In a similar spirit with another recent RAI series, "La compagnia del cigno", this one covers the troubles of youth as they get help from adults who use a touch of their own teaching field. So, not music but philosophy this time around.
In some way, most examples of this genre borrow from "The Blackboard Jungle", however times have changed so much that those essential story arcs are now less visible, under camouflage as teens and mid-aged people are much less divided by school hyerarchy.
One thing I liked about the show is how well the "secret story" of the two boys are buried in. At first it looked like the writers were going to gay them up, or do so at least with the teacher's son, but the introduction of that secret, shared past (something involving a transplant maybe?) gave hope about a more fresh plot.
As for Gassman: He is a fine actor. Yet, I think he is overworking. One series after another, and movies in-between, that kind of pace reduces his profile to that of a "showman" who has just too much on his plate to deliver the best possible. Of course he is convincing enough, but when one's length of beard and wardrobe remains fixed regardless of him playing a wild cop, a philosophy teacher or some fun guy, one loses that essential, "visual" aspect of "getting into character". If I were him, and if I really really had to show up in every single one of these productions, I'd ask the producers to make sure that I'd "look different" with regards to who I was portraying.
The opening night of the series showed that it has the potential to attract attention, at least from the very same base that watched "La compagnia del cigno", and can get a score around 6,5-7,5.
That is, despite the unusually dull name they picked for the series. "A Teacher". What? No one had a better idea? Sigh...
