Showing Their Credentials

Quick, think of your favorite teacher.

Now, did you pick that individual because he or she gave easy grades, or recommended you for student council, or taught you the dreaded Latin that later proved beneficial? Or, more likely, did that teacher make you laugh while you learned, turn you on to Shakespeare by showing the class “West Side Story,” or voluntarily venture off campus to watch you play tennis or give a piano recital?

If you answered something resembling the latter, you’ll like much of the new fall television season. For one of the surprising trends is the unusually high number of school-related shows about to hit prime time--among them Rhea Perlman and Malcolm McDowell in CBS’ “Pearl,” about a blue-collar widow going back to college; “Mr. Rhodes,” an NBC sitcom about a hip teacher at an arch boarding school; “Dangerous Minds,” ABC’s drama based on last year’s movie, with Annie Potts playing Michelle Pfeiffer playing LuAnn Johnson, the Marine turned inner-city school teacher; and “Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher” and “The Steve Harvey Show,” both from the WB network and both about reluctant but way-cool teachers taking on sassy kids.

Several other new series, while not primarily classroom-based, have at least a few toes in academia.

ABC’s “Clueless” (as if those kids spend much time studying), UPN’s “Goode Behavior,” ABC’s “Life’s Work” and NBC’s “Something So Right” are all new sitcoms in which a main character is somehow involved with teaching. And then there are standbys such as ABC’s “Boy Meets World,” which moves this year to a later spot (9:30 p.m. from 8:30) where its creators are determined to impart more lessons behind the laugh track. And for midseason, UPN has “Social Studies,” about a female teacher at an urban boarding school.

What are we to make of all this? Is it the surprise success of last year’s feel-good movie, “Mr. Holland’s Opus”? Is it all the family value rhetoric spouting from the mouths of presidents and White House wannabes?

“There was a spirit of triumph in ‘Mr. Holland’ that was positive, but most of these shows were being developed before it came out,” says NBC Entertainment President Warren Littlefield. “And I’d like to think we’re not responding to politicians. This being an election year, we tend to not trust their motivations.”

In reality, there are a number of factors in play: TV following the lead of movies, the classroom being a perfect forum for stand-up comedians to shift to series stardom, an attempt to bridge the generation gap with shows that appeal to children and their parents, and a sincere effort to celebrate what Littlefield calls “this most noble, most unappreciated profession.”

Littlefield claims his own epiphany came while sitting on an education panel in which he wondered, “If Bill Cosby had been a teacher rather than a doctor [in “The Cosby Show”], what impact could we have had?”

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Altruism aside, Littlefield and the others choosing what we see on television hope that this year’s crop of classroom series will go to the head of the ratings. They prefer not to think of the two that failed in that mission last season--ABC’s “The Faculty,” deemed too unfunny, and CBS’ “Matt Waters,” deemed too preachy. Today’s executives dream instead of the successful likes of “Welcome Back, Kotter” (1975-79) and “Head of the Class” (1986-1991).

In fact, that duo may foretell good news in that they featured verified comics (Gabe Kaplan, Howard Hesseman) doing their shtick to a bunch of kids who gave back pretty good too. Stand-ups hoping to carry the new classroom shows to similar success and attain Tim Allen-Jerry Seinfeld fame include Steve Harvey, Tom Rhodes and Mitch Mullany.

“Kids are a group I work well with,” says Mullany, who comes from “The Wayans Brothers” and MTV fame to play the childlike Nick Freno. (“My name is Mr. Freno but I like it when you call me Big Papa.”) “Even when the camera’s off, I have the kids [laughing].”

The people behind “The Steve Harvey Show” admit the stand-up star came first and then the idea of how to present him. “Warner Bros. wanted a family-oriented show with kids where Steve could be comfortable doing his thing,” says the show’s executive producer, Winifred Hervey. “Little did we know everyone else would have the same idea this year.”

“Let’s face it, the dynamic of a teacher and a group of kids is fodder for a lot of questions,” explains Don Reo, executive producer of “Pearl.” “And when that teacher is funny, the questions become natural setups for amusing answers.”

His series pits street-smart Pearl against the world’s stuffiest humanities professor (“I thought of calling this class ‘I Know More Than You Do,’ ” the McDowell character tells his students). He thinks Moby-Dick, she thinks Charlie the Tuna. (Watch the first episode to see who’s correct.)

Pearl seems about as at home in a college classroom as Mork did on Earth, which is exactly the point. That mentality seems key to all the new classroom-based series (perhaps recalling last season’s breakout hit on NBC, “3rd Rock From the Sun,” which, perhaps not coincidentally, literally places aliens in an academic setting).

“The fish-out-of-water thing doesn’t get much clearer than this,” says Peter Noah, executive producer of “Mr. Rhodes,” whose new teacher’s rock star looks and unorthodox style do not always go down so well with the staff. The same is true with “Nick Freno” (a struggling actor allegedly just doing this until something real comes up), “Steve Harvey” (a former musician also there not entirely by choice) and even “Dangerous Minds,” where Ms. Johnson may be a more willing teacher but still finds herself going against the grain more often than not.

The folks behind the shows, however, say they were attracted to the projects not by the idea of a funny person doing monologues to a rainbow coalition of kids, or by the fish-out-of-water idea. Rather it was the allure of celebrating one of the least rewarded of professions.

“As soon as Jerry Bruckheimer [the producer moving “Dangerous Minds” from big to small screen] told us he wanted to make teachers heroes again, we said we’ll do it,” recalls Andrew Schneider, who, with Diane Frolov (his wife and “Northern Exposure” partner), signed on as executive producers.

“We wanted to show teachers as heroes, flawed but fighting the bureaucracy,” echoes Marc Warren, who with Dennis Rinsler, is an executive producer of “Nick Freno.” They know of what they produce. Both taught in New York City schools for 11 years before moving west. “We’ve got 100 stories in our drawers,” says Warren, “and we’ve been trying for years to make a show about the kind of teacher everyone wants to have.”

And there’s not a teacher among this group your kid wouldn’t dream about. (“He’s so cool, I wish he was mine,” said my 8-year-old while watching the “Nick Freno” pilot.) Some may think they are too good to be true but they are theoretically new to their field and, as Warren and Rinsler point out, educators at least start out that way.

“Most do come in young and idealistic like we were,” Rinsler says. “Until we burned out 11 years later. I used to bring my guitar to class. The truth is, the system hasn’t changed, it’s still teaching kids in assembly-line style. It’s a big factory and anyone who goes above the call of duty is a hero.”

They even defend things like Freno diving, in empathetic reflex, into a student’s seat when the principal walks in unexpectedly. “We were honestly like that,” Rinsler says, “identifying more with the kids. It takes a while to learn to be an authority figure.”

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Still, there is legitimate concern in some academic circles that TV teachers who go too far into the pupil’s area may be sending mixed, even potentially harmful, signals. Will youngsters watching put unfair expectations on their own teachers? Do such shows take some of the responsibility away from the parents or those rightfully expected to pass on things like values? Nick Freno takes a troubled student out for pizza, Mr. Rhodes moves into the dorm with his students, LuAnn Johnson is consistently showing up at the kids’ homes to go that extra mile.

“There is a role of teacher and it is not one of pal,” says David Walsh, a Minneapolis psychologist and author of “Selling Out America’s Children” (and a former high school teacher). “A good teacher cares and is there to respond to the needs of students, and some may occasionally be personal. But keeping the boundaries intact is critical. Neither is it appropriate for teachers to seek out students for their own emotional needs.”

Walsh says it’s a fine line these TV teachers walk and that creators should be aware how powerful the medium is. “It has great potential for benefit and for harm,” he warns. “These shows are always evoking emotional messages as well as telling stories. And if schools are portrayed as cruel or uncaring places, if teachers are portrayed as buffoons, or even if they’re portrayed as someone who students don’t need to look up to, those messages are not lost on kids.”

The messengers express awareness of such concerns and feel they have it covered. “Sometimes teachers have to act as surrogate parents,” says Garth Ancier, head of programming at WB. “On the other hand, in our shows, no one is made fun of, teachers are glorified, the parents are involved, and other points of view are shown.”

In “Mr. Rhodes,” such differing views are a constant theme: “You told jokes for an hour in class!” Rhodes is told. His response: “No, I was connecting!” On “Dangerous Minds,” where the teacher’s very unorthodox methodology veers way out of Walsh’s boundaries, her style is reprimanded by others on the show--and her own needs for doing so are a point of character exploration. Even on “Boy Meets World,” there are countervailing voices debating how close teachers should get to those they teach.

Not that reality is the goal. This is television entertainment, after all, where great leaps of faith are often asked of viewers. “I mean, didn’t kids all wonder why their parents couldn’t be like Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad?” asks WB’s Ancier. In any case, producers say they are trying to include some real issues.

“I think ‘The Steve Harvey Show’ is based in reality,” says producer Hervey, “and we’ve had very positive feedback from teachers who have seen the show. We are watching a very reluctant teacher get used to these kids as individuals. And come to realize the value of what he does. In the second episode, he finds out how much he gets paid and has to learn that he can’t be judged by his paycheck.”

In “Nick Freno,” the teachers must attend a class on defending themselves with clipboards (something former teachers Rinsler and Warren say they did). In “Mr. Rhodes,” when someone asks a teacher where she got a cigarette, she quips, “Off an eighth grader.”

Some educators are more concerned, however, that viewers won’t get a sense of the day-to-day stress confronting teachers. “I’m not all that optimistic,” says Paul Cummins, president of Crossroads School in Santa Monica. “When the entertainment business gets hold of education, it is sometimes not realistic about what a teacher’s real-life responsibilities are, how long and truly difficult their days are.”

Responds “Mr. Rhodes” producer Noah, “I’m not sure how reflective of life sitcoms can be. But I know I’ve had teachers who used humor as an extremely effective teaching tool.”

Young people would seem the natural audience for these shows--”kids have always loved watching other kids in school,” says Mullany--but if they are to become hits, they need to get viewers of all ages to relate.

“We’re passionate about older viewers looking at these kids as their kids,” says producer Schneider of “Dangerous Minds.” “Our society is so segregated, so exclusive, we need to bring more inclusivity.”

“We’re trying to show how hard it is for some kids just to get to school,” Frolov adds. “These kids are all our responsibility and we can’t lay them off on teachers. We all need to look at our schools as a reflection of our values.”

With all that, they insist their show is mostly about people and that’s entertainment you’re seeing in between the teenage pregnancies, the hidden weapons, the latchkey lives. With the school sitcoms, “entertainment first but not necessarily only” is even more the case.

“The classroom is clearly a funny backdrop,” says Noah, “but shows are about the people within the environment. Our primary focus is not to take an educational issue every week, but if there are issues that flow naturally out of the environment, that’s great.”

Adds “Dangerous Minds’ ” Schneider: “You’ll see a fair amount of teaching in our show and if a kid picks up a book because of it, fantastic.”

“Boy Meets World” has managed to quietly enter its fourth season, not only becoming the No. 1 show with those between 2 and 17, but also giving viewers a little meat and potatoes inside TGIF, ABC’s family-friendly two-hour block on Friday nights. Last season, big brother Eric discovered that all those years of screwing around in high school came at a price: He couldn’t get into college.

“We wanted to show the horrid left turn his life took, that he didn’t get away with it,” says the show’s executive producer, Michael Jacobs. He is most proud of the episode in which the class was forced to read “The Diary of Anne Frank” and later learned that it did in fact have some relevance in today’s world.

“Now that we’re moving to 9:30, I want to do even deeper-themed episodes,” says Jacobs, who believes the key is not talking down to young viewers. “These kids are greatly influenced by what we do so we have to be laser-like in our focus.”

Staying focused, keeping it entertaining, showing the various styles of teachers but respecting all who enter the profession: That’s a lot to think about and, for whatever reason, many are taking up the challenge this season.

“Ultimately, we want to entertain, but if someone’s thinking of maybe going into teaching and we help, I’d love it,” says former teacher Rinsler, who also is a producer of WB’s “Parent ‘Hood” and says he was inspired years ago by “Welcome Back, Kotter.” “People say to me how hard it must be having two shows on the air and I say, ‘Oh yeah? Try standing up in front of 40 kids for six hours a day.’ ”

So, having been on both sides, what feels better? Having two shows on the air or standing up in class and possibly changing a kid’s life? He thinks maybe three seconds.

“Getting two shows on the air.”