It’s back to school time, at least where TV is concerned, and we couldn’t be more excited. While the season premiere of ABC‘s Emmy-winning Abbott Elementary is still a month away, FX calls a very different sort of class into session with the wonderfully irreverent English Teacher, starring and created by Brian Jordan Alvarez (M3GAN).
The high school classroom is a minefield in this smart, biting comedy, featuring Alvarez (Jack’s dishy husband in the Will & Grace reboot) as Evan Marquez, an embattled teacher in a suburb of Austin, Texas. Evan is openly gay, but “not that proud,” he quips.
Tina Rowden/FX
Evan’s pride regularly gets bruised: from a meek conflict-averse principal (the hilarious Enrico Colantoni) who has no one’s back; from hypercritical parents — one has him investigated for kissing his then-boyfriend in class — and from easily triggered students. In one of the funniest episodes, an attention-seeking student creates her own fake disease (“asymptomatic Tourette’s,” self-diagnosable).
The appealing Alvarez, like Quinta Brunson’s do-gooder in Abbott Elementary, believes in his mission to make a difference in young lives. He’s an oasis of reason amid a colorfully neurotic faculty. (Sean Patton is especially good as the blustery gym teacher, a loyal if unexpected ally even when he calls his pal “Froot Loops.”) Some of my favorite scenes involve Evan leading an extracurricular book club that feels more like a support group. “Why would you want to stay at a job if they’re treating you like this?” a student wonders.
A triumphant episode where Evan recruits a sketchy drag queen (RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Trixie Mattel) to prep the football team for the popular gender-switching powder-puff game (in danger of being canceled) is answer enough. Refreshingly, Evan doesn’t always have the answers, and when he faces off against an overbearing booster (Claws‘ uproarious Jenn Lyon) after giving his entire class failing grades, damned if she doesn’t teach him a thing or two about compromise.
We don’t have to wait until final exams to declare that English Teacher passes with flying colors.
English Teacher, Series Premiere, Monday, September 2, 10pm ET/PT, FX (Next day on Hulu)