A.P. Bio

Rebel-teacher stories have been told so often on TV that it's really hard to escape all the clichés, so this show has to get credit for at least trying (and sometimes succeeding). "This won't be one of those things where I teach you, or I end up learning more from you than you learn from me," he crisply warns his students in the show's first episode, promising those who don't tell on him for not teaching an A+ in the class. But that's before a sassy-Greek-chorus-y trio of fellow teachers enlighten Jack in the teacher's lounge that he can pretty much assign his students any task he wants. Soon, he's using them for his own purposes: to torture Miles, to get him out of work, to get him assigned to "teacher jail" (an in-school suspension with pay). 

Bottom line is this: Though A.P. Bio seems like a promising candidate to be a successor of beloved NBC primetime comedies like The Office, Parks and Recreation, Community, and 30 Rock, and a sharp crack occasionally brings it up to those levels, it's not as good as those shows. The storylines are too predictable, the characters too generic; it lacks the surprise zing of really great comedies. Howerton does his best, and is pretty good even delivering absolutely ridiculous lines; Patton Oswalt is as lovable as always. But unless you have a free spot in your schedule and a weakness for SNL-esque comedies, you may want to skip this class.