I love Brian Jordan Alvarez. I have since his early days of creating content for his Youtube channel. I thought his webseries "30s" was utterly brilliant, along, of course with his series "The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo." He is a wildly talented actor and his instincts for writing comedy and drama are pitch perfect. (And I would be remiss if I did not mention his dancing, previously here.)
So when it was announced that his new project which he created and wrote would be premiering on FX, I was very excited. If anyone deserves success, it is Brian Jordan Alvarez.
And the first two episodes of "English Teacher" that just debuted delivered everything Brian Jordan Alvarez can do. He stars as Evan Marquez, an out gay high school teacher in Austin, Texas navigating not only his students who are, like most young people now, both too savvy and too clueless at the same time, but his fellow teachers. It has the makings of a classic sitcom that one would be forgiven for passing by but in Alvarez's hands, it becomes a fly-on-the wall study of life that is neither aiming to show how stupid or silly the players are (I have a dislike for shows that revel in potshots at characters we are supposed to laugh AT and not with) nor how angsty and torn their lives are. It already reminds me so much of his past work, and I am so glad to see his longtime collaborator Stephanie Koenig playing his friend and fellow teacher, Gwen Sanders (she wrote episode two, the hilarious "Powderpuff"!). The comedy is subtle, effective, and brilliantly connected to a meaningful sense of humanity and truthfulness.
I can't wait to watch every week and see where he will take us. "English Teacher" airs Monday nights on FX.
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