The one hundred eighteenth TV show: #613 Teachers
Some shows struggle more with losing cast members than others. A show like Doctor Who thrives on it, and probably wouldn't have survived without changing cast members. Soaps wouldn't be able to keep up without it, either. Teachers, however, is not so lucky, and it's at the top of my mind as the twenty episode cut off is at the start of season 3, after some major cast changes have taken place. Andrew Lincoln and Raquel Graves leave, and while their replacements do fine, they don't do quite as well. It's not helped by some of the supporting characters not working as well when they are given bigger roles - the focus on finding other people to 'shag' and other focuses like that don't work as well when they're more of a focus.
Putting that aside, Teachers creates an odd mix of absurd humour bits, mostly in the background or in short sketches at the start of the beginning of a scene or day, and some very real topics based on the life of teachers. It probably glamourises the life a bit compared to what I've seen of real life, but it works to tell these stories of life. There are plenty of times where it gets quite affecting and real and brings some good storylines. At its best though, it does that while staying funny.
One other standout is the soundtrack - the rock songs work really well to set an atmosphere and emphasize the slight punk mood they want to create for the teachers. The only issue is that you want to go to the first two seasons, after which it gets a bit too indulgent with its own tendencies.