Top 10 Teachers from TV & Film

This weekend, we’re celebrating educators everywhere with Half Price Books’ Educator Appreciation Weekend. Teachers & Librarians save 20% on all their purchases Thursday through Monday when they shop with HPB and renew their Educator Discount Card.

Let’s kick off the appreciation by taking a look at some of our favorite fictional teachers from television and film, yearbook superlative style:

1. Best Substitute – Mr. Bergstrom, The Simpsons

Mr. Bergstrom is everything you’d want in a good substitute: intelligent, inspirational & good-looking with a fresh, unconventional teaching style and the voice of Dustin Hoffman.

2. Best Dressed – Mr. Schuester, Glee

While his main gig teaching Spanish might not be one of his great life passions, Mr. Schuester sure knows how to revitalize a Glee Program. He’s also the one to ask if you ever need to borrow a sweater vest.

3. Most Inspiring – Professor Keating, Dead Poets Society

Is there anyone who didn’t take Poetry 101 in college in hopes that the professor would demand that students stand on top of their desks while reading Whitman? Tell me that you didn’t tear up when Professor Keating’s loyal and literarily enlightened students pledged their allegiance in the “O Captain! My Captain!” closing scene.

4. Most likely to fall in love with an undercover reporter posing as a student– Mr. Coulson, Never Been Kissed

Another English teacher who made class worth attending, Mr. Coulson lectures on Shakespeare and wins the heart of Josie Gellar, a disguised journalist & former high school nerd trying to atone for her awkward teenage years.

5. Most likely to win on Jeopardy! AND Most likely to save you from a Vampire Apocalypse – Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Giles is the ultimate librarian. He’s a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge (with an emphasis on Dark Magic minutiae), and he teaches high school kids to fight vampires.

6. Most Free-Spirited – Mr. Rosso, Freaks & Geeks

As guidance counselor for a Detroit high school, not-so-former hippie and Alice Cooper enthusiast Mr. Rosso does his best to save high school students from making too many regrettable decisions before they turn eighteen.

7. Most likely to help you on a quest for supernatural relics – Dr. Henry Jones, Indiana Jones series

By day he’s a professor who can teach you everything there is to know about archaeology and ancient civilizations, and by night he’s a fedora-sporting, whip-cracking Nazi fighter.

8. Most likely to be your teacher forever – Mr. Feeny, Boy Meets World

Not only did Mr. Feeny teach Cory Matthews and friends in grade school, but he later became their high school principal and even their college professor later in the series. Oh, and he was the Matthews’ next door neighbor (of course). I suppose that made parent-teacher conferences super convenient?

9. Best Accent – Miss Bliss, Good Morning Miss Bliss (precursor to Saved by the Bell)

Sadly for Miss Bliss and her ultra-posh British accent, her show about a Midwest teacher trying to get through to the likes of Zack Morris and Screech Powers only lasted 13 episodes before being retooled into the much more successful Saved By the Bell.

10. Best role-model: Ms. Norbury, Mean Girls

If only more high school math teachers were as cool as Ms. Norbury. Not only is she the supremely witty supervisor for the Mathletes, she’s also patient and empathetic towards high school girls, who are possibly the least sympathetic creatures on Earth.

There are so many great educators in TV & Film; this list could go on forever. Who are your teacher top picks? And thanks to all the real-life educators who serve as inspiration for our fictional favorites with their year-round dedication and passion for teaching! -- Kate

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Kate is Promotions & Direct Mail Coordinator at Half Price Books Corporate.

Comments

[Katharine]

Showing my age here, but before I even looked at #1 in your list I thought of Mr Thackeray, aka Sir, in To Sir With Love!

[Megan Stein]

Most likely to take you on the coolest and unforgettable field trips - Ms. Frizzle 'The Magic School Bus'