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''Those Who Can't'' is an American sitcom that aired on
truTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...
. The series revolves around a group of teachers at a fictional high school in Denver, Colorado. It premiered February 11, 2016, and ran for three seasons before being canceled on April 24, 2019.


Premise

''Those Who Can't'' is a half-hour sitcom set in
Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
. The show follows three dysfunctional teachers, played by show creators Adam Cayton-Holland, Andrew Orvedahl and Ben Roy of the
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
-based comedy trio The Grawlix. More inept than the kids they teach, they're out to beat the system as they struggle to survive each day on their own terms. Maria Thayer stars as the school
librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...
with a bubbling passion for life. The show is set in the fictional ''Smoot High School'', named after the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. The show was originally set up for Amazon Studios who paid $50,000 to shoot the pilot. Amazon gave it a script order for 6 more episodes but ultimately did not order it to series. The show was acquired by
truTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...
as their first-ever full-length scripted
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic 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. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
and was ordered with 10 episodes. The acquisition was part of truTV's comedy-driven “Way More Fun” programming initiative. When the show was first created, Cayton-Holland stated they wrote the character of Abbey Logan (originally played by comedian
Nikki Glaser Nikki Glaser (; born June 1, 1984) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and television host. She hosted the television series '' Not Safe with Nikki Glaser'', which premiered on Comedy Central in 2016. She starred in the 2022 reality show ' ...
), the high-school librarian, as the love interest. Orvedahl stated that in the pilot, Abbey "just sort of lived in the library and served only to flirt with Adam’s character.” The character and role was revised for the shows run at truTV and Abbey is stated to have become "one of the gang" with all the characters now on equal footing. The show holds a TV-MA rating due to language and sexually suggestive humor. Its title is a reference to the
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
proverb " those who can, do; those who can't, teach."


Cast


Main

* Adam Cayton-Holland as Loren Payton. A Spanish teacher who dwells on the fact that he once spent a semester in Spain, Loren is a major hipster who would rather spend his time at brewery openings than in the classroom. Loren is a spoiled and self-absorbed narcissist who grew up with wealthy parents. * Andrew Orvedahl as Andy Fairbell. A gym teacher/JV volleyball coach/health teacher, Fairbell has a good heart but his naïveté and lack of social skills often leaves him on the receiving end of abuse from others as a result. He has been described as a "human golden retriever." * Ben Roy as Billy Shoemaker. Shoemaker is a former high school punk rocker with tattooed arms and massive anger management issues. Separated from his wife, with whom he shares a son, he struggles to reconcile his past as an anti-establishment troublemaker who spent several years touring with his punk band, "Capitalist Emulsification," with his adult life as a history teacher and responsible family man. * Maria Thayer as Abbey Logan. The school librarian, who serves as the voice of reason against the other main cast and their schemes but is shown to be just as depraved as the others when pushed. * Rory Scovel as Principal Geoffrey Quinn. The naive school principal, who is just as incompetent as the teaching staff. Quinn considers "cool guy" Loren Payton to be his best friend, but it is mostly a one-sided friendship.


Recurring

*
Sonya Eddy Sonya Eddy (June 17, 1967 – December 19, 2022) was an American actress. She was best known for playing Epiphany Johnson in the American American Broadcasting Company, ABC soap opera ''General Hospital'' (2006—2022) for which she won a posthu ...
as Tammy, the secretary to Principal Quinn. She is often the only sensible person in the school, but is largely ignored and ridiculed. Tammy and Loren Payton have a strong mutual dislike. * Kyle Kinane as Rod Knorr, an alcoholic teacher at Smoot. He is rarely sober at school, other than a few short stints of abstinence, and often gets caught up in the schemes of the other teachers. Billy Shoemaker dated his mother, Doris, until her death, which really bothered him. Often distills
crème de menthe Crème de menthe (, French for "mint cream") is a sweet, mint-flavored alcoholic beverage. It is available commercially in a colorless version (called "white") and a green version (colored by the mint leaves or by added coloring if made from ext ...
and is a big fan of Señor Frog's margaritas. * The Sklar Brothers as Drs. Rick and Astor Green, a pair of twins who often take turns pretending to be the same school physician. * Susie Essman as Leslie Bronn, the school's home ec teacher. She is sarcastic and abrasive and seems to have side hustles, such as making rock candy with Loren to sell when the school's vending machines were removed. *
Mary Lynn Rajskub Mary Lynn Rajskub () is an American actress and comedian who is best known for portraying Chloe O'Brian in the action thriller series '' 24'' and Gail the Snail in ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia''. Rajskub was a regular cast member on HBO' ...
as Summer, the drama teacher who is slightly unhinged. * Peter Stormare as Superintendent Carson, the district superintendent who unsuccessfully attempts to run for mayor of Denver. * Cheri Oteri as Cattie Goodman, a "fixer" for the school district who is assigned to replace Quinn as principal after his arrest. She is a devout Christian and is constantly horrified at the gang's antics, which eventually drive her insane. * Patton Oswalt as Gil Nash, a real estate developer who is elected mayor and is revealed to be sabotaging the school so he can tear it down and build condos on the land. *
Jerry Minor Jerome Charles Minor Jr. is an American actor, comedian and writer known for his comedic roles in numerous television programs such as '' Mr. Show'', ''Saturday Night Live'', '' Trigger Happy TV'', '' Delocated'', ''Brickleberry'', '' Unbreakable ...
as Steven Sweeney, Smoot's new guidance counselor whom the gang sees as a threat to their slacker lifestyle and whom Quinn uses as a personal therapist.


Guests

* Sarah Michelle Gellar as Gwen Stephanie, the president of the PTA. * T.J. Miller as Uncle Jake, owner of a local pizzeria and Loren's cousin. *
Mark Hoppus Mark Allan Hoppus (born March 15, 1972) is an American musician and record producer. He is the co-lead vocalist, co-founder, and bassist for the rock band Blink-182 and the only member to appear on every album. Hoppus became interested in ska ...
as Measles, one of Shoemaker's former bandmates. *
Michael Madsen Michael Madsen (born September 25, 1957) is an American actor. Alongside his frequent collaborations with Quentin Tarantino—''Reservoir Dogs'' (1992), ''Kill Bill: Volume 2'' (2004), ''The Hateful Eight'' (2015), and ''Once Upon a Time in Hol ...
as Officer Callahan, the new school police officer, who is revealed to be blind and riding out his service until retirement. * Will Sasso as Coach Irontoe, a former Denver Bronco whom Cattie appoints as new football coach, but is secretly stealing from the school. *
Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler and amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler. He first earned recognition for winning a Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, gold me ...
as Coach Joe Donnelly, wrestling coach for a rival school whom Abbey has a crush on.


Locations

Van Nuys High School is used as a stand-in for exterior shots of Smoot High.


Episodes


Series overview


Season 1 (2016)


Season 2 (2016)


Season 3 (2019)


Reception


Critical response

For the first season, the review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...
reported a 40% approval rating with an average rating of 5.9/10, based on 10 reviews, with a mixed response from critics: Allison Shoemaker from
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
gave season 1 a rating "B+", writing: "Cayton-Holland, Orvedahl, and Roy seem to be having the time of their lives, and it's almost impossible to watch people having that much fun without getting in the spirit of things.", while Mark A. Perigard from the American daily newspaper
Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...
rated the show a "D", reporting: "Watching Those Who Can't is like being stuck in Saturday detention. It feels like forever.".
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
graded the series a
weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
rating of 57 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


References


External links


''Those Who Can't'' official website
* {{TruTV 2016 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings 2010s American high school television series 2010s American sitcoms 2010s American workplace comedy television series American English-language television shows TruTV original programming Television series about educators Television shows set in Colorado Television series by 3 Arts Entertainment Amazon Prime Video original programming