A.P. Bio
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''A.P. Bio'' is an American
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
television series that premiered on February 1, 2018, on NBC as a mid-season replacement. It aired on NBC for two seasons until June 13, 2019, and moved to
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...
for its subsequent seasons. The series is focused on the everyday lives of the faculty and students of the fictitious Whitlock High School. Mike O'Brien created the series and is a recurring writer. O'Brien is also one of the executive producers alongside
Seth Meyers Seth Adam Meyers (born December 28, 1973) is an American comedian, writer, producer, actor, and television host. He hosts ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'', a late-night talk show on NBC. Prior to that, he was a cast member and head writer for NBC ...
, Lorne Michaels, Andrew Singer, and Michael Shoemaker. Although set in
Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, it is primarily filmed in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. The series is centered around Jack Griffin, played by Glenn Howerton. Griffin is a philosophy professor who, after being fired from his
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
position, returns to his hometown and picks up teaching Advanced Placement Biology all while trying to find opportunities to move out. ''A.P. Bio'' also features a cast of Lyric Lewis, Mary Sohn, Jean Villepique, Paula Pell, and
Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...
. ''A.P. Bio'' was met with mixed reviews on its first season, however following seasons have garnered a much more positive reception. In December 2021, the series was canceled after four seasons.


Plot

When disgraced
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
professor Jack Griffin ( Glenn Howerton) loses his dream job to his rival Miles Leonard ( Tom Bennett), he is forced to return to his hometown of
Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...
, to work as an advanced placement biology teacher at Whitlock High School and live in his late mother's home. He makes it clear to his class that he will not be teaching them any biology. Realizing he has a room full of honor-roll students at his disposal, he decides to use them to get revenge on Miles. Eager to prove that he is still king of the castle, Principal Durbin (
Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...
) struggles to keep Jack under control. In the second season, Jack uses his students to find out how the people of Toledo find happiness in their daily lives, to gather information for what he believes will be a bestselling book.


Cast


Main

* Glenn Howerton as Dr. Jack Griffin **Tate Birchmore (season 3) and Olivier Paris (season 4) play younger versions of Jack *Lyric Lewis as Stef Duncan, a history teacher who is friends with Jack, Mary, and Michelle *Mary Sohn as Mary Wagner, an art teacher who is friends with Jack, Stef, and Michelle *
Jean Villepique Jean Villepique ( }) is an American actress known for her roles in ''BoJack Horseman'', ''A.P. Bio'', and ''Up All Night''. Villepique was previously a member of The Second City. Born in New Jersey, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre ...
as Michelle Jones, a health and home economics teacher who is friends with Jack, Stef, and Mary **Michelle was played by Vanessa Bayer in the pilot episode * Tom Bennett as Miles Leonard, a philosophy scholar and professor at
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
who is Jack's rival and nemesis (season 1) *
Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...
as Principal Ralph Durbin, the principal of Whitlock High School. While kind and working in the school's best interests, he is irresponsible and somewhat childlike. He plays the keyboard and sings, and was in a
ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
band in the 1990s. * Paula Pell as Helen Demarcus, Principal Durbin's secretary (seasons 2–4, recurring season 1)


Recurring

*Jacob McCarthy as Devin, a quiet, brooding student who Jack calls "Prince of Darkness" (season 1) *
Tucker Albrizzi Tucker Albrizzi (born February 25, 2000) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Tyler Duncan on '' Big Time Rush,'' Jake on ''Good Luck Charlie,'' Randall Snyder on ''American Vandal'' and Colin McConnell on '' A.P. Bio''. He h ...
as Colin McConnell (season 1) * Collette Wolfe as Meredith *
Aparna Brielle Aparna Brielle (born Aparna Parthasarathy on February 5, 1994) is an American actress. She portrayed Sarika Sarkar on the NBC television series '' A.P. Bio''. Early life Aparna Brielle was born in Clackamas, Oregon to Indian American couple ...
as Sarika Sarkar, an over-achieving teacher's pet who usually opposes Jack's schemes *Nick Peine as Marcus Kasperak, the student council president who is in the AP Bio class. He is noted as being Jack's "least favorite student" and is constantly made fun of by him as a result. * Allisyn Snyder as Heather Wilmore, a mousy girl who acts as one of Jack's most trusted students/underlings *Eddie Leavy as Anthony Lewis, a sassy, effeminate boy *Charlie McCrackin as Coach Dick Novak, a gym teacher who coaches the Whitlock Rams football team *Jacob Houston as Victor Kozlowski, an extremely awkward and slow-talking boy *
Spence Moore II Spence Duane Moore II (born December 16, 1997) is an American actor best known for his main or recurring roles in a number of television series debuting in 2018: '' Five Points'' (2018), '' A.P. Bio'' (2018–2021) and '' All American'' (2018–p ...
as Dan Decker, a former bully who is forcibly enrolled into Jack's class as a punishment *Sari Arambulo as Grace *Marisa Baram as Marissa *David Neher as Dave Pugh, a science teacher who is constantly made fun of by the other teachers *Brendan Jennings as Dale, the school's custodian, later promoted to "head custodian" by Durbin in the second season *Yuyao Deng as Yuyao, a Chinese student in the AP Bio class *
Patricia Belcher Patricia Belcher (born 1954) is an American film, stage and television actress, known for her roles as Ms. Dabney in the Disney Channel sitcom ''Good Luck Charlie'', and as United States Attorney Caroline Julian in the FOX crime procedural c ...
as Superintendent Bullard (seasons 1–2, 4) * Brad Morris as Keith (seasons 2–4) *
Elizabeth Alderfer Elizabeth Alderfer (born February 5, 1986) is an American actress who is known for her role as Olivia in the Netflix comedy television series ''Disjointed'' and her recurring role as Lynette in NBC/Peacock (streaming service), Peacock comedy ser ...
as Lynette, a payroll accountant who befriends, and later dates, Jack (seasons 2–4) *Miguel Chavez as Eduardo, Victor's childhood best friend who transfers into the AP Biology class (seasons 2–4) *Jacob Timothy Manown as Caleb, an AP Bio student who is also in the drama club. He writes in his free time and is a fan of Principal Durbin's old ska band. (seasons 2–4) *Jaime Moyer as Joyce (seasons 2–4) *Cheryl Lynn Bowers as Rosemary Griffin (seasons 3–4) *Jane Morris as Rhonda (seasons 3–4) *Ashley Tapia and
Chloe Csengery Chloe Csengery (born July 7, 2000) is an American actress known for playing the role of young Katie in the feature films '' Paranormal Activity 3'', '' Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones'', and '' Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension''. ...
as Ashley (season 4) *Allison Bills as Trudy (season 4) *
Hayley Marie Norman Hayley Marie Norman is an American actress, writer, and creator best known for her roles in ''Kenan'', ''A.P. Bio'', ''Hancock'', ''Chris Rock's Top Five'', ''Adam Ruins Everything'', ''Fired Up!'', and ''Norbit''. Norman has written, produced ...
as Shayla Howard (season 4)


Guest stars


Episodes


Season 1 (2018)


Season 2 (2019)


Season 3 (2020)


Season 4 (2021)


Production


Development

The series was created by Mike O'Brien for NBC, to debut during the 2017–18 television season. On January 23, 2017, NBC officially ordered the pilot. The series was greenlit on May 11, 2017. It was announced the premiere of the series on February 1, 2018 at 8:30 p.m. On May 8, 2018, NBC renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on March 7, 2019. On May 24, 2019, NBC canceled the series after two seasons. In July 2019, NBC reversed this decision and renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on NBCUniversal's streaming service,
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...
, on September 3, 2020. On December 17, 2020, Peacock renewed the series for a fourth season, which premiered on September 2, 2021. On December 6, 2021, Peacock canceled the series after four seasons.


Casting

In February 2017, it was announced that Mary Sohn and Lyric Lewis had joined the pilot's main cast. In March 2017, it was reported that
Aparna Brielle Aparna Brielle (born Aparna Parthasarathy on February 5, 1994) is an American actress. She portrayed Sarika Sarkar on the NBC television series '' A.P. Bio''. Early life Aparna Brielle was born in Clackamas, Oregon to Indian American couple ...
, Glenn Howerton,
Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...
, Nick Peine and Jacob McCarthy had joined the cast in their main roles. On June 12, 2017, it was announced that Tom Bennett had joined as a series regular. On August 1, 2017, it was announced that Jean Villepique had joined as a series regular.


Release


Marketing

On April 15, 2020,
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...
released the first official trailer for the series's third season.


Reception


Critical response

The first season holds a score of 66% with an average rating of 6.34/10 on the
review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 32 reviews. The site's critical consensus states, "''A.P. Bio'' has some genuine laughs, but audiences have already seen plenty of authority figures behaving badly—and have a right to expect more from this promising premise and talented cast."
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 59 out of 100 based on 17 critics. Writing in ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'', Daniel Fienberg commented that ''A.P. Bio'' had a good cast and "the only thing holding it back is the small quibble that it's not actually all that funny." Margaret Lyons of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called ''A.P. Bio'' "an abrasive sitcom that isn't merely unfunny, it's also deeply unpleasant." Jen Chaney of
Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
said the series had bright spots but was "conceptually played-out" overall.


Ratings


Overall


Season 1


Season 2


Home media

The first season of ''A.P. Bio'' was released on DVD in the United States on August 14, 2018 and in Australia on June 6, 2019


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:A.P. Bio 2010s American high school television series 2010s American workplace comedy television series 2020s American high school television series 2020s American workplace comedy television series 2018 American television series debuts 2021 American television series endings American television series revived after cancellation English-language television shows NBC original programming Peacock (streaming service) original programming Television series about educators Television series by Broadway Video Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in Toledo, Ohio