Schooled/MERGE

## *Schooled*

Series intertitle

**Schooled/MERGE** is an American television series and spin-off of *The Goldbergs* created by Adam F. Goldberg and Mark Firek. The concept aired as a backdoor pilot on a January 24, 2018 episode of *The Goldbergs* entitled "The Goldbergs: 1990-Something". The series premiered on January 9, 2019 on ABC.

## Premise

In the 1990s, Lainey Lewis returns to Pennsylvania from the West Coast after watching her dreams of stardom fizzle out. As fate would have it, her alma mater William Penn Academy has recently lost its music teacher, and a desperate Lainey reluctantly accepts an offer to take over the job. While Rick Mellor is still the school's Physical Education coach, Jonathan Glascott has just become the new principal after Earl Ball has moved on to an administrative job with the school board. While finding her way, Lainey alternately butts heads with and receives advice from another young teacher, Charlie "C.B." Brown.

## Cast

* **Tim Meadows** as Principal Jonathan Glascott
* **Bryan Callen** as Coach Rick Mellor
* **AJ Michalka** as Lainey Lewis
* **Brett Dier** as Charlie "C.B." Brown

## Production

### Original Concept

In November 2016, it was reported that ABC was developing a spin-off of *The Goldbergs* that would focus on recurring character Rick Mellor. On January 10, 2017, it was revealed that Wendi McLendon Covey's character, Beverly Goldberg, would make a guest appearance in the pilot.. On February 2, 2017, the script was ordered to pilot.

On March 16, 2017, it was announced that Nia Long had been cast as the female lead in the role of Lucy Winston. It was also confirmed that Tim Meadows would reprise his recurring role from *The Goldbergs* as Andre Glascott and Jay Chandrasekhar was set to direct.

On May 17, 2017, Adam F. Goldberg announced via Twitter that ABC had passed on the spin-off, despite the fact that it had tested better than the original pilot for *The Goldbergs*. In the same thread, the title of the unsuccessful spin-off was revealed: *Schooled*.

On January 8, 2018, it was announced that the pilot would air as a special episode of *The Goldbergs* on January 24, 2018, under the episode title "The Goldbergs: 1990-Something". Along with Nia Long as Lucy Winston and Tim Meadows as teacher-turned-principal Andre Glascott (who is revealed to be Lucy's brother), the episode also starred Rachel Crow as Lucy's rebellious teenage daughter Felicia, and Summer Parker as Felicia's bubbly younger sister Gigi, with Octavia Spencer narrating as the present-day Felicia.

## Development

After the pilot aired, Goldberg expressed hope that the airing would prompt discussions at ABC that could potentially lead to the series being picked up for the 2018-2019 season. On April 16, 2018, it was announced that the series had officially been picked up for a 13 episode season to air in 2019 and that AJ Michalka would reprise her role as Lainey Lewis from parent series *The Goldbergs*, but Nia Long would not return due to becoming a regular cast member on the CBS drama series *NCIS: Los Angeles*. Rachel Crow's Felicia Somers is the only new character from the original pilot to appear in the final series, albeit as a recurring character rather than main role.

On October 3, 2018, it was revealed that *Jane the Virgin* actor Brett Dier had been cast as a series regular in the role of Charlie "C.B." Brown, a teacher who is both a friend and rival to rookie teacher Lainey Lewis. C.B. is based on Adam F. Goldberg’s favorite teacher and friend.

On November 28, 2018, it was announced that the series would premiere on January 9, 2019 on ABC.

On May 11, 2019, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season along with a seventh season renewal of parent series *The Goldbergs*. For the second season, Kali Hawk was originally cast as new biology teacher Wilma Howell, but was later replaced by Haneefah Wood.

## Reception

### Critical Response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 70% approval rating for *Schooled*, with an average rating of 5.9/10, based on 10 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Schooled's freshman outing struggles to differentiate itself from its predecessor—though its sweetly silly sensibilities and stellar cast may be enough for viewers looking for a good-natured sitcom." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 56 out of 100 based on reviews from 7 critics.

## Gallery

Season 1 Promotional ImageSeason 2 Promotional Image
## References

1. ↑ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2016/11/08/development-update-tuesday-november-8-686012/11918/
2. ↑ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2017/01/10/development-update-tuesday-january-10-201421/11970/
3. ↑ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2017/02/02/development-update-thursday-february-2-619121/11993/
4. ↑ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2017/03/09/development-update-thursday-march-9-66315/12027/
5. ↑ https://twitter.com/adamfgoldberg/status/865011205139812352
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/adamfgoldberg/status/865012519265460225
7. ↑ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/goldbergs-1990s-set-spinoff-picked-up-series-at-abc-1090077
8. ↑ https://deadline.com/2018/10/schooled-brett-dier-cast-the-goldbergs-spinoff-series-abc-1202475032/
9. ↑ https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/tv-news-roundup-abc-premiere-schooled-goldbergs-1203038681/
10. ↑ https://deadline.com/2019/05/the-goldbergs-spinoff-schooled-renewed-abc-1202605059/
11. ↑ https://www.buzznet.com/2019/10/major-casting-changes-2019-tv-season//2/?chrome=1