The first new shows: 1 out of 2 works fine

The first two new shows of the TV season are coming, bearing responsibility.
After a slow spring and a slack summer, viewers need something good. Now the fall season begins with:
— “English Teacher” (shown here), at 10 p.m. Mondays on FX, starting Sept. 2. It’s quite good; once it sheds its early monotone, it leans toward terrific.
— “Universal Basic Guys,” at 8 p.m. for three Sundays (starting Sept. 8) on Fox, before sliding to 8:30 when “The Simpsons” returns on Sept. 29. The opener is mainly for people who are amused when a mistreated chimp rips off the protagonist’s face.
For now, we’ll skip “Universal,” watch some more episodes and hope it gets better. But “English Teacher” is worth talking about now.
Brian Jordan Alvarez (shown here) is an actor-writer-producer who has drawn praise in the digital world, ranging from a web series (“The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo”) to a song (“Sitting”) that became a viral hit. He linked with Paul Simms, who is skilled at offbeat comedies (currently “What We Do In the Shadows”) that also fit situation-comedy tastes.
Alvarez plays Evan, a high school English teacher in suburban Austin, Texas. He’s gay, which is no issue for the kids and most of the parents.
Still, issues keep appearing: In the first episode, a parent objects to him kissing his then-boyfriend in front of the students … In the second, he helps mold a drag-queen routine … In the third, he’s stifled by the school board’s rule that he not date a fellow teacher.
That’s sort of why this is merely “quite good.” The first episodes, all gay-themed, seem too similar; “English Teacher” veers close to being a monotone. It’s much better in the fourth episode (Evan objects to Gun Club) and fifth (a camping trip, at a time when he feels left out).
Often, a sitcom start – from Andy Griffith to Jerry Seinfeld – will be the voice of reason. Not this time; Evan is generally right, but tends to overdo, overfret, overstate. When he spends all weekend writing a letter to the school board, the principal merely shrugs and says “Gestapo” is usually capitalized.
And the fifth episode peaks when his friend Gwen explains: “You don’t like to help people.” Evan quietly agrees.
This is a good (if overwrought) character, with great people in support:
— Gwen (Stephanie Koenig), forever supportive of Evan and of her jobless boyfriend.
— Markie (Sean Patton), a burly gym teacher who is politically incorrect … but might have the best EQ (emotional quotient) in all of academia.
— The principal (Enrico Colantoni), forever in just-get-by mode.
— And the students, given to all the trendy talk about feelings and such. By the middle of the third episode, one has a syndrome named after her. At moments like that, “English Teacher” veers closer to terrific.