86.  i'm sure prices have gone up in 17 years.  I know that I'm being nitpicky, but education is very important, especially to parents and students.  Its been an important part of presidential campaigns.  Test scores in general have put stress on students, teachers, parents and school officials.

Also if the guy is teaching that one class, then they could just use another biology teacher already at the school.  It's that easy.  Schools are usually strapped for cash, they would rather reassign one teacher instead of going through the trouble to hire another teacher unless that teacher is more qualified in the subject.

[Sunshinegal]

Just now, Winston9-DT3 said:

I actually have to write a check for two AP exams for my daughter tonight and it's only gone up to $94/each, surprisingly.  

Didn't know that.  That's good that the price of the test didn't go up that much in 17 years.  Good luck for your daughter.  Hope she does well.  I know how stressful it is, especially the essay portion. 

[Sunshinegal]

Just now, Winston9-DT3 said:

Thanks!  She doesn't take them til May and probably won't be that stressed, given Senioritis and all.  She was stressed last spring about her first one, though.  

I know.  I was stressed out with my first one too.  It does get easier.  It didn't help that my AP US History teacher told every parent during Open House that their child wasn't ready for the test (didn't matter who the student was, she just said it to every parent).  My mom came down on me hard.  That increased my stress.  I scored a 5 on that one.  She also said the same thing to my mother about my sister two years later, who my mom knew was working hard and stressing about the exam.  The year after that, my AP Euro teacher didn't have anything to say except that he knew that I would do well.  Having the right teacher matters.

I also think the premise of this show doesn't work.  My parents would ask details during Back to School Night. 

[ae2]

This pilot was interesting to me in how different it was. Most pilots end up being slow, or not as funny as you're hoping for, because they spend more time introducing the characters or the setup of the show than they do on any actual plot.

This show threw that out the window and gave us something like 4-5 different stories during the pilot.

Jack went on a date with his high school girlfriend.

The one student followed his bad behavior.

Meshing with the other teachers in their lounge.

The bully situation was dealt with.

They catfished his nemesis.

Each of those could well have been their own episode later in the season, but the show just threw them in here and never slowed down.

I've laughed through all 3 episodes. It's my kind of absurdity.

[BooBear]

On 2/26/2018 at 11:30 AM, ae2 said:

This pilot was interesting to me in how different it was. Most pilots end up being slow, or not as funny as you're hoping for, because they spend more time introducing the characters or the setup of the show than they do on any actual plot.

I really laughed at this. My favorite was everyone trying to take notes when he would talk and he would tell them not too.  Though the show just dies without Glenn Howerton.

[toolazy]

On 2/5/2018 at 11:51 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I can't get over the amazing turquoise palette that suffuses this show.

OMG! Thank  you!! We watched a few episodes of this last night and I was constantly distracted by the blue everywhere!  

 

Edit: Because reading is fundamental I see now that you actually like it.  Which I did at first but it rapidly became way too much.  Besides, I don't understand it - the school colors are apparently purple and gold so what's with the blue? 

Edited March 31, 2018 by toolazy

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 3/31/2018 at 3:15 PM, toolazy said:

OMG! Thank  you!! We watched a few episodes of this last night and I was constantly distracted by the blue everywhere!  

 

Edit: Because reading is fundamental I see now that you actually like it.  Which I did at first but it rapidly became way too much.  Besides, I don't understand it - the school colors are apparently purple and gold so what's with the blue? 

I don't know why the set designers chose that color, but it's so unusual for a tv show to have such a distinctive palette that I really enjoy it.

[Rahul]

If you haven't watched the subsequent episodes yet, watch in this order:

1. Pilot
2. Burning Miles
3. Overachieving Virgins
4. Teacher Jail

NBC aired the episodes out of order but luckily I stockpiled a few episodes on my DVR and watched in the order they were intended to air, as discerned by AV Club.

[Cherry Cola]

This show is hilarious and kind of absurd and out there like Trial and Error.  I am glad I checked it out!