A.P. Bio - General Discussion

[Aethera]

This topic replaces the old A.P. Bio forum which has been vaulted at the location below:

http://forums.previously.tv/forum/3256-ap-bio-v/

[Fostersmom]

I could have sworn this was cancelled, so I'm oddly happy to see it will be back.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E1: Happiness

Quote

With no archrival to combat, Jack sets his sights on a new mission: write the most brilliant philosophy book ever and get out of Toledo for good. Stef and Mary forget a special day for Michele. Helen forgets to order routine maintenance for the copier causing mass hysteria at Whitlock.

Original air date: 3/7/19

[Aileen]

This wasn’t great. It’s also odd that we’re ignoring two students missing from the class.

[Suzysite]

I forgot how much I hate the 3 women teachers.   I'm so over their nonsense.   A Bangs birthday party?   Ugh.

[MakeMeLaugh]

Love the school secretary soooo much. More her please, less three women teachers.

[JasmineFlower]

The school secretary is hilarious and I saw the amount of screen time in this first episode as a sign that she'll be used way more this season.

I definitely find a party to celebrate bangs extremely ridiculous, but it absolutely fit in with Jack's new philosophical study so very perfect in that way just like the mayonnaise. Because the amount of joy those two teachers were getting out of the haircut, remembering it, and celebrating it was just WOW. I mean they bought a cake to mark the occasion.

[Snapdragon]

13 hours ago, Aileen said:

This wasn’t great. It’s also odd that we’re ignoring two students missing from the class.

Three.  The overweight red headed kid (who I believe had a hot single mom?), the blonde white kid who was being bullied at the beginning on the first season and the black kid who was bullying him (who had a thing with the girl with the coke bottle glasses).  I tried to find out what happened to them but my internet research turned up nada.  Not sure if they left for other acting opportunities (I know the one has a reoccurring role on All American) or if there were budget cuts and they decided to ax a few of the kids.  Personally, if it's the latter, I would have preferred the three lady teachers being cut instead.  

[wknt3]

Have to agree that this was an underwhelming return. Not good for a show that is borderline and needs to live up to the potential that it showed last season. About the only thing that gives me hope is that it seems like that they might be transitioning to Jack and the kids as the A plot, Patton Oswalt and the secretary as the B plot, and the other teachers as the C plot (and I honestly hope that they get rid of them entirely) recognizing where the strengths are. But they still need to execute better - the writing was not as sharp as it was last season.

[Phishbulb]

On 3/8/2019 at 9:21 AM, MakeMeLaugh said:

Love the school secretary soooo much. More her please, less three women teachers.

I realize this is a petty thing, but I was following this show from the pilot stage when it was announced that Vanessa Bayer was going to be on the show. She was going to play the role that Jean Villepique ended up playing.  It's semi-annoying to me every time I watch the show now that she plays it so much the way that Bayer probably would have played the role- she's the typical mousy sad-sack that Bayer played so often in sketches on SNL. 

Despite the three teachers not being great, I do find other parts of the show funny, especially Jack and the kids and Paula Pell. Pell wandering around with a canoe on her head was so goofy but hilarious. There's a surreal element to some of the jokes sometimes that I like (like the kindergarten teacher with the puppet). 

[SmithW6079]

Glad to see Jack back with the kids, but yes, there I also wonder why some kids are missing. Is it because there was too long a gap in between seasons, so those actors moved on? 

I despise any scene with the lady teachers. It's like they're in a different show entirely, and their show sucks. I thought at the end it would turn out that they were fooling around with the third teacher, and they really had planned her birthday party, but no, it really was about hair. God, they are awful. At least the principal and the secretary have some interaction with Jack.

[Aileen]

On 3/8/2019 at 1:23 PM, Snapdragon said:

Three.  The overweight red headed kid (who I believe had a hot single mom?), the blonde white kid who was being bullied at the beginning on the first season and the black kid who was bullying him (who had a thing with the girl with the coke bottle glasses).  I tried to find out what happened to them but my internet research turned up nada.  Not sure if they left for other acting opportunities (I know the one has a reoccurring role on All American) or if there were budget cuts and they decided to ax a few of the kids.  Personally, if it's the latter, I would have preferred the three lady teachers being cut instead.  

Totally forgot the red-haired guy! This is the second semester of the same school year, right?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E2: Nuns

Quote

Jack is offended when he discovers a local church received a sizable bequest from his dead mother and used it to by a Virgin Mary statue. In an attempt to get revenge, he ropes his students into helping him steal the statue. Meanwhile, Mary, Stef and Principal Durbin attempt to give the right advice to Michelle who is having marital issues at home, but she ends up getting comfort from an unexpected source.

Original air date: 3/14/19

[rhys]

As someone who went to parochial school, I share Jack's belief in nuns' magic.

[Aileen]

Loved tonight’s episode. Plus, one of the “missing students” was back!

[ichbin]

2 hours ago, rhys said:

As someone who went to parochial school, I share Jack's belief in nuns' magic.

I'm a survivor of K-12 parochial schooling.  They've got something all right, but if its magic, based on some of the nuns I have known I'm not sure it's necessarily of the white variety.

I thought this was one of the best episodes of the entire series.  I don't need a comedy to touch the heartstrings, be meaningful, or teach a lesson. I just want to laugh, and this delivered.

[mammaM]

8 hours ago, ichbin said:

I'm a survivor of K-12 parochial schooling.  They've got something all right, but if its magic, based on some of the nuns I have known I'm not sure it's necessarily of the white variety.

I thought this was one of the best episodes of the entire series.  I don't need a comedy to touch the heartstrings, be meaningful, or teach a lesson. I just want to laugh, and this delivered.

Yes! Thank you! I just wanted to turn off the world and laugh for a bit and like you said, this delivered.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Watching Victor try to parallel park the wrong way, all the while extolling how this practice would make him a great driver, made me laugh a lot more than it probably should have.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Jack is very thin.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E3: Wednesday Morning, 8AM

Quote

In the hectic thirty minutes that start every day at Whitlock, Jack tries to retrieve his massage chair from Whitlock's intriguing payroll accountant, Lynette. Durbin and Helen prepare for the morning announcements, Michelle gives a eulogy, and Mary and Stef fix an art emergency.

Original air date: 3/21/19

[ae2]

Students were frequently "missing" from class in the first season as well. They introduced a somewhat large supporting cast but they don't always have stories for them, so we simply don't see them. (Cheaper, I'm sure.) There are also students there each week that don't get any lines. I thought the joke about the girl that Jack thought was new to the class was a little bit of a meta commentary on this.

This show has sadly not fixed any of its problems from season 1. (However, the secretary blithely telling the principal that she likes women could easily be an intentional jab at anyone criticizing the show's lack of diversity.) It's still a good, cheap half hour filled with a few big laughs, which is fine by me. But it doesn't give me much hope for its continuation. 

Although I too thought that Nuns was its best episode yet.

The three women teachers are still entirely separated from the main characters and do nothing but detract from the show. It's like when background characters from the Office got their own distinct plots in certain episodes, except that we didn't get the chance to love the characters first, and they get major screen time in every episode which massively overplays the amusing side character and makes you hate them.

Why are they still spending time on them instead of on the much more likable students?

[meatball77]

This episode was fun.  I hope the writers have realized that the cast works better as an ensemble and not broken out into different groups.  The Hamster costs $4.00 now!!

[MakeMeLaugh]

Mr MML and I were laughing so much at this episode I thought we were going to puke. So much funnier than the “Schooled” series in every way. The hamster, and the exercise ball, and the snitch notebook. So good. 

[Ikki]

I don't know if my standards have gone down or if this show has actually gotten good, but I just watched the three episodes of the new season and I liked all of them. The show still has it's weak areas and plotholes  that WILL drive me nuts if I think too much about them, but I don't mind that nearly as much when so much of an episode seems funny.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E4: Toledo's Top 100

Quote

Jack is aghast to learn he didn't make the top 10 in Toledo's Top 100 Bachelors, and Durbin did; Victor and Eduardo decide it's time to reveal their feelings to their crushes.

Original air date: 3/28/19

[Snapdragon]

I laughed so hard at the scene with the two students making out with each others' hands.  It was so funny, yet uncomfortable.  

[Phishbulb]

Yeah, they did a better job of integrating the teacher's stories with the student's stories in this episode.

"He's gonna insist you give him an A!"

"More like this A, am I right?"

"Yeah, more like this ass!" (Awkward pause; Mary glares at Michelle)

I do like how Michelle is kind of the "Meg" of the group that they all hang out with even though no one really likes her much.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

That bag was not oxblood, which is a dark purpley red. It looked just black to me.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Patton Oswalt discusses S2 of AP Bio

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E5: J'ACCUSE

Quote

Jack uses Michelle's annual murder mystery party to impress Lynette. Meanwhile, in a moment of desperation, the students break into Whitlock High to steal the A.P. Bio practice exams.

Original air date: 4/4/19

[Aileen]

On 3/30/2019 at 10:47 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

That bag was not oxblood, which is a dark purpley red. It looked just black to me.

It was definitely not black on my tv.

[ae2]

The show just keeps getting better!

The murder mystery was the best episode yet, by far.

They finally struck the perfect balance with keeping the principle, secretary, and other teachers (and Dave, offense taken!) as side characters in an intertwined plot, while also giving the students much more independent room.

What does Michelle's husband do for a living? That house was surely not affordable on a teacher's salary!

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, ae2 said:

What does Michelle's husband do for a living? That house was surely not affordable on a teacher's salary!

It is Toledo, maybe they inherited it same a Jack.

[macrone]

10 hours ago, ae2 said:

The murder mystery was the best episode yet, by far.

Have to agree. I'm declaring A.P. Bio the Most Improved Show of 2018–2019. Too bad this will almost certainly be the last season.

[chitowngirl]

I would love it if on the last episode, whenever that may be, the kids take the AP Bio test and pass because Jack had been teaching it all along.

And realistically, how long can they keep it the same school year (or semester)?

Edited April 6, 2019 by chitowngirl

[Giuseppe]

I always thought it was so weird that the kids were always just sitting silently at their desks whenever Jack walks in the classroom, so it amused me when he came in this time and remarked how happy he was to see them behaving like teens playing the paper football game.

Sereka (sp?) is the weak link of the kids cast, IMO. Her acting and line delivery don't land right for me.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 hour ago, Giuseppe said:

Sereka (sp?)

It’s Sarika. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E6: Melvin

Quote

Jack's war with his neighbor reaches a turning point when it threatens to ruin a date with Lynette. And when the school photographer ups his rate, Durbin takes school pictures into his own hands.

Original air date: 4/11/19

[Joimiaroxeu]

I'm guessing Jack is too Ivy League School educated to know what "hunty" means? I couldn't believe he let his student call him that.

[AnimeMania]

This is the first episode that I thought was pretty funny. That is not good news for all the child actors because they were hardly in it. Break away star, mop dog, lights up a room in every scene he is in. It was strange that the teacher that was so upset that someone saw her bare shoulder would be so ready to go "starkers" when someone points a camera at her. This is probably the first episode that they gave equal time to all the characters and let them show their comedic chops.

[Phishbulb]

I'm really going to miss this show when it (inevitably) gets cancelled. It's really gotten very strange and a lot funnier in its second season. All of the characters are just bizarre in their own way, even new characters like Jack's love interest. The humor is just very different from other network sitcoms- I credit that to Mike O'Brien. It's almost a comedown watching a "normal" show like Brooklyn Nine-Nine or (especially) Abby's after this. 

[Fostersmom]

Someone on the writing staff threw in a nice actual Toledo reference, but then messed up a Cleveland one. I went to college in Bowling Green, right near Toledo, and have actually been to The Spaghetti Warehouse there a few times. But I'm also from the Cleveland area and it's the Cleveland Orchestra, not  the Cleveland Symphony. You would have thought they could have gotten that one right since the Orchestra is considered one of the best in the world. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E7: Personal Everest

Quote

Jack is outraged when his old high school bully is hired as a motivational speaker at Whitlock. Meanwhile, Mary, Stef, and Michelle set their own personal goals of female empowerment, unintentionally causing a rift between Helen and Durbin.

Original air date: 4/18/19

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 4/12/2019 at 2:58 PM, Phishbulb said:

I'm really going to miss this show when it (inevitably) gets cancelled. It's really gotten very strange and a lot funnier in its second season

I feel as though I miss the urgency of the first season plots to take down Miles. The various bits are funny but they lack an overarching coherence.

What is Lynette's office mate doing? At first I thought she was just on a personal call but it looks like she is broadcasting to an audience that is commenting on her stories? Is that an Instagram thing? Should I assume it is somehow monetized?

I was taken aback by how different Lynette seemed to me in the mop dog episode. At first I thought it was finding out that she wants to stay in Toledo, but now I think maybe it was just her straightened hair.

[meatball77]

31 minutes ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

What is Lynette's office mate doing? At first I thought she was just on a personal call but it looks like she is broadcasting to an audience that is commenting on her stories? Is that an Instagram thing? Should I assume it is somehow monetized?

1

She's on facebook live and she's got tons of people watching all her rants.

[Cherry Cola]

This show is just too fun. I love it.  Quirky and weird. And isn't Glenn Howerton just nice to look at?! 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E8: Sweet Low Road

Quote

When budget cuts threaten to gut Whitlock and put his job in jeopardy, Jack recruits Mary, Stef, and Michelle to take down the superintendent. Durbin plans an appeal to the heart, while the students plan an appeal to the soul.

Original air date: 4/25/19

[OpalNightstream]

Lynette has bad posture and it bugs me whenever the one girl calls jack “boss”. It just reminds me of the minions calling Gru “boss” and is just weird. 

[Aileen]

I think tonight’s episode was the hardest I’ve laughed yet at this show.

”Happy birthday!”

[SHD]

I feel like almost no one is watching this show. It's not spectacular but it's quirky and different for a network show. I always get some laughs out of it. I hope Pizza Slap isn't a real game.