Teacher Appreciation Week started Monday, May 3, so get those apples polished. As the daughter of a teacher, I was raised to be thankful for the wonderful teachers in my life (and to be thankful my mother taught in another school district – love you, mom). Let’s take a look some TV teachers who may not always have been A-plus instructors, but were unforgettable characters:
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Welcome Back, Kotter (1974-1979): Groucho-esque comic
Gabe Kaplan played Gabe Kotter, a former troublemaker who returns to teach at his Brooklyn alma mater, Buchanan High. Kotter's classroom was home to a group of comic hooligans, The Sweathogs: Vinnie Barbarino (
John Travolta), Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington (
Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs), Arnold Horshack (
Ron Palillo) and Juan Epstein (
Robert Hegyes). The show was insanely popular when I was a kid, thanks to catch phrases such as "Up your nose with a rubber hose," which came in handy on the playground. The Welcome Back
theme song (by
John Sebastian) blared from many an AM radio in those days. Kotter was nobody's fool; not once did he fall for a note from "Epstein's mother."
Room 222 (1969-1974): Lloyd Haynes, Denise Nicholas and Karen Valentine played young, hip teachers in this comedy-drama set in a Los Angeles high school. I remember watching this show as a kid (it ran on the same night as The Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch) and thinking "Teachers have lives?" These three instructors not only had lives outside the classroom, they were cool (check out their awesome '70s clothes). Room 222 was noteworthy for its multicultural cast and willingness to tackle serious, timely issues such as the Vietnam War. It was certainly no Brady Bunch. The theme music from Room 222 gives me a serious earworm.
The Bill Cosby Show (1969-1971): Long before the wildly patterned sweaters, Bill Cosby was gym teacher Chet Kincaid in this Emmy-nominated show. It was also the first show named after an African-American star. Mr. Kincaid was hip and funny and The Bill Cosby Show didn't need a laugh track. The show is another example of the bygone days of great TV theme songs featuring a Bill Cosby-Quincy Jones jam session called Hikky-Burr.
The Greatest American Hero (1981-1986): Ralph Hinkley could fly – what more could you want from a teacher?
William Katt played the title character who bumbled along in his superhero power suit. The show had yet another catchy theme song,
Believe it or Not by
Joey Scarbury which spent 18 weeks on the Billboard Top 40. Mr. Hinkley helped Katt shake his previous tag as The Guy Who Took Carrie to the Prom in Stephen King's
Carrie. The show also starred
Robert Culp and
Connie Sellecca.
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Boston Public (2000-2004): Emmy-winning producer David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, The Practice) gave this comedy-drama his magic touch. Led by Principal Steven Harper (Chi McBride), Boston Public was noteworthy in its depiction of teachers, warts 'n' all. With a well-written script, it followed the lives of multicultural faculty members such as Scott Gruber (Anthony Heald), Marla Hendricks (Loretta Devine), and Ronnie Cooke (Jeri Ryan). Despite a loyal fan following and fairly decent Nielsen ratings, Boston Public suffered when several prominent cast members left the show.
Strangers With Candy (1999-2000): The hilarious Amy Sedaris put on a lumpy fat suit to play 46-year-old high school student Jerri Blank in this short-lived Comedy Central show. Politically incorrect, promiscuous Jerri was a reformed "boozer, user and loser," and her teachers were no angels either. Here's hoping Chuck Noblet (Stephen Colbert), Geoffrey Jellineck (Paul DiNello) and Principal Blackman (Greg Hollimon) earned merit pay.
The Simpsons 1989-present): OK, let's focus on the good and forgive Mrs. Krabappel's trysts with Principal Skinner, the chain-smoking, the booze-guzzling and the man-chasing. That leaves us with . . . nothing, really. But that's what we all love about The Simpsons: each character on that show is so laughably wrong, they're right. Edna Krabappel is voiced by Marcia Wallace (The Bob Newhart Show).
Who are your favorite TV teachers? – Francine Ruley
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