The new CBS sitcom "Bad Teacher" revolves around a blonde, fashionable and self-centered trophy wife, whose divorce pushes her to become an independent woman on the hunt for another wealthy and handsome man to depend on. Meredith Davis (Ari Graynor) hears about a job opening at a middle school in which a lot of students' fathers are divorced and rich. With a bit of manipulation and a plagiarized resume, she maneuvers her way into a becoming the new history teacher at Nixon Middle School.
The predictability and oddness is shown through timeless clich?©s and stereotypes presented through students and teachers' personalities and appearances. There are the popular mean girls who walk around the hallways and bully their peers. Then there are the nerds and dorks who are smart, but do not believe they are "pretty" enough. Yet, that's just a description of some of the students - teachers also form their own "cliques" which contain the nerds, jocks, popular, and preppy groups.
Davis is of course the lazy, narcissistic and popular individual. If "Mean Girls" and "Legally Blonde" were combined, she would be the half-witted and self-centered protagonist. Yet, this flawed character's interactions with a clumsy and unusual science teacher Irene (Sara Gilbert), kind gym teacher Joel Kotsky (Ryan Hansen) and an uptight teacher Ginny (Kristin Davis) create for a decent show. There is some humor that is present, but it mainly appears as if the talent and writers are trying too hard to push the comedy onto the screen for viewers. Don't get me wrong, there is potential for genuine laughter, but the show needs work.
While "Bad Teacher" flunks in various ways such as acting, dialogue and storyline, there is a chance for improvement. The main substance and decent material that new sitcoms present is how kids and adults need to confront the issue of bullying (yet the "Meredith way," by fighting fire with fire, might not be the best method to end bullying.) By the end of episode, there are some life lessons which are given by Davis when she steps away from her self-centered priorities to help the students. It indicates the show does have a fair possibility of improving as it is still fresh and ready for growth. Maybe as the season goes on, it won't be as bad.
Nisha Desai can be reached at nisha.desai@student.shu.edu.
