There are few things more frustrating than realizing that you have some free time to watch a new show and simultaneously realizing that you have no idea what to watch. Hulu subscribers have access to tons of great shows from FX, Hulu itself, and an extensive archive, but none of that is useful if you don’t know which show you should actually put on.
If you’re looking for something to watch this October, we’d recommend checking out English Teacher. The series just debuted in 2024, and follows an English teacher working in Austin, Texas, as his personal life intersects with the modern-day politics of education. It’s one of the funniest new shows of the year. Here are three reasons it’s worth checking out.
When you’re done here, check out the best new movies to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, best shows on Hulu, best shows on Amazon Prime Video, and best shows on Disney+.
It’s a refreshing reminder of the politics of education
Schools may sometimes be described as apolitical havens designed only for learning, but English Teacher upends that dynamic by leading with the various ways in which teaching is an inherently political act. You have to deal with parents who have their own beliefs (including one who tries to get Evan, the show’s main character, fired for being gay) and you also have to decide exactly what to teach.
In acknowledging all the ways in which teaching is almost unavoidably political, the show is also able to lean into all the ways that being a teacher in 2024 is actually a more trying experience than it might have been 20 years ago.
It’s genuinely funny
Although English Teacher does emphasize some overtly political elements, that’s not meant to suggest that the show is not also remarkably funny. That comedy comes from a keen understanding of the show’s central characters, a combination of teachers and students who are all just trying to make it through the day.
Although this show has some things in common with Abbott Elementary, it’s most understandable point of comparison, the show’s comedic dynamics are quite different, in part because the children on English Teacher are high school students and not young kids.
It’s exceptionally well-cast
Brian Jordan Alvarez is the writer and star at the center of this series, and he’s proven himself to be a comedic talent well worth following. He’s far from the only member of the cast who stands out, though.
Enrico Colantoni has been working in Hollywood steadily for decades, and his role here as the school’s principal gives him a chance to show off his skills as a comedian, and Stephanie Koenig’s performance as Gwen is the perfect match for Alvarez’s slightly more subdued central character. The alchemy of the cast works immediately, which only makes the series both funnier and helps to ground it in a believable reality.
The English Teacher is streaming on Hulu.
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