TV REVIEW: New show's strong cast is offset by weak and predictable script

07:19 AM CST on Tuesday, March 28, 2006

By HAL BOEDEKER / The Orlando Sentinel

Teachers juggle more than enough problems that could inspire a top-flight, topical comedy. Remember how the absurdities of local TV news jazzed up The Mary Tyler Moore Show and how the absurdities of war lifted M*A*S*H?

But NBC's Teachers, debuting tonight, settles for just being absurd.

It goes predictable routes in depicting an average to below-average New Jersey high school. The educators' sex lives command more time than education. The result is just another below-average sex farce, with jokes about cleavage, sexual identity and missed opportunities. The mere mention of a penal colony prompts one gag.

But darned if you won't learn about the state of television comedy from this series. The main actors, led by Justin Bartha of Failure to Launch, are attractive and appealing. Veteran director James Burrows of Cheers and Will & Grace guides the opener with a sure hand.

The stumbling block is tepid writing. The students come off as nothing more than props. The secondary characters are annoying caricatures: the strident principal, the sarcastic veteran educator, the dimwitted teacher with sweaty hands. For all its acid moments, Teachers turns mushy with alarming frequency. (Matt Tarses developed the comedy and says it has only a slight connection to the BBC series with the same title.)

The main assets are the three leads. Mr. Bartha plays Jeff, an English teacher who masks his love of teaching with wisecracks. Jeff is smitten with Alice (Sarah Alexander of Coupling), a teacher from Britain, but she dislikes his irreverence. History teacher Tina (Sarah Shahi of The L Word) responds more quickly to Jeff's jokey jabs.

The series neatly contrasts Alice's enthusiasm with Tina's sarcasm, but everyone needs more interesting things to say. Teachers ultimately illustrates the showbiz adage: If it's not on the page, it's not on the stage. Hawkeye Pierce and Mary Richards never had that problem.Teachers

C-8:30 tonight, NBC (Channel 5). Starring Justin Bartha, Sarah Shahi, Sarah Alexander, Deon Richmond, Phil Hendrie. 30 mins.