Younger audiences know Brian Jordan Alvarez as Cole from the horror favorite M3GAN, but did you know that he first rose to prominence through the gay web series The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo?
Alvarez just launched a new FX comedy series, English Teacher, which aptly chronicles the complicated life of a gay high school English teacher named Evan Marquez. He’s pulling triple duty as writer, actor, and producer, teaming up with The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallow writer Stephanie Koenig who also stars as the show’s history teacher and Marquez’s best friend.
Image via FX Networks
Every show has its own conflict, and with English Teacher, Mr. Marquez (Alvarez) is in hot water with the students’ parents for kissing his boyfriend and former teacher Malcolm (Jordan Firstman) in the school parking lot. Evan’s dilemma deepens as he starts to suspect he’s being targeted because of his sexuality, leading him to establish a personal rule—no dating faculty. But fate, or perhaps mischief, has other plans when a new teacher in town, played by the ever-charismatic Langston Kerman, takes a keen interest in Evan. This leads Evan to ask the question:
“Can you really be your full self at your job?”
The show’s creator and lead star spoke to USA Today and emphasized that the show would be described as a hard comedy. He recalled saying, “let’s really go joke, joke, joke here,” and by doing so, that gives the show “a lot of heart.” The show has been compared to Abbott Elementary, but Alvarez said that English Teacher will be different and in a world of its own.
English Teacher is an amalgam of different generations, and that translates through the screen because of the research that was done for the show. Speaking on tackling the younger generation of today, Alvarez said that spending a lot of time on TikTok, X, and Instagram has its benefits. He has seen what differences in generation can do to cause confusion in conversations even when the intent is good. TikTok has also been proven useful since some of the show’s younger members were casted from the social media app.
Speaking on the need to acknowledge Evan as gay, Alvarez explains that it makes the character more authentic and that it allows him to “write from this insider perspective.” In doing so, they are able “to make jokes that really only make sense from that angle.”
Also worth noting is that critics loves the show very much :
Highschool set sitcom is a hilarious must watch. Mashable
Dryly Hilarious Public-School Comedy makes the Grade. .. Hollywood Reporter
The “English Teacher’ is the best new tv show of the Fall…. Daily Beast
You can stream the first two episodes of FX’s English Teacher on Hulu.