Tony Danza’s The Boss on Teach
Glee
may have Will Schuster. Community may have had Senor
Chang. But A&E’s new show Teach has landed a major sitcom star—Tony
Danza. But there’s a twist. The actor from Taxi
and Who’s the Boss? isn’t
playing a high school English teacher on a scripted series with a laugh track. Teach is a reality show and the students are actual 10th graders who attend Northeast
High School in Philadelphia.
may have Will Schuster. Community may have had Senor
Chang. But A&E’s new show Teach has landed a major sitcom star—Tony
Danza. But there’s a twist. The actor from Taxi and Who’s the Boss? isn’t
playing a high school English teacher on a scripted series with a laugh track. Teach is a reality show and the students are actual 10th graders who attend Northeast
High School in Philadelphia.
See, when Danza heard President Barack Obama make the call
for people to give back, Tony decided to do just that. He pursued his long set
aside aspirations to teach and, well, a reality show documenting the year-long
process seemed a no brainer.
The jury’s out on whether the A&E series will have the
same social impact that another recent feel good/educational system reform show
did. After all Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution managed to get pink milk out of
some local schools (if only briefly) and took home an Emmy. But you’ve got to give Danza credit for
giving it a go.
Teach: Tony Danza premieres tonight at 10:00 PM PST/9:00
PM Central on A&E.
For more of this week's inspirational pop Culture Moments visit Beliefnet.com.
' big day. Here are a few of our favorites:
, 
, 
, 
, 
, and Will & Grace.
, 
, 
, and 
. It should get a built in audience, but the jury is still out on whether they will become loyal fans or just bide their time until 
returns in January.
, and how Outsourced will stand out from other office sitcoms.
(she said Sinatra was a good kisser), 
(which she called her favorite film), and 
(to
connect with the members of the audience under 50).
. We must admit that we shed a tear watching 78-year-old Debbie belt out
“
.” She even did a rap version of “Boop
Boop Diddim Daddum Waddum Choo.” Really. Could we make that up?
.” Debbie quipped, “Some people have medleys of hits. This
will just take a minute.”
), and shook hands
with those of us who were lucky to be in her path. And then she sat and
signed autographs for her adoring fans.
, “a
shimmering, glowing star in the cinema firmament.”
, yet the days of Tony Danza and Burt Reynolds are far behind her. But don't think Marilu has been sitting around twiddling her thumbs since those '80s sitcoms went off the air.
and 
. From 2000-2002 she created the critically-acclaimed role of Lee Green in The Tale of the Allergist's Wife on Broadway. Now she is performing as Lee again at the 
.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the premiere of the series that made him a
household name and he’s got a big movie coming out this weekend.
and 
). But for the most part, this challenge is really, really hard.
After all, can you say with confidence whether the Bond film is 
or
? Are the unmarked tapes just a transition to 
or, perhaps,
a nod to 
?
. And,
having known what it was like to be down-and-out, he made this public plea as
he accepted his 
co-star seemed to wince a
little, but he really could use a break. He was after all, once more than just
Julia’s brother and Emma’s dad. And with some stellar performances early in his
career, it seemed he could have been a contender. He could have been somebody.
. He did a stint on the daytime soap 
and 
. He wrote amusing plays like 
and books like 
.
. Or maybe your tastes go more to the tug at your heartstrings Bill from 
and 
. Still others lean toward the indie darling Bill from 
and 
.