Top 10 Male Teachers On TV

Remember that teacher who terrified and enraged you but inspired you to do better all at the same time? Meet Mr. Collins, the tough-and-stern-teach whose compassion for his students rarely breaks through his professional exterior – unless you’re Kevin Arnold. Math professor extraordinaire to our junior high protagonist, Mr. Collins is the kinda guy who’ll go the extra mile to see his students succeed, and it’s that kind of quiet support that earned him a spot on this list, despite the fact that he only appeared in a handful of episodes.

Will Schuester, the curly-headed leader of McKinley High School’s choir on “Glee,” takes sensitivity to new levels. Mr. Schue, as he’s affectionately known, is the dream teacher: compassionate, caring, enthusiastic, inspiring and able to hit the high notes. Sure, he sometimes makes a bad decision, but he’s got the backs of every kid in his glee club – and he works overtime to make them the best that they can be.

Can a guy go from disgraced cop to beloved teacher? If that guy is “The Wire’s” Roland Pryzbylewski, he can. Prezbo was bummed about leaving the force, but he finds his true calling as a math teacher. He manages to address the problems of his students while setting up boundaries – and even succeeds in teaching things that would actually benefit them in life.

Teaching students can be a challenge, even if they’re smart and gifted. In “Head of the Class,” history teacher Charlie Moore has to remind them that there’s a difference between learning and knowing – and that there’s more to life than getting into a good college. Mr. Moore is in that long line of motivational teachers that knows how to show a person that life is far too good to waste.

Dick Solomon, physics professor at Pendelton State University, isn’t your typical teacher. For one thing, he’s an alien from another world who’s just disguised as a regular human being. For another, he’s kind of an overgrown kid and doesn’t know a lot about how human beings behave. As a result, he tends to learn a lot more from his students than they do from him – but come to think of it, that happens a lot in real life, too.

“South Park’s” Mr. Garrison, known for a while as Mrs. Garrison after a sex change operation, may not be the greatest role model – but he definitely qualifies as memorable. The elementary school teacher appears to suffer from multiple personality disorder, with two of those personalities expressed through puppets called Mr. Hat and Mr. Twig. Although for puppets, they seem to have very independent lives. As a teacher, Mr. Garrison is incompetent and spends much more time showing his class “Barnaby Jones” reruns and making factual errors. Which doesn’t really seem so out of place in the world of “South Park.”

“Boy Meets World’s” Mr. Feeny would make the list if for no other reason than that he somehow managed to be a part of Cory Matthew’s academic life from elementary school through college. And why not? Mr. Feeny may be strict, but he has a heart of gold underneath. He cares deeply about his students and pushes them hard out of a sense of devotion and love. While the almost too-cool-for-school, Jonathan Turner deserves a mention as John Adams High’s motorcycle-riding English teacher, it’s Feeny that continues to live on through countless memes and Tumblr posts today.

Walter White starts out as a pretty good chemistry teacher, displaying a passion for the subject that was once his chosen profession. However, he just doesn’t know how to reach a bunch of kids who clearly have no interest in it. As White grows more and more invested in his Heisenberg persona, his teaching personality changes too – and not always for the better. But watching the contrast is absolutely engrossing.

Ben Chang is not your typical Spanish teacher: for one thing, he faked his teaching credentials. For another, he’s a bully, and unbalanced one at that. And whatever the Spanish word is for “dictatorial,” that describes his approach to teaching at Greendale. No wonder he got fired. Still, Señor Chang has an undercurrent of vulnerability and a load of insecurity; he may not be the kind of teacher you want in the classroom, but he’s definitely the kind you want on your favorite quirky sitcom.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Richard Katimski
“My So-Called Life” (1994-95)
- Mark Cyr
“Parenthood” (2010-)

Gabe Kotter may have had goofy hair and a silly mustache, but hey – it was the ‘70s. More importantly, he had more heart and more humor than he knew what to do with. Mr. Kotter was exactly the teacher that his students, the Sweathogs, needed. Everyone else gave up on them; Mr. Kotter refused to. Kotter was no dummy; he didn’t let his kids get away with things, but he also never let them down.

Do you agree with our list? What other amazing male educators from TV should we have put on this list? For more educational top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.