FX is hitting the books with their new high school-set workplace comedy English Teacher, which serves up plenty of laughs as the titular educator, Evan Marquez (series creator, writer, director, and executive producer Brian Jordan Alvarez) attempts to guide his students and navigate the ups and downs of molding young minds.
Along for the ride are a quirky collection of faculty members including Evan’s best friend and history teacher Gwen Sanders (Stephanie Koenig), PE teacher Markie Hillridge (Sean Patton), guidance counselor Rick (Carmen Christopher), and Principal Grant Moretti (Enrico Colantoni). TV Insider caught up with the crew alongside fellow executive producers Paul Simms and Dave King to discuss what viewers can anticipate from the series’ freshman year.
At the core is Evan and Gwen’s friendship, which is reflective of Alvarez and Koenig’s own real-life bond. “It’s just a tried and true best friendship and it’s nice to see that on camera,” Alvarez says of Eva and Gwen’s onscreen bond. “I get so much comfort and joy from our friendship in real life,” he adds.
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Their friendship behind the scenes means Alvarez and Koenig “have a leg up on genuinely communicating that on screen,” he says.
“Friendship is so important because… if you had a really bad day, similar to what you see with Evan [and Gwen in the show], you have that friend that’s like, ‘Well, I don’t really care what you did or if you made any bad decisions. I’m still here. I love you,’” Koenig points out.
“And you see Gwen and Evan doing that, sort of talking through problems, trying to figure things out,” Alvarez teases. Among some of the challenges they’ll face are complaining parents, the ever-shifting attitude of high school students, and plenty of red tape.
“It lets you see the political spectrum, it lets you see the emotional spectrum. It lets you see people who wouldn’t necessarily normally get along, get along,” Alvarez adds, noting, “I love when the show plays in that gray area.”
One character that will draw attention to that gray area is Markie, who Patton says, “probably takes his job too seriously and thinks he’s actually out there changing these kids from a PE perspective… he does a lot of physical stuff, but he’s not very physical himself, which is hilarious.” But what adds depth to the PE teacher is, “Markie represents a lot of [Americans] who are open-minded and want to learn, but don’t want to let go of their core values either. So there’s this give-and-take balancing act with him and with Evan and the rest of the crew. But ultimately… he represents the middle,” Patton reveals.
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When it comes to characters, Markie is among executive producer Paul Simms’ favorites, the creative who has worked on What We Do in the Shadows and Atlanta for FX says, “When Brian and I initially started talking about it, a big goal was to have a guy that a lot of viewers immediately would make a judgment about that’s like a conservative redneck. But I grew up around those kinds of people, and they’re all just as complex and different and will surprise you with what they think and believe.”
“It was exciting to have people go like, ‘Oh, I know exactly what kind of guy that is. And then as the show develops, go like, ‘Oh, wow, he’s really not exactly what I thought it was,’ to not do a stereotype like that,” Simms explains.
“Yeah, that was that character I think gave us the most from the original conception of it to fleshing him out over the season,” fellow executive producer Dave King shares. “But I also have to say that it was once we decided that Carmen was a college counselor who was trying to get kids into school and he seems pretty ill-equipped to help them. That to me added a layer of comedy,” King adds, regarding Christopher’s role as Rick.
“He’s a guidance counselor, walks around a bit aloof, but he kind of has this thing where he feels invincible as if he could never get in trouble,” Christopher says of his character who he lovingly refers to as “a goof.” Guiding all the teachers is Principal Moretti, who Colantoni says, “cares about all of them” and is doing his best “trying to understand.” While Colantoni notes, “he may come across as somebody who doesn’t want to do his job, he actually cares.”
Learn more about the rag-tag faculty behind FX’s English teacher, in the video, above, and don’t miss the series when it debuts this fall.
English Teacher, two-episode series premiere, September 2, 10 p.m. ET/PT, FX (next day on Hulu)