Drexell's Class was a shortlived sitcom that aired on The Fox network from September 1991 until July 1992.
Otto Drexell ( Dabney Coleman) was a fifth grade teacher at Grantwood Elementary School in Cedar Bluffs, Iowa. Sarcastic, cynical and manipulative, he seemed to get along much better with the outspoken youngsters in his class than with the school's staff, especially Principal Itkin ( Randy Graff), who thought he was an incompetent teacher unable to control his class, and Roscoe Davis ( Dakin Matthews), the smug, supercilous fellow fifth-grade teacher who relished putting Drexell down and proving his class was better than Drexell's. Willie, Nicole, Kenny and Walker ( Jason Biggs, Heidi Zeigler, Damian Cagnolatti, Matthew Lawrence), were students in Drexell's Class and Melissa ( A.J. Langer),the sexy one, and Brenda ( Brittany Murphy), the little homemaker, were his beloved teenage daughters. When Principal Itkin had a nervous breakdown and left the school in November, she was replaced by Principal Ridge ( Edie McClurg). At this point the focus of the series changed from the classroom ( a number of the students were dropped from the cast), to Drexell's family life and adventures outside the school. This was the latest in several attempts to find the right tv vehicle for Dabney Coleman's lovable(?) misanthrope persona, but was not much more siccessful than Buffalo Bill or Slap Maxwell. Its spirit was summed up by 2 of the titles originally proposed for the series: Oh No, Not Drexell and Shut Up Kids.
A Review from The New York Times
Review/Television; Rotten Man;
By JOHN J. O'CONNOR
Published: October 10, 1991
The Sondheim lyric tells us that in show business, you gotta have a gimmick. In television, the word is "concept," preferably one so simple it can be capsulized in a single sentence. Oddities are not discouraged, and right now two of the oddest can be found on Fox Broadcasting.
In "Drexell's Class," Thursdays at 8:30 P.M., a misanthropic sleaze is forced to pay off a huge I.R.S. debt by teaching a fourth-grade class of smart alecks.
"Drexell's Class" is actually a vehicle for Dabney Coleman, a fine actor who transformed shifty irascibility into a art form in series like "Buffalo Bill." Mr. Coleman's straight-faced mutterings about all failings except his own can be hilarious. But they are given a different and generally unsettling spin when delivered within the confines of a grade-school classroom.
Drexell is at his best in battle with grown-ups, especially his disapproving principal ("I only call Ms. Itkin she in the same sense that I call a battleship she," or "Isn't she supposed to be at the airport sniffing luggage?"). At home he can spar deftly with his teen-age daughters ("Your mother was wearing more than that when she was conceived"). And his own monumental crassness is irresistible ("I'm a little concerned about my disability check getting here in time for Wednesday Lotto").
But the routines with the wiseacre children too often prompt a wince instead of a giggle. He suggests one cutup try some of the school nurse's "candy," adding that "they're called Thorazine." When some "poor little squirt" insists he wants a hug, Drexell says, "Why don't you go hug that big dog next door." Meanwhile, the students get continual little lessons about hustling, cutting corners and contempt for ordinary decency. "If you want a hero, look to your father," Drexell tells one boy, "maybe he can think of someone." Drexell surely can't. Mr. Coleman is trapped in a giant miscalculation.
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