Tuesday, January 08, 2019
ABC Mid-Season Pilot Review: Schooled - Premieres Wednesday (Jan. 9); Grey's Anatomy Gets 3 More Episodes in 2018-19 Season

Schooled - Wednesdays at 8:30PM ET/PT on ABC
Premieres Wednesday, January 9, 2019 at 8:30PM ET/PT
by Vincent
This spinoff of the hit series The Goldbergs is set in 1990-something and follow the hilarious teachers of William Penn Academy - led by Tim Meadows (Principal Glascott), Bryan Callen (Coach Mellor) and AJ Michalka (Lainey Lewis) - who, despite their eccentricities and crazy personal lives, are heroes to their students.
Cast Details:
AJ Michalka as Lainey Lewis
Brett Dier as C.B.
Bryan Callen as Coach Mellor
Tim Meadows as Principal Glascott
AJ Michalka (Lainey) is best known as one-half of the duo Aly and AJ (formerly 78Violet) with her sister Aly Michalka. She has also had a successful acting career, including spending four seasons on Schooled's parent series The Goldbergs.
Brett Dier (C.B.) is an actor best known for his role as Michael Cordero Jr. on Jane the Virgin. He is also known for his recurring roles in the Canadian TV shows Bomb Girls and The L.A. Complex, as well as Pretty Little Liars spin-off Ravenswood.
Bryan Callen (Coach Mellor) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and podcaster known for his role in the original cast of the Fox sketch comedy series MAD TV and for co-hosting the podcast The Fighter and the Kid, alongside Brendan Schaub. He of course plays this role on the parent series The Goldbergs, too.
Tim Meadows (Principal Glascott) is a comedic actor known for his long running role on Saturday Night Live, as well as his appearances in films such as Mean Girls and Trainwreck and TV series such as The Goldbergs, The Colbert Report and The Office.
Pilot Plot:
"Be Like Mike" (Airs Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 8:30PM ET)
It's 1990-something, and since Lainey still hasn't achieved rock 'n' roll greatness, she returns to William Penn Academy as the new music teacher. Lainey has a hard time adjusting to being an authority figure, but she realizes she might not be so bad at it when she discovers a kindred spirit in Principal Glascott's niece, Felicia. Meanwhile, Coach Mellor struggles with Michael Jordan's influence on modern-day basketball.
Analysis:
Following the success of Young Sheldon over on CBS and The Conners on ABC, the spin-off game keeps on rolling with Schooled, a spin-off of The Goldbergs focused on Lainey's newfound career as a music teacher. While Young Sheldon felt markedly different from its parent show in many ways (though that didn't stop it from being highly successful), and The Conners had to sift through some controversy that may have kept some of Roseanne's audience from being interested in it (though again - it still does quite well) Schooled feels pretty aligned with the spirit of The Goldbergs. If you like The Goldbergs, chances are you won't mind sticking around the extra half hour for Schooled, although the show still has a few kinks to be worked out and doesn't quite feel like a fully-formed series just yet. In fact, that's probably my biggest criticism of Schooled. Other recent spin-offs like Young Sheldon and The Conners managed to feel like complete series that exist somewhat independently from their parent series - sure, they get a lot of influence from those parent series, but they're reasonably self-sustaining enough that you can imagine someone watching either without being necessarily interested in the parent series. The same isn't quite true for Schooled, which feels like an extension of The Goldbergs brand of humor but doesn't quite have its own mission statement just yet.
At this point I should admit that I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of The Goldbergs. I don't dislike the series, but of all of ABC's family sitcoms, it's towards the bottom of the list of shows that catch my interest. It's the type of show I'll watch and not complain about if I see it on the TV in syndication - it's light, fun, and carefree, and a pleasant way to spend a half-hour, but it also lacks the weight of shows like black-ish, Fresh Off the Boat, or The Middle. That makes Schooled - a show that shares The Goldbergs' nostalgic and farcical sensibility but with even less feeling of purpose, feel especially weightless in these early episodes. Lainey is a fun character and Michalaka plays her well, but the universe she's in doesn’t feel like anything more than a side plot on The Goldbergs right now, and the pilot doesn't do a great job of convincing me that it's going to figure out how to make William Penn Academy feel like the type of place you can base a whole series around. That said, it has the potential to get there, and a show that takes an honest look at the inner workings of teachers in a school with the heart and wit of The Goldbergs is something that would fit nicely into the sitcom landscape right now. (A.P. Bio is a school-based comedy, yes, and while it's slowly growing on me, I don't think it has any real interest at taking a heartfelt look at the workings of a school.) Still, I worry the show will get too comfortable being The Goldbergs' little sister - and I hope that's not the case, because it'd be nice to see a show with a somewhat interesting concept succeed, and I'm not sure how long the Goldbergs audience will be interested in a similar, less interesting clone.
Conclusion:
Schooled is very much in the same vein as The Goldbergs, so if you like that show, chances are you'll at least enjoy Schooled. However, the show is still a little flimsy in this early going, and hasn't made it especially clear how it's going to differentiate itself from its parent series and become its own kind of show. There are glimmers of potential, particularly in its cast, and I hope the series can turn around and become something special, rather than a less interesting extension of The Goldbergs.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Watchability: 3/5
Funniness: 2/5
Overall: 2.5/5
Discuss the show after you watch it on Wednesday, January 9, 2019 at 8:30PM ET/PT on our message board.
Related Links:
Preview:

The ABC Television Network has ordered three additional episodes of Grey's Anatomy, bringing the 2018-2019 season to 25 episodes total. This year, the show will become the longest-running prime-time medical drama ever during the second half of season 15. The midseason return of Grey's Anatomy will air Thursday, January 17, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. EST) on The ABC Television Network, streaming and on demand. In its 15th season, Grey's Anatomy averages a 3.1/13 among Adults 18-49 (Live+7 Data Stream) to rank as ABC's No. 1 TV show of the 2018-2019 season. Grey's Anatomy stars Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey, Justin Chambers as Alex Karev, Chandra Wilson as Miranda Bailey, James Pickens Jr. as Richard Webber, Kevin McKidd as Owen Hunt, Jesse Williams as Jackson Avery, Caterina Scorsone as Amelia Shepherd, Camilla Luddington as Jo Wilson, Kelly McCreary as Maggie Pierce, Kim Raver as Teddy Altman and Giacomo Gianniotti as Andrew DeLuca.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Sunday, May 28
The Conners - "Possums, Pregnancy and Patriarchy" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Harris makes a big announcement. Meanwhile, Ben is overwhelmed with family responsibilities.
The Conners - "Hiding In and Moving Out" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Harris takes her anger out on Darlene. Elsewhere, Dan and Louise spend an entire day in bed together.
The Conners - "The Contra Hearings and the Midnight Gambler" (ABC, 10:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mark fights for a spot in the Lanford High chamber orchestra. Elsewhere, Jackie puts a lottery machine in the Lunch Box.
The Conners - "Road Trip and Guilt Trip" (ABC, 10:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dan and Jackie take a road trip to a hardware wholesaler in Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Darlene heads out of town and leaves behind a plethora of to-do notes for Becky and Ben.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 22)
Friday, May 26
- Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Watch Jason on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Ali Wong (Big Mouth/American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) - Ali is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) - Chris appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies) - Tom is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Sebastian Maniscalco (How to Be a Bookie) - Sebastian talks about his new film About My Father on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
- Issa Rae (Insecure) - Issa is a guest on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
- Bill Bellamy (Mr. Box Office/Men, Women & Dogs/Cousin Skeeter) - Bill appears on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
- Ming-Na Wen (The Single Guy) and BD Wong (All-American Girl) - Ming-Na and BD talk about Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
- Hailee Steinfeld (Dickinson) - Hailee and actor Shameik Moore sit down together to talk about their new film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, in theaters on June 2 on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Leslie Odom Jr. (Love in the Time of Corona/Big Dady) and Nicolette Robinson (Love in the Time of Corona/Perfect Couples) - Leslie and Nicolette chat with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Daniel Wu (American Born Chinese) - Daniel talks about American Born Chinese on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Kimberly Williams-Paisley (According to Jim) - Kimberly is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (January-June)
01/03 - Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series (2023 Release)
01/27 - Master of None - Season Three / The Complete Series
02/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Nine / The Complete Season Ten
02/28 - Growing Pains - The Complete Series
03/28 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/04 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Fifth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/18 - Blondie - The Complete 1957 Television Series (Blu-ray)
04/25 - Cheers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
05/23 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Eleven / The Complete Season Twelve
05/23 - Go On - The Complete Series
05/23 - Kate & Allie - The Complete Series (Universal)
05/29 - Gimme a Break! - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/29 - Kate & Allie - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/30 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
06/13 - Mayberry R.F.D. - The Complete Series
06/13 - Night Court (1984-1992) - The Complete Series
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