At the very final session on the second-last arduous day of the TV Critics Press Tour, a crowd of 100 or so journalists are a hard sell. Yet the tweets that surfaced last night as Tony Danza unveiled his latest project, a reality show on A&E in which the actor teaches high school English for one year, were quite similar.
“Tony Danza is coming across as disturbingly earnest and thoughtful. Hold me closer, Tony Danza,” or “Tony Danza sure is passionate!” and “The most surprising part about Tony Danza and his reality show, Teach, is how serious and passionate he is. For real” were just some of the posts that led to the actor becoming a trending top on the social networking tool.
The former Who’s the Boss? star sure did seem to enjoy the spotlight. He regaled the crowd with stories of his classroom days, how he broke down within the first couple of days because he couldn’t believe how hard it was, and even took some time to respond to the negative image some other Italian-Americans are portraying — the cast of Jersey Shore.
“We yell about bad schools and bad teachers and failing schools, and then we put shows on like that, that give the kids the wrong model, and then we’re surprised when they act out,” he says.
“Shows like Jersey Shore make it harder on teachers, in general. Every day I tell kids, ‘Good behavior will pay off. Promise. Good behavior will pay off.’ And then they go home and watch that show and say, ‘Wait a minute. Mr. Danza, you’re wrong. Bad behavior pays off.’”
Teach with Tony Danza premieres in October on A&E.
Have a question about this session? Email me - amber@tvguide.ca
Amber is currently reporting live from the TV Critics Press Tour in L.A. Check out her complete coverage, including a comprehensive calendar and full schedule of events here.
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