3 out of 5

Created by: Brian Jordan Alvarez

covers season 1

English Teacher might be a definitive millennial comedy. It’s open-minded, but throws a side-eye at certain behaviors; it bites at cringe and crass comedy, but moves past them with a chuckle; it’s cognizant of modern trends and humor, but knows its audience is also bemused by much of the same. For the generation that grew up during big shifts in technology, then emerged into adulthood on the cusp of subsequent generations which would throttle forward at an even quicker pace – that is, a generation witnessing several generational shifts in quick succession – comedy that embraces a weary all-knowing, always-dumbfounded cautious paranoia is… just about right. And Brian Jordan Alvarez’s creation hits that note quite perfectly, cruising onto a network that’s scored with shows ping-ponging around that sensibility – FX – but not necessarily aiming for any big cultural comments or subversiveness. Constantly throughout the show’s first season are moments where characters veer into cartoonishness but are caught before things become completely absurd; or a joke that would likely be hammered into the full-on “point” of an episode is just an offhand gag before moving on. There’s something incredibly refreshing about that, even if it’s also somewhat limiting: while there are some interesting stabs at the mish-mash of self-awareness and ignorance of the current youth culture, represented by the high school kids Alvarez’s Evan Marquez teaches; or the politics of (really any modern job, but) teaching, as Evan networks with fellow teacher Gwen (Stephanie Koenig), or principal Moretti (Enrico Colantoni), the above mentioned approaches dominate, as though accepting that 20-something minutes are not enough to say anything really smart, so we’ll say something kinda smart, and then aim for jokes instead. This almost rankles a couple of episodes in, easily mistaken for Alvarez and his writers posturing poignancy, but as more silliness pokes its way into English Teacher’s world, it becomes clearer that that’s just the tone. It’s a millennial sigh and shrug.

Colantoni gets to be a little more antic than usual but is great. Alvarez and Koenig maybe mug a bit too hard, but they balance each other incredibly well. Sean Patton’s gym teacher Markie is… not a subtle character, but it’s a charming performance. The whole cast is likeable. As is the show. That I’m claiming that wishy-washiness as representational of a generation may mean something.