"Boston Public": The Thread

Hey, all, so did you all catch BP’s season premiere? Man…oh, man. Oh man. Oh man. Was that disturbing, or was it just David E. Kelley’s frightening Halloween episode? Dear lord…I was seriously afraid when that evil mother (she’s more evil than Martha Stewart!), popped up with cookies. God, that woman frightens me. Don’t get me wrong, I did love it, but wow. Shades of PSYCHO there, hm?

That new teacher, Mr. Hanson- the guy who was on “Friends” a couple of times…is pretty funny. I loved his line about fantasizing about students. Okay, he’s kind of dumb, but still.

I’m glad Harry Senate is finally considering getting the help he needs. But I’m so tired of the old formula- A). Harry does something delicously crazy B). The “establishment” reprimands him, parent gets POed, C). Harry/Stephen Harper points out error of their ways, D). Parent gets down on knees in praise of Harry. Ahhh.

I definitely want to know if Jeremy’s mother is on some bizarre drug that makes her act that way.

Other thoughts- nice comedy relief with that science teacher, though not for long…All in all, a strong premiere. No comments from naysayers who believe BP is too unrealistic…that’s not the point. :slight_smile:

I absolutely LOVED this show last year, and have been looking forward to the premier for weeks now. I know the show is unrealistic (I’m a teacher, even though that’s not the point), but it’s always entertained me.

That being said, I have to say that the premier tonight was disappointing. I don’t know what it was, but a lot of the interaction between the teachers (and students) that was there last year just seemed to be missing somehow.

You’re right, though; the new teacher has potential as a character, and the mother/son subplot should be interesting as well. The I hope they get back to the level they were at last year soon.

The new blonde character who decides to be a teacher doesn’t do it for me. All summer/early fall, they’ve been showing the preview where the kid asks her, “Are you a real teacher?” and she responds with an oh-so-sassy, “Are you a real student?” That’s annoying. I sarcastically say to myself, “Ooh, that’ll put him in his place, won’t it?” I guess that’s just part of the show’s not being very realistic.

So, I will continue to watch, but maybe I was let down because I had looked forward to the premier so much, and for so long.

More Lipshultz! That guy rules.

Damn you. I wanted to start te BP thread. This show is the big thing at my school right now. Everyone was talking about it all day, and they’ll be talking about wht happened tomorrow.

Creepy kid and mother. Loved that part. Except I hope we actually find out if the kid did it to his mom. I think he did. I mean, the season finale last year had her tied up in the basement! He must have done it, right?

I don’t really like the Mr. Hanson character. Someohow I doubt any school would really hire a persn who acted like that.

I love that new short science teacher! I just laughed my ass off when the class ended, and you saw he was a foot shorter then all the kids! He’s going to provide some great comic relief.

Hmmm… what else… don’t really like the new hot lawyer/teacher… somehow, it seems like the school has finally crossed some sort of line with attractive teachers. Marylin and Lauren are two hot teachers. That’s about as much as any one school has. This third has jut gone overboard.

See, that’s the thing with me. I know the new blonde is supposed to be a hot teacher, but to me she just isn’t. Marilyn and Lauren are fine, but the real hot teacher (can’t remember the name) was the one from last year who always gossiped about lusting after male students.

Nice to see there are a couple of other fans out there. :slight_smile:

Don’t much like that blonde teacher either- Ronnie, was it? What exactly is she going to teach to a bunch of high school students? The law?

Whoa…which one lusted after male students? LOL.

I’m going to miss Lisa Grier, Milton Buttle, and Kevin Riley. Maybe Lisa could come back as a student teacher through some college program…one of my teachers did that. I always liked Lisa. Except when she blackmailed Harry.

I think so, Supernova…When he brought out the hand, I was cringing, images of Jeremy slicing off mommie dearest’s hand in my head…UGH. But then, when Marilyn and Mr. Hanson (what is this guy’s first name?) were in the house and the mother just leaps out of nowhere, and when the plate slides off and there’s this stub (no offense meant to one handed people!) She really did sound drugged, but strangely enough, that’s how she sounded in last years episodes.

I love Jeremy. He’s so cute…so charismatic. I hope he hasn’t done something really bad. I’ve always related to him.

I’d like to see a little more of the curriculum. Like, you know, watch them teaching. Always found it hilarious last year when the US History teachers were still doing the Founding Fathers and the Louisiana Purchase well after January. (I was in American History that year…always got to me.)

My favirote character is, and always has been, Scott Guber. He’s just so…well…I don’t know. :slight_smile:

Well, I thought the show had some possibilities last year, but it looks like this season it’s just going to be…well, TV. I don’t necessarily demand strict realism, but BP is threatening to join Kelley’s Ally Macbeal in becoming stylized out of any relation to life on Earth.

Too bad, because the new cast members have potential. “The new blonde character” (Jeri Ryan, who played Seven of Nine on “Star Trek: Voyager”) is a capable actress, but I feel she’s been shoehorned into an absurd and impossible role.

OTOH, Michael Rappaport is a hoot. I especially enjoyed his delivery of that bigoted rant about the fat girls “waving twinkies and yelling ‘I gotta be me’”. It’ll be interesting to see which way his character develops over the course of the season.

Here’s a fan site:

http://boston_public.tripod.com/index2.htm

I love this show. I started a Top 5 shows thread in IMHO and for some reason I forgot to include this show on my list. It’s funny, I always complain about the absurdity of the plot lines, but can’t stop watching the show.

For instance, the 18 year old chick that slept with Mr. Buttle last season, he gets fired, she gets to teach a class. Yeah right. And let’s be honest . . Harry Senate would have been canned so long ago it’s not even funny. The guy kisses his student, fires a gun in class, holds a suicide club and holds a boxing match in his classroom, but he still teaches? AND PARENTS THANK HIM FOR IT??? Garbage! But I LOVE IT!

The mother-Jeremy angle was a heart stopper last night, when they turned around and Mom was standing there with the cookies, but you couldn’t see if her hand was still attached under the tray, it was great stuff. I think 1)that Jeremy drugged her 2) there’s an an incest storyline going there or 3) yes, Mom liked that Jeremy “showed initiative”; otherwise why would she suddenly be so complacent?

Call me a little sick, but I actually think Jeremy’s mother is kinda hot for an older lady, though the loss of her hand is kind of a turn off, and man was watching Jeremy and that little short teacher pick at her hand gross or what? :slight_smile:

What makes this show is a great cast. Anthony Heald is Emmy material. Chi McBride just looks like a walking nervous breakdown. Fyush Finkel is an absolute treasure as Mr. Lipshultz. And Loretta Divine is a hoot! I kind of find the Michael Rappaport character hard to take right now; he’s funny as an obnoxious health teacher, but when his character can’t turn it off when he leaves the classroom, he kind of makes me cringe. Plus no school would let him dress like that (nor let the female teachers show that much cleavage!)

I also find the 7 of 9 wants to go from being a lawyer to a teacher angle needing a lot more build up. Not that she isn’t a pleasure to look at.

Boston Public is about as realistic as Star trek, but that’s what makes it so much fun.

Okay, I admit it. I love this show. I rather like the new male teacher who lays it all on the line. Sure, he may need to smooth out some rough edges…

Speaking of smoothing out rough edges, how gross is it that the mom’s hand was hacked off? It’s just bizarre and spooky. I was shocked when the mom was standing there because I completely expected her to be dead. My guess is that he threatened to kill her and as punishment for her past behavior, he chopped her hand off, took her to the hospital and told her that he’d kill her if she let on. She may be just twisted enough to find that admirable in her son. Of course, he’s just a twisted f*ck that will go on to a decent college and kill a few folks.

Oh, oh, wait, sorry I said that - I don’t want to sound like I’m anti-people-who-cut-off-their-mom’s-hand. :slight_smile:

Tibs.

I can only enjoy the show if I think of it as science fiction. If I try to think of it in any way, shape or form as a drama about high school, it completely fails for me.

The Jeremy subplot, even for science fiction, is ridiculous. He kept his mother bound and gagged in the basement for how long? And told her employer what? And told the bank what, to get access to funds to pay the bills? Then she is freed or gets loose and she doesn’t run away like a bunny?

Ah Boston Public, one of the few shows I enjoy watching… The season opener was really good. Yeah, that mom just like… I dunno she needs to have pure black eyes or something like a doll. she’s supa-freakayy (and not in the good ‘sex’ sense of the term…). I think the show is going to see a boost in viewing now that they roped in Jerri Ryan, all the Trekkies will start filtering in (God knows they aren’t going to watch Monday Night Football).

Well anyways, on a sad note, I will not be able to see the rest of the season of BP, as my work schedule just went from first shift to second (2-10). Damn.

Oh, broc. :frowning:

I feel bad for Jeremy. Can you really blame him for snapping…after having been abused for probably most of his life? I wouldn’t think his mom would want him showing iniatitive…you know, she’d rather have him under her thumb- remember how she’d have to discipline him? But again, this isn’t the most…uh, rational plotline.

Vinnie, I’m in agreement with you. I know it’s absurd, but maybe that’s why I kept watching it all last year. Comparing my school day with the school life on BP…it’s like an outlet. And now it’s practically tradition. :slight_smile:

I guess the whole thing with Ms. Davis’s gun is over with, hm? Stephen Harper just reprimanded her and that was that. Will we be seeing more of the “Blob” (Christina, her real name), and the penultimate question: Will Lipshultz sing “If I Were A Rich Man” again at the talent show? :stuck_out_tongue:

I doubt that, Zoggie, 'cause Christina had a heart-attack and died on the wrestling floor last season. Very moving episode, that was.

Well, I guess he doesn’t have that to worry about any more, now does he?

“Penultimate” means “next to last.” This was your last question, unless you’re planning on coming back and asking one more question.

Isn’t Guber an attorney? Maybe that’s why he’s so willing to cut Ronni a break. Or maybe it’s her big ol’ BREASTS in his face.

Too many messages in tonight’s episode. Abortion, creationism, mental health, etc… And all of them delivered hamfistedly. If that woman with the shoe waves it one more time, I suggest someone invite her to smell their boot after they’ve booted it up her ass. She was funny with that schtick exactly once.

Lol. Yeah…I can come up with one more question…where the hell was Lipshultz in this episode? I saw him exactly once. Phasing him out, are we?

There was a lot in this episode. And even worse- no Jeremy. Just his creepy mom. I cringed every time she touched her face with the hook. And here’s something I thought of- if Scott Guber, last season, fired Kevin Riley the minute he found out that Kevin was hiding the whole Milton Buttle/Lisa Grier thing, is he going to say anything to Stephen, or maybe the police, about Jeremy Peters locking his mother up in the basement? Whoo…that was a long one. Hmm.

Oh yeah, and I’m beginning to love that science teacher guy even more. I loved that whole hook-lady conversation he and Mr. Hanson had.

I love this show, too. Why does that feel like I’m admitting something dirty to complete strangers?

The show is going way overboard, but I don’t care. The mother sawing her own hand off with a chainsaw?! While she’s handcuffed to a chair after her third week of imprisonment in the basement? Ridiculous! I don’t care. It’s like my guilty pleasure. Some people have chocolate, I have this one awful show.

Guber is the one saving grace acting-wise. I felt so bad for him when he was admitting to his therapist that he had no friends, and his eyes watered up… Aw, man. And now it looks like he’s going to get together with the hook lady. Poor guy, he’s in for it.

I don’t know; last year BP was good, this year it’s getting more and more annoying. I can’t stand Ronnie’s boyfriend with that perpetual self-satisfied smirk of his, and the short science teacher just sets my teeth on edge for some reason; maybe it’s the accent. (I know I’ve seen him before; was he on Picket Fences, LA Law or both?)

The show is definitely worse off without Lisa Greer or Milton Buttle.

Was anyone else expecting Guber to commit or attempt suicide last year after Lifschitz played that horrible trick on him? (the fake orchestra)

Ugh, I missed it last night. Can someone please recap the episode for me? Man, I can’t believe I missed one of my favorite shows!

Tibs.

SPOILERS

Ronnie cleans out her law office with her ex-boyfriend. They joke about how she once chickened out of having sex in the office. She decides to go through with it, strips to a blouse and goes after him, only to run into a surprise party of her former co-workers and Guber (who knows one of the partners). Next day at school Guber tells her it will have no effect on her job but that at school she is expected to stay fully clothed.

Miss Davis tells an honors student with a thick “Southie” accent she should tone it down, minutes before her interview to get into Princeton. Girl passes out during the interview. We find out that she probably passed out because she is pregnant. She tells Miss Davis she “is just Catholic enough” not to have an abortion. Steven tells her she will be transferred to a “continuation school” when she begins to show. Girl threaetens to sue. Steven says “go ahead, get a lawyer, you’re afraid to tell your own parents.” Next day girl advises Steven and Miss Davis she’s had an abortion. Later Miss Davis pressures her to talk about it, and girl delivers teary speech about how she didn’t expect the fetus to “look real.” Personally I think she’s lying about the abortion and is going to start wearing baggy clothes.

The teachers hold a meeting about uncredentialed teachers (specifically Lisa Greer and Ronnie) working at the school. Ronnie walks in and puts on a “I’m so happy to be here, thanks for accepting me I look forward to working with each of you” act. Next day, the new guy teacher tells her welcome.

Marla goes to her doctor and learns she is clinically obese and has high cholesterol. Lecture about heart disease ensues. She decides to start exercising and she learns that Miss Davis also has high cholesterol.

Guber is in therapy. He tells the therapist he has no friends except Steven, and they have nothing in common. Therapist suggests that Guber start talking trash about women with Steven. Guber leaves the therapist’s office and runs into Jeremy’s mother waiting for her appointment.

Jeremy’s mother is seen assisting in a classroom. She apparently volunteered last year and is doing so again this year. She and Guber meet to discuss her actions toward Jeremy at which time she explains that Jeremy had her prisoner in the basement. She escaped by getting a chain saw and trying to cut off the handcuffs, but slipped and cut off her hand instead. She and Jeremy are now both in therapy. Guber tells her she may continue to volunteer, but any report of corporal punishment in or out of school and her privileges will be revoked.

Ronnie on her first day discusses creationism in class, the Big Bang, the end of the universe and do we have souls. Steven tells her not to teach creationism or religion. The next day she gives out books on reincarnation and past lives. She later tells her ex that she will teach her students to ask themselves what they believe. The next day the shoe lady comes in and demands that Ronnie “smell that shoe” of oppression. As near as I could figure, this woman is working somehow to get prayer back in public schools and feels that Ronnie’s overt discussion of creationism and past lives would endanger that effort.

Scenes for next week show Guber and Jeremy’s mother on a date and she invites him in for cookies.

Anyone, feel free to cover anything I’ve left out.

Otto,

You kick ass. Thank you.

Tibs.

Now that the whole Jeremy & HookMom thing is out in the open, will Guber (Dr. Chilton: He’s What’s for Dinner) and she be startin’ something? On view of Otto’s recap, I see that they date next week. She came off as sweet and vulnerable near the end last night, and flipping her hair with the hook was so oddly cute. Kathy Baker has nice eyes and she knows how to use them. Effortlessly she evokes from me revulsion one week and sympathy the next.

I recall Guber told Ronny she would be expected to remain clothed during school hours, which is slightly different in such a saucy way. Ronny is very attractive; such a pity the goofy lines they have her say. I noticed she wore jeans both days. Then again, how could I not notice.