List of Boston Public characters
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This is a list of characters on the series, Boston Public.
Contents |
[edit] Major Cast
[edit] Steven Harper
Steven Harper (Chi McBride) was the tough high school principal with a heart of gold. Throughout, he probably remained the most consistent character on the show and its strongest presence and the show's focal point. He constantly struggled with the hang-ups and problems of his employees and students, from Harry Senate's shooting a gun off in class, to Milton Buttle's affair with a student in season one, to Marla and Danny's bickering (and even fist fighting) in Seasons 2 and 3. During the second season of the series, Brooke, his rebellious, liberal activist daughter, gets transferred to Winslow High, and he had to try to build a relationship with her and his estranged ex-wife. By the end of Season 3 his daughter had been written out and in Season 4 he embarked on a relationship with Marilyn Sudor. Harper was consistently the school's leader, handling teachers with problems and much of his character revolved around his pride in the teaching profession and his loyalty to the kids and the faculty. Harper is considered to be one of the most important characters in this series.
[edit] Scott Guber
Scott Guber (Anthony Heald) was the strict and stoic vice principal who was forced to play the disciplinary bad cop to both the students and the faculty. As someone who grew up bullied because his peers mistakenly thought he was gay, Scott treated bigotry and bullying as serious a crime as cutting class or cheating on an exam. On the other hand, some episodes had him seriously bullying teachers with a condescending managerial tone that caused them to dislike him. In fact, the students and faculty saw him as so tough they labeled him "The Nazi". However, his dedication to the school and the kids was eventually noted in Season 1 when the kids gave him a special end-of-year award. Scott's ongoing goal was also to one day be a principal himself, a goal he pursued in Season 1, a season also devoted to his growing dislike for being the "bad guy" to Steven's good guy. He was disappointed to receive an unfavorable recommendation from Steven who said he wasn't ready and was too autocratic to be a principal. Over the next seasons, Scott and Steven would sometimes wrangle over the boundaries between their two jobs, but their friendship was key to both of them and key to the show.
Guber's love of classical music, composing and conducting was a staple of the character's off duty time and occasionally allowed for storylines. And Scott's romantic life, unlike Steven's, was often fodder for storylines on the show. In Season 1, he pursued Lauren Davis to the point she called it harassment He later asked Marilyn out leaving Lauren and Marilyn to conclude he asked out any woman who was nice to him. This tendency came to a head in Season 2 when he began an ill-advised relationship with the duplicitous Hook Lady, Meredith Peters, who in Season 1 locked her son Jeremy in the basement. Jeremy returned the favor and she escaped only by chain saw, severing her hand in the process. The Guber-Peters relationship was filled with ups and downs in Season 2. Guber's attempts to get on Jeremy's good side were occasionally chronicled, including his sensitivity to Jeremy's rather randomly placed bisexuality. Both characters basically disappeared after Guber separated from the erratic and pathological Meredith late in Season 2. Guber then took up with Lauren. As she didn't come back for season 3, we never learned how that relationship ended, but by the end of Season 3, Guber had increased his level of friendship with Marilyn through dancing lessons, and by Season 4, he was pursuing her. She rejected his advances as she was seeing Steven. Weeks later yet again, Scott found love in Violet Montgomery (Sherilyn Fenn), a former adult film actress turned free-spirited who shared his taste in music and agreed to date him exclusively.
[edit] Lauren Davis
One of the two social studies teachers was Lauren Davis (Jessalyn Gilsig), who earned the occasional nickname "nun" because of her straightlaced ways in Season 1. By Season 2, when the ostensibly hipper Ronnie Cooke (Jeri Ryan) appeared, Lauren's character changed, making her what her colleagues called a "prima donna perfectionist." Scott Guber had a crush on Lauren, a relationship that never seemed to go anywhere until right before Lauren was written out of the show. In Season 1, Steven felt that she was being racist because she was tougher on her African-American students, an accusation she was willing to consider in order to save Harvey from being fired. She briefly dated Harry Senate, but broke up with him, in what was Season 1's biggest romance (not including students, at least). Later, she began dating Daniel Evans, a former student who turned out to be a stalker. Her carrying a gun to protect herself ended up with a summertime suspension. During Season 2, Lauren was shocked when some of her students were hospitalized because they were so stressed out about her work assignments. When the third season premiered, Jessalyn Gilsig had left the show, and it was mentioned that Lauren had left Winslow High for a job at a private school.
[edit] Harvey Lipschultz
Harvey Lipschultz (Fyvush Finkel) was a somewhat stereotypical elderly Jewish man. He was not a fan of political correctness, and his character seemed to switch from being a well-meaning old man that once met with the football team to ask them not to discriminate against a player who is rumored to be gay, while other times he came off as an Archie Bunker bigot or a simple comical buffoon of a bygone era. He served in the Second World War; on the night before he left to go to Europe, he had a one-night stand with an African American woman who later gave birth to a son, Lester, who was able to track down Harvey and introduce him to his family, including Lester's children and grandchildren. After the war, Harvey came home and married a woman named Helen and remained faithful to her until she died, although she did have an affair. He frequently reflected back on Helen who died shortly before Season 1 began. In Season 3, a stock dip erased his life savings. Often threatening to retire, and also often threatened with being fired, Harvey was able to continue working after he agreed to attend racial sensitivity classes in Season 1, and in Season 3, was barely saved from retirement by some last minute budget restructuring.
[edit] Harry Senate
Harry Senate (Nicky Katt) was perhaps the most popular of Boston Public's characters. A teacher who was assigned to teach in the infamous "Dungeon" classroom after Marla walks out on the class in Season 1, Harry specialized in using his own darker side to reach kids on the edge. Harry was infamous for deploying unusual (and often dangerous) methods to try and reach his students, such as firing a gun off in class in a concerted effort to teach the unruly students in the classrooms a lesson in respect, agreeing to become the faculty sponsor for a student branch of the National Rifle Association only to later deliver a disparaging speech against the organization, which he linked to an American glorification of gun violence, and starting up a Suicide Club to get kids to open up about their feelings surrounding suicide. In an early Season 1 storyline, he was kissed by a student, Dana Poole, who later blackmailed him. He almost lost his job for this and his other radical antics, one being his knowing of a student, Tyronn Anderson, had killed a rival gang member in self-defense. However, his great compassion and ability to persuade his students to never give up and do the right thing ultimately saved his job. Harry began a relationship with Lauren, and the two initially seemed happy but Lauren simply did not feel as is Harry was really opening up to her.
Harry and Lauren broke up shortly after Harry confided in her that he knew Tyronn killed someone; Lauren would later briefly date Daniel Evans. As for Harry, his more serious relationship was with Ronnie Cooke in Seasons 2 and 3. Ronnie had initially been brought into the school by Harry to talk about her job as a prominent lawyer. She was so impressed by Harry's handling of students that she signed up to teach.
In the second season finale, Harry was stabbed by a former student and almost died. It took the near-death of Harry Senate for the faculty to realize how much they had come to love him as more than a colleague, but also as a close friend. Initially, Harry was supposed to die from his wounds; this was David E. Kelley's way of writing Nicky Katt out of the show so that he could pursue a movie career. When Katt became available again, but for only a part of the next season, Kelley and his writers allowed Harry to survive the attack, only to suffer from a slow mental breakdown that would ultimately provide Katt with a very different exit from the show.
A combination of post traumatic stress (as a result of the stabbing) and his inability to "save" some of his most troubled students prompted Harry's breakdown. Given the option of being fired or going on a leave of absence, Harry was dismayed but realized that his current mental state was affecting his ability as a teacher; he chose to take a leave of absence to get himself together, promising Steven that he would someday return. As he walked out of the building, Harry gave an incoming and idealistic teacher Kimberly Woods some good advice. Kelley admitted that Harry's choice to take a leave of absence was a way of allowing for his eventual return should Katt become available again; the show's premature cancellation prevented the possibility.
[edit] Ronnie Cooke
Ronnie Cooke (Jeri Ryan) as mentioned was a college friend of Harry's, a successful, wealthy corporate lawyer who decided that her true calling in life was to teach at public high school. As a lawyer, Ronnie often acted as a legal advocate for the students in what some argued were completed unrealistic and "off-topic" situations. She handled at least two murder-related trials (one for Steven, one for some students). Other times, the stories fit the school: one of her first actions as a teacher was to help Danny Hanson organize his students to sue Harvey for emotional abuse, She also helped students get out of various legal jams. Ronnie soon got over Harry when Senate left the show. She began an on-and-off relationship with Zach Fischer, and accepted a position from the mayor's liaison to be Winslow's new vice principal after she impressed the school board with her testing techniques. This made Marla (the other candidate for the job) jealous and angered Scott, who saw Ronnie as a glory-hound who was willing to cut funding for public education in order to further a political career. Zach became jealous of the mayor's liaison who clearly liked Ronnie. Eventually, Ronnie and Scott came to an understanding and were able to avoid budget cuts by cutting all funding on varsity sports. Marla moved on and Zach become a Buddhist, and by Season 4 was gone.
[edit] Marla Hendricks
Marla Hendricks (Loretta Devine) was a social studies teacher who suffered from bipolar disorder, the effects of which were mainly only seen in Season 1. She had to take pills to make it through a stressful day, which seemed to be just about every day. She was occasionally depicted as a vocally religious woman, encouraging students to pray on school grounds and running a gospel choir. She was also frequently the one to give lectures to other faculty members, parents, or students about the financial and emotional challenges facing teachers, along with other topical issues such as bullying, multiculturalism, and the usage of the "N-word" by white people. On the other hand, on many occasions, Marla was depicted, like Danny and Harvey, as someone who thought before she spoke. She was vocal and no-nonsense, and often insulted teachers, students, and even Steven when they needed it, or sometimes just because she needed it. Scott once accused her of being too emotional on too many different issues to the point it diluted her potency as an advocate. Her bold personality kept her from advancing into administration when she insulted a mayor's liaison when he interrupted a play rehearsal. In Season 3, she had a brief relationship with a political advocate played by Vern Troyer. In Season 4, she decided to have a baby, and asked Steven if he would consider donating his sperm. When Steven refused, she continued to try to become pregnant but failed. Marla had a miscarriage, but later got the chance of experiencing motherhood when she took in a student named Rainy. Overall, Marla was considered an excellent and compassionate teacher, adept at reaching kids and parents. Like the other faculty, her personal foibles sometimes got in her way, but she was overall, there for the kids and her colleagues.
[edit] Danny Hanson
Danny Hanson (Michael Rapaport) was a humanities teacher who first appeared in Season 2. Danny came from a working-class Irish Catholic home and had a populist political philosophy and a certain ambivalence about religion because he was sexually molested by his priest. He also had a conservative side when it came to race and didn't like the sacred cow status some racial issues were given. He was the one who brought the "n word" debate to Winslow. Marla, in Season 2, rightly suggested his main flaw was not being controversial, but raising questions that he did not have any helpful solutions too. The two fought a lot, including one fist fight, but they also admitted they had a lot in common.
Like Marla, his hotheaded attitude got him into trouble in his professional and personal life; to name a few examples, when he walked in on his fiancé having sex with another man, he threw a phone at the man, and later started the class project on the "N-word." He also sent a letter home to a student's parents advising she was overweight. The student hit him for that. He also helped students with various issues including a child who had been molested by the same priest who abused him, and a 12 year old genius. Danny had a special relationship with overachieving Debbie in Season 2, which came under scrutiny but turned out to be completely a healthy teacher-student mentorship.
In the series' third season, Danny began dating Claire Ellison; they eventually married and gained custody of Allison, his 5 year old niece while Joanie, his sister, was in rehabilitation for drug addiction. By Season 4, the marriage was faltering and Joanie came back for Allison (which is rather legally dubious as they had legally adopted her). The series left Danny and Claire willing to work on their marriage while Alison went to live with her mother.
[edit] Marilyn Sudor
Marilyn Sudor (Sharon Leal) was the music instructor and an English teacher. Student storylines had her involved with the gang member who Harry was covering for, with Jeremy Peters, who was being locked in the basement by his mother, and later with Aisha (played by Tamyra Gray), a talented, young singer who needed to break up with her abusive boyfriend. Marilyn admitted in Season 3 that she too had been in an abusive relationship (with an ex-husband who showed up for an annulment in Season 4). One of the most attractive teachers in the school, Marilyn was often the listed as the teacher the "boys most wanted to sleep with" in a yearly student poll. Romantically, Marilyn joined with Scott to take some dancing lessons but was quick to assert that they were going to just be friends. She dated a basketball coach who turned out to be in coaching to advance his college coaching chances. In the final season, she began dating Steven, and their romance became public after a student facing suspension for kissing Marilyn at a scholarship awards ceremony threatened to go before the school board because he felt that he was suspended for kissing the principal's girlfriend; eventually, Steven agreed to reduce the student's punishment so that it would not cause him to lose his scholarship or hurt his college application process. Marilyn was also involved in many of the musical numbers the show employed, singing at school concerts, doing a singing trio with Louisa and Marla and working with young musicians. She was known for being by the book, compassionate straight forward, but also a rather enigmatic and sort of was a utility player a lot of the time.
[edit] Zach Fisher, Colin Flynn, and Kimberly Woods
In the third season, three new teachers were hired. The first two were Zach Fischer (Jon Abrahams) and Colin Flynn (Joey McIntyre). Zach seemed to be a replacement for Harry, except with no mysterious personal demons. He didn't deal with the same on-edge kids, but was very liked by students who dubbed him "Fish". He soon began to date Ronnie. Colin had a brief affair with Patricia Emerson, the mother of Becky Emerson, who had a crush on him herself, but broke it off when a jealous Becky threatened to reveal the affair in a poem she was going to read in public. The third character was Kimberly Woods (Michelle Monaghan), a young and somewhat naive woman in a "Teach for America" program whose class discussion on affirmative action results in racial violence that ended up putting Steven on trial for murder. Kimberly was later forced to leave Winslow High after an obsessed lesbian student stalked and threatened to kill her. Zach and Colin disappeared from the show in the final season with no explanation as to what happened to them.
[edit] Carmen Torres and Jake
In the fourth (final) season, three new characters came onto the show. The first was Carmen Torres (Natalia Baron), the 21-year-old Spanish-fluent physics teacher who would clash with Steven over his insistence that she not speak and teach Spanish in the classroom. Interestingly, the storyline never brought up the controversial reality that Massachusetts schools have a state-mandated English-only policy. Carmen started a brief relationship with Jake (Milo Ventimiglia), an undercover cop who was posing as a "bad boy" teenager in order to bring down a student who was selling drugs; Jake was murdered when the drug bust went wrong. In the meantime, she helped a student who also liked the late cop and who also had a drinking problem. She revealed her own drinking problem, but little was made of it. She also revealed her mom committed suicide. Carmen disappears in the middle of the final season. No explanation was provided.
[edit] Other faculty members
There were some minor faculty members that served to comment on the current administration and teacher techniques and status.
Louisa Fenn (Rashida Jones) was the wisecracking, sassy high school secretary who briefly dated Milton Buttle until he broke up with her after meeting Lisa. Louisa learned of Milton's affair with Lisa and pondered exposing the relationship, but she did not; she did, however, gain a spiteful attitude towards Lisa. In the second season, Louisa was discovered to be secretly writing "Dear Helen", a sex column, for the school paper. Louisa came from a biracial family, as her father was African-American while her mother was Caucasian. Before mysteriously vanishing from the series, she started up an unofficial girl band with Marla and Marilyn.
Milton Buttle (Joey Slotnick) was the nerdy, mild-mannered English teacher who was often on the receiving end of Sheryl Holt's online parodies. He met Lisa Greer at a Starbucks cafe one day and started a relationship with her, only to find that she was a student at Winslow High. Despite this, he reluctantly continued his relationship with Lisa but was discovered and fired, though he continued dating Lisa.
Kevin Riley (Thomas McCarthy) was the football coach who was fired when he told Scott that he knew that about the secret affair between Milton and Lisa in an attempt to get Scott and Steven to go easy on Milton. Kevin sued to get his job back in an episode that crossed over with the television series The Practice, but he lost his case and angrily snubbed Steven when he attempted to make peace with Kevin. The coach that replaced Kevin was a minor character who was rarely seen.
Dr. Benjamin Harris (Leslie Jordan) was an effeminate, Southern chemistry teacher who originated in the Ally McBeal episode "The Wedding (4x23)." He first appeared when he helped Jeremy Peters dissect his mother Meredith's severed hand in the second-season premiere, then got into trouble when he organized a school production of Susan Miller's It's Our Town Too that centered around homosexuality. He later resigned after he was discovered having had cybersex with two 18-year-old female Winslow students who had posed as college students in an Internet chatroom.
Superintendent Marsha Shinn (Debbi Morgan) was the judgmental and overly critical superintendent who once visited the school to complain about the unorthodox teaching methods of the faculty in an attempt to get Steven fired after he physically assaulted a school bully. Marla called her "The Dragon Lady". She apparently quit her job since a new superintendent showed up at the school in later episodes.
Mr. Bob "Big Boy" Lick (Dwight "Heavy D" Myers) was the school's heavyset but compassionate counselor whom most students did not seem to like or trust, but both Steven and Scott often referred students over to him. He took a sabbatical during the final season without advising the administration and never returned.
Superintendent Elizabeth Vasquez (Elizabeth Pena) (presumably) replaced Marsha Shinn as the superintendent of schools. Unlike Shinn, she was less judgmental and was persuaded by Steven to not suspend or fire Scott for his role in the student riot; she even half-jokingly told Steven to keep Scott from talking to the athletes. However, she was fired in the middle of the third season.
[edit] Minor characters and students
Minor characters in the series were primarily (but not always) students who were introduced to make a comment on society in general.
Dana Poole (Sarah Thompson) was a popular student who kissed Harry, then tried to blackmail him. Despite this, Harry reached out to her and tried to help her when she became a stripper. As a college student, Dana returned to interview the high school faculty and staff about the low teacher salaries and began to date Harry, only to later break up with him at his birthday party because he lied to his co-workers about how long their relationship had been going on.
Susan Potter (Joanna Garcia) was a popular student who was caught giving oral sex in the school hallway to sway a student election.
Sheryl Holt (Lamya Jezek) was the editor of the student newspaper and webmaster of an online website, Holt 45. The website was a frequent problem for the faculty, as it often spoofed them and their private lives with graphic innuendos.
Christine Banks (Lindsay Hollister) was an unpopular, overweight girl who was often bullied and got into trouble when she responded to the harassment with violence. Kevin persuaded her to earn respect from the students by being on the wrestling team, and it worked. However, Christine suffered a heart attack after playing a match, and later died.
Brooke Harper (China Shavers) was Steven's headstrong daughter who was transferred to her father's high school after being kicked out of a private school for kidnapping the school's mascot as part of an animal rights protest. She continued her political activism, including organizing the students to stage a walkout over toxic chemicals and overcrowded classrooms in the school that ended up sparking a riot as the school athletes feared that these problems will be fixed by cutting the sports budget. Brooke once dated a 27-year-old man named Roland McClane as well as Jeremy Peters, but neither relationship lasted long. She always hoped for her parents to get back together, but had accepted that it was not going to happen. At the end of the third season, Brooke had graduated and had been accepted to Harvard University.
Meredith Peters (Kathy Baker) was Scott's girlfriend in Season 2. She also worked as a teacher. Her motives and morality were questionable; Kelley apparently wanted the fans to always wonder if she was lying or not. She was eventually fired for hitting Marcie Kendall.
Jeremy Peters (Kaj-Erik Eriksen) was Meredith's son. Meredith had a reputation for locking him in the basement to discipline him. A nerd during Season 1, he transmuted to a disturbed wisemouth, bisexual, angry teen in Season 2 and disappeared by Season 3. Scott likened their mother-son relationship to that of Norman Bates and his mother.
Marcie Kendall (Cara DeLizia) was a student whom Meredith slapped with her prosthetic hand during an argument, leading to Meredith being fired. In the third season, Marcie began working as Scott Guber's assistant and was involved in the student walkout. Later on, she became pregnant by her boyfriend Brian Harrower. Overwhelmed by her impending responsibilities of being a mother, she decided to give up her baby for adoption.
Robin Chambers (L.B. Fisher) was a transgender student who caused an uproar and some gay-bashing when he chose to become a candidate for prom queen. He won the contest and ended up winning a dance with the prom king, who subtly came out as being gay to Robin; the two danced the night away. Neither student is seen again.
Patricia Emerson (Anne Archer) was the sultry, middle-aged mother of Becky Emerson who claimed to be the descendant of poet Ralph Waldo Emerson and even kept her maiden name when she married her husband, an arms dealer. She complained to Colin about his grade on Becky's assignment and, unhappy with her marriage, flirted with him, leading to an affair with the young teacher. Ultimately, she reconciled with her husband and ended the affair.
Rebecca "Becky" Emerson (Courtney Peldon) was the beautiful but nutty daughter of Patricia Emerson who developed a crush on Colin and was devastated when she learned that he was sleeping with her mother. As a result, she threatened to expose Colin's affair until she saw her parents together again and decided not to. Later, she became the anchorwoman of the student television station and was about to air footage of a married teacher having sex with another woman in a classroom, but she was persuaded from doing so by Danny. In the series' fourth (final) season, Becky became Scott Guber's assistant and once gave him surprisingly insightful advice.
Devon Rick (Matt Lutz) was a gay teenager on the football team who watched as his boyfriend was beaten up by their homophobic teammates. The incident prompted Scott to start up a Gay-Straight Alliance and lecture the school on the evils of homophobia. Eventually, Scott persuaded Devon to come out and identify the students who assaulted his boyfriend.
Dave Fields (David Conrad) was liaison to the mayor pushing for standardized testing and budget cuts. He persuaded Ronnie to act as his eyes and ears in the school and even offered her a possible political career, but Ronnie eventually rejected his offer of romance and politics.
Riley Ellis (Andrea Bowen) was a 12-year-old prodigy looking for a normal friendship while attending Winslow High. Steven persuaded Brooke to be her friend, but Riley rejected the friendship when she realized that Brooke was only doing it to try and get close to a male student upon whom she had a crush. She later became Becky's friend and worked with her in the student television station.
Taylor Prentice (Verne Troyer) was a little person ex-professor who helped underachieving students ace exams and later dated Marla. They eventually broke up.
Eccentric art teacher Henry Preston (Phil Buckman) came on towards the end of the series and had to deal with the frustration of budget cuts. Later, he persuaded a student to focus his talents on mathematics and use art as a secondary hobby. In the final episode of the series, which was left unaired in the United States until WE: Women's Entertainment showed Henry slept with Ronnie Cooke, who had previously been acting as a therapist of sorts to Henry, and was suspended from the school after hugging a sobbing female student. The suspension caused the students to stage a sit-in in his favor.
Charlie Bixby (Dennis Miller), a smart-alecky, arrogant investment banker who was forced to teach math at Winslow High as part of his community service for being convicted of securities fraud. He was able to reach his students by devising math problems with references to illicit drugs and prostitution, and volunteered at the school's suicide hotline where he befriended a teenager whom he persuaded to not kill himself. He disappeared in the middle of the final season. No explanation is provided. Perhaps his time was served.
Peter Feldman (Miko Hughes) was a student who, after being electrocuted in Danny's class, came to believe that he was Jesus Christ reborn. As such, he began to come to school dressed in ceremonial robes, offering advice to Danny and even using student fees to help a homeless man. Eventually, it was discovered that the reason behind his assuming the identity of Jesus was that he witnessed a young boy get hit by a bus one afternoon.
Julien (Thomas Dekker) was a student who came out to his father, who beat him and his mother. Julien ran away from home, prompting Danny and Claire to track him down and get him to live with his mother who had finally left her bigoted and abusive husband.
