Dangerous Minds

It presents a comforting view of teachers, one familiar to anyone who has seen Sidney Poitier's instructor in To Sir With Love and Robert Donat's teacher in Goodbye, Mr. Chips. [29 Sept 1996, p.F1]

The ABC drama starring Annie Potts is not only a vast improvement on the film, but also restores some of the integrity of Johnson's book. [30 Sept 1996, p.C10]

It's seldom been done on television any better - in terms of production or acting. The script is intelligent, Potts is terrific, and her students (Vicellous Reon Shannon and Tamala Jones, in particular) are good, too...As a weekly series at 7 p.m., though, Dangerous Minds needs to lighten up a little. It's a bit dark and down. [30 Sept 1996, p.6]

A captivating actress known for offbeat comic roles in "Designing Women," "Love & War" and "Texasville," Potts forcefully redefines the character of inspirational teacher Louanne Johnson in ABC's improved version of Dangerous Minds. [30 Sept 1996, p.39]

Unless she and her cowboy boots walk on water next week, Dangerous Minds will have a tough time topping itself. [30 Sept 1996, p.45]

Better than the movie...How often can you say that about a network knockoff? [30 Sept 1996, p.3D]

Yes, it's sentimental and often strains credibility. But Dangerous Minds is also keenly humane, a belligerent bulwark against cynicism. Moreover, Potts heads a terrific ensemble that makes you care about these kids and this teacher. [30 Sept 1996]

Some of the conflicts and characters in Dangeous Minds are diluted. Language, by necessity, is a lot less raw, camera work is unnecessarily gimmicky, and most conflicts are resolved more neatly...However, the TV version's writers (including Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider of "Northern Exposure") take as much care as did the movie to not resolve everything nicely or neatly. [30 Sept 1996, p.67]

Potts does it convincingly. Even the classroom scenes are instructive. [30 Sept 1996, p.D5]

Potts has some nice moments. Even an actress as able as she, though, ultimately buckles under the tonnage of this character's supremacy, and strong supporting work from Greg Serano, Tamala Jones and Vicellous Reon Shannon as the students she takes under her wing is not enough to shore her up. [30 Sept 1996, p.F10]

[Potts] plays Johnson a little stronger, a little grittier, a little more in control, than Pfeiffer did, and as a result is more believable. The series, too, is less of a simple-minded fable, incorporating a more detailed vision of the modern educational landscape, fleshing out Johnson's fellow faculty and having her rely less on teaching by bribe. [30 Sept 1996, p.3]

Its efforts at grainy, gritty realism (e.g. a quality visually tried for in occasional stop-go cuts) comes off more as MTV hip-hop style than storytelling with true inherent significance. [30 Sept 1996]

If Dangerous Minds had really been interested in such thorny issues, it might have been onto something. Instead, the conversation simply serves to shine Ms. Johnson's halo. That's not exactly credible for a show that pretends to depict gritty reality. [30 Sept 1996, p.C16]

Annie Potts (who's OK, but no Michelle Pfeiffer) is a teacher so good, so strong, so committed, you wonder if she's vulnerable to kryptonite. She also inhabits a fantasy world where she's able to stare down gang members and nonchalantly plant a kiss on the cheek of a sleeping student (wonder what the school-system lawyers in B'more would say). [30 Sept 1996, p.6D]