A.P. Bio is an American television sitcom that premiered on February 1, 2018, on NBC as a mid-season replacement. It aired on NBC for two seasons until June 13, 2019 and moved to Peacock for its subsequent seasons.[1] The series is focused on the everyday lives of the faculty and students of the fictitious Whitlock High School. Mike O'Brien created the series and is a recurring writer. O'Brien is also one of the executive producers alongside Seth Meyers, Lorne Michaels, Andrew Singer, and Michael Shoemaker. Although set in Toledo, Ohio, it is primarily filmed in Los Angeles, California.
A.P. Bio
Genre
Created by
Starring
Opening theme
"Listen to My Heart" by Ramones
Composer
Country of origin
United States
Original language
English
No. of seasons
4
No. of episodes
42
Production
Executive producers
Producers
Cinematography
Blake McClure
Editors
Camera setup
Running time
22 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network
Release
February 1, 2018 (2018-02-01) –
June 13, 2019 (2019-06-13)
Network
Release
September 3, 2020 (2020-09-03) –
September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02)
The series is centered around Jack Griffin, played by Glenn Howerton. Griffin is a philosophy professor who, after being fired from his Harvard position, returns to his hometown and picks up teaching Advanced Placement Biology all while trying to find opportunities to move out. A.P. Bio also features a cast of Lyric Lewis, Mary Sohn, Jean Villepique, Paula Pell, and Patton Oswalt.
A.P. Bio was met with mixed reviews on its first season; however, following seasons have garnered a much more positive reception. In December 2021, the series was canceled after four seasons.[2]
When disgraced Harvard philosophy professor Jack Griffin (Glenn Howerton) loses his dream job to his rival Miles Leonard (Tom Bennett), he is forced to return to his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, to work as an advanced placement biology teacher at Whitlock High School and live in his late mother's home. He makes it clear to his class that he will not be teaching them any biology. Realizing he has a room full of honor-roll students at his disposal, he decides to use them to get revenge on Miles. Eager to prove that he is still king of the castle, Principal Durbin (Patton Oswalt) struggles to keep Jack under control. In the second season, Jack uses his students to find out how the people of Toledo find happiness in their daily lives, to gather information for what he believes will be a bestselling book.
A.P. Bio by season
Season
Episodes
Originally aired
First aired
Last aired
Network
13
February 1, 2018 (2018-02-01)
May 3, 2018 (2018-05-03)
13
March 7, 2019 (2019-03-07)
June 13, 2019 (2019-06-13)
8
September 3, 2020 (2020-09-03)
8
September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02)
A.P. Bio season 1, episodes
No.
overall
No.in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
Prod.
code
U.S. viewers
(millions)
1
1
"Catfish"
Oz Rodriguez
February 1, 2018 (2018-02-01)
101
3.12[3]
2
2
"Teacher Jail"
Oz Rodriguez
Rob Klein
February 25, 2018 (2018-02-25) (broadcast)
February 2, 2018 (2018-02-02) (online)
102
5.89[4]
3
3
"Burning Miles"
Oz Rodriguez
Luvh Rakhe
March 1, 2018 (2018-03-01) (broadcast)
February 2, 2018 (2018-02-02) (online)
103
2.70[5]
4
4
"Overachieving Virgins"
John Blickstead & Trey Kollmer
March 1, 2018 (2018-03-01)
104
2.60[5]
5
5
"Dating Toledoans"
Ryan Case
Aseem Batra
March 8, 2018 (2018-03-08)
105
2.33[6]
6
6
"Freakin' Enamored"
Oz Rodriguez
Shelly Gossman
March 15, 2018 (2018-03-15)
106
3.07[7]
7
7
"Selling Out"
Payman Benz
March 22, 2018 (2018-03-22)
107
2.87[8]
8
8
"We Don't Party"
Daniel Gray Longino
Nicole Sun
March 29, 2018 (2018-03-29)
108
2.05[9]
9
9
"Rosemary's Boyfriend"
Mike O'Brien & Charlie McCrackin
April 5, 2018 (2018-04-05)
109
2.21[10]
10
10
"Durbin Crashes"
Andrew DeYoung
Mike O'Brien & Rob Klein
April 12, 2018 (2018-04-12)
110
2.05[11]
11
11
"Eight Pigs and a Rat"
Mike O'Brien & Zeke Nicholson
April 19, 2018 (2018-04-19)
111
1.83[12]
12
12
"Walleye"
Mike O'Brien & Britt Matt
April 26, 2018 (2018-04-26)
112
1.69[13]
13
13
"Drenching Dallas"
Mike O'Brien & Jeff Vanderkruik & Brian Ashburn
May 3, 2018 (2018-05-03)
113
2.03[14]
A.P. Bio season 2, episodes
No.
overall
No.in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
Prod.
code
U.S. viewers
(millions)
14
1
"Happiness"
March 7, 2019 (2019-03-07)
201
1.88[15]
15
2
"Nuns"
John Blickstead & Trey Kollmer
March 14, 2019 (2019-03-14)
202
1.96[16]
16
3
"Wednesday Morning, 8 AM"
John Solomon
March 21, 2019 (2019-03-21)
203
2.23[17]
17
4
"Toledo's Top 100"
Emily Cutler
March 28, 2019 (2019-03-28)
204
2.33[18]
18
5
"J'accuse"
Andy DeYoung
Mike O'Brien & Charlie McCrackin
April 4, 2019 (2019-04-04)
205
1.91[19]
19
6
"Melvin"
Katie Locke O'Brien
Dan Klein
April 11, 2019 (2019-04-11)
206
2.05[20]
20
7
"Personal Everest"
John Solomon & Andy DeYoung
Shelly Gossman
April 18, 2019 (2019-04-18)
207
1.81[21]
21
8
"Sweet Low Road"
Richie Keen
Donick Cary & Emily Cutler
April 25, 2019 (2019-04-25)
208
1.66[22]
22
9
"Dr. Whoopsie"
Blake McClure
Mike O'Brien & Rob Klein
May 2, 2019 (2019-05-02)
209
1.79[23]
23
10
"Handcuffed"
Jennifer Arnold
May 30, 2019 (2019-05-30)
210
2.26[24]
24
11
"Spectacle"
Carrie Brownstein
Amy Hubbs
May 30, 2019 (2019-05-30)
211
1.60[24]
25
12
"Ride the Ram"
Mike O'Brien
Mike O'Brien & John Solomon
June 13, 2019 (2019-06-13)
212
1.58[25]
26
13
"Kinda Sorta"
Trent O'Donnell
Teleplay by : John Blickstead & Trey Kollmer
Story by : Shelly Gossman & Britt Matt
June 13, 2019 (2019-06-13)
213
1.38[25]
A.P. Bio season 3, episodes
No.
overall
No.in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by [26]
Original release date [27]
Prod.
code
27
1
"Tiny Problems"
Oz Rodriguez
September 3, 2020 (2020-09-03)
301
28
2
"Disgraced"
Oz Rodriguez
Shelly Gossman
September 3, 2020 (2020-09-03)
302
29
3
"Gary Meets Dave"
Richie Keen
Dan Schofield
September 3, 2020 (2020-09-03)
303
30
4
"Get Hoppy!"
Jess Lacher
September 3, 2020 (2020-09-03)
304
31
5
"Mr. Pistachio"
Oz Rodriguez
Gilli Nissim
September 3, 2020 (2020-09-03)
305
32
6
"That That That"
Richie Keen
Charlie McCrackin
September 3, 2020 (2020-09-03)
306
33
7
"Aces Wild"
Oz Rodriguez
Shelly Gossman & Brendan Jennings
September 3, 2020 (2020-09-03)
307
34
8
"Katie Holmes Day"
Anu Valia
Debbie Jhoon & Michael J. Feldman
September 3, 2020 (2020-09-03)
308
A.P. Bio season 4, episodes
No.
overall
No.in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original release date [27]
Prod.
code
35
1
"Tornado!"
Katie Locke O'Brien
September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02)
401
36
2
"Sweatpants"
Katie Locke O'Brien
Rob Klein
September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02)
402
37
3
"An Oath to Rusty"
Katie Locke O'Brien
Shelly Gossman
September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02)
403
38
4
"Tons of Rue"
Katie Locke O'Brien
John Blickstead & Trey Kollmer
September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02)
404
39
5
"The Perfect Date from Hell"
Oz Rodriguez
David Neher & Charlie McCrackin
September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02)
405
40
6
"Love, for Lack of a Better Term"
Heath Cullens
Jess Lacher
September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02)
406
41
7
"Malachi"
Heath Cullens
Debbie Jhoon & Michael J. Feldman
September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02)
407
42
8
"The Harvard Pen"
Oz Rodriguez
Teleplay by : Clayton English & Hadiyah Robinson
Story by : Brendan Jennings
September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02)
408
The series was created by Mike O'Brien for NBC, to debut during the 2017–18 television season. On January 23, 2017, NBC officially ordered the pilot.[28] The series was greenlit on May 11, 2017.[29] It was announced the premiere of the series on February 1, 2018 at 8:30 p.m.
On May 8, 2018, NBC renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on March 7, 2019.[30][31] On May 24, 2019, NBC canceled the series after two seasons.[32] In July 2019, NBC reversed this decision and renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock, on September 3, 2020.[33][34] On December 17, 2020, Peacock renewed the series for a fourth season,[35] which premiered on September 2, 2021.[36] On December 6, 2021, Peacock canceled the series after four seasons.[2]
In February 2017, it was announced that Mary Sohn and Lyric Lewis had joined the pilot's main cast.[37][38] In March 2017, it was reported that Aparna Brielle, Glenn Howerton, Patton Oswalt, Nick Peine and Jacob McCarthy had joined the cast in their main roles.[39][40][41][42] On June 12, 2017, it was announced that Tom Bennett had joined as a series regular.[43] On August 1, 2017, it was announced that Jean Villepique had joined as a series regular.[44]
On April 15, 2020, Peacock released the first official trailer for the series's third season.[45]
The first season holds a score of 66% with an average rating of 6.34/10 on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 32 reviews. The site's critical consensus states, "A.P. Bio has some genuine laughs, but audiences have already seen plenty of authority figures behaving badly—and have a right to expect more from this promising premise and talented cast."[46] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 59 out of 100 based on 17 critics.[47]
Writing in The Hollywood Reporter, Daniel Fienberg commented that A.P. Bio had a good cast and "the only thing holding it back is the small quibble that it's not actually all that funny."[48] Margaret Lyons of The New York Times called A.P. Bio "an abrasive sitcom that isn't merely unfunny, it's also deeply unpleasant."[49] Jen Chaney of Vulture said the series had bright spots but was "conceptually played-out" overall.[50]
Viewership and ratings per season of A.P. Bio
Season
Timeslot (ET)
Episodes
First aired
Last aired
TV season
Viewership
rank
Avg. viewers
(millions)
Date
Viewers
(millions)
Date
Viewers
(millions)
Thursday 8:30 pm
13
February 1, 2018 (2018-02-01)
3.12[3]
May 3, 2018 (2018-05-03)
2.03[14]
134
3.54[51]
13
March 7, 2019 (2019-03-07)
1.88[15]
June 13, 2019 (2019-06-13)
1.38[25]
149
2.50[52]
Viewership and ratings per episode of A.P. Bio
No.
Title
Air date
Rating/share
(18–49)
Viewers
(millions)
1
"Catfish"
February 1, 2018
0.8/3
3.12[3]
2
February 25, 2018
1.4/6
5.89[4]
3
March 1, 2018
0.7/3
2.70[5]
4
March 1, 2018
0.7/3
2.60[5]
5
March 8, 2018
0.7/3
2.33[6]
6
March 15, 2018
0.9/3
3.07[7]
7
March 22, 2018
0.8/3
2.87[8]
8
March 29, 2018
0.6/2
2.05[9]
9
April 5, 2018
0.6/2
2.21[10]
10
April 12, 2018
0.6/3
2.05[11]
11
April 19, 2018
0.6/3
1.83[12]
12
"Walleye"
April 26, 2018
0.5/2
1.69[13]
13
May 3, 2018
0.6/3
2.03[14]
Viewership and ratings per episode of A.P. Bio
No.
Title
Air date
Rating/share
(18–49)
Viewers
(millions)
1
March 7, 2019
0.5/3
1.88[15]
2
"Nun"
March 14, 2019
0.5/3
1.96[16]
3
March 21, 2019
0.5/3
2.23[17]
4
March 28, 2019
0.5/3
2.33[18]
5
"J'accuse"
April 4, 2019
0.5/3
1.99[19]
6
"Melvin"
April 11, 2019
0.5/3
2.05[20]
7
April 18, 2019
0.5/3
1.81[21]
8
April 25, 2019
0.4/2
1.66[22]
9
May 2, 2019
0.5/3
1.79[23]
10
May 30, 2019
0.4/2
2.26[24]
11
May 30, 2019
0.4/2
1.60[24]
12
June 13, 2019
0.3/2
1.58[25]
13
June 13, 2019
0.3/2
1.38[25]
The first season of A.P. Bio was released on DVD in the United States on August 14, 2018[53] and in Australia on June 6, 2019 [54]