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After over a year in TV limbo, NBC’s “A.P. Bio” has found its home on Peacock, NBC’s streaming platform, where the third season premiered on Thursday, Sept. 3. The first two seasons and the first episode of the third season of the previously canceled show are free to watch, while a subscription is required to view the remaining seven episodes. With only eight 22-minute episodes, the third season of the comedy is an easy and enjoyable binge.

“A.P. Bio” follows former Harvard philosophy professor Jack Griffin, who returns to his hometown in Toledo, Ohio, where he moves into his deceased mother’s house and accepts a job teaching a high school Advanced Placement biology class. Having no desire to be there, Griffin vows that he will do no teaching, nor will he learn anything from his students during the course of the year. Taking advantage of his situation, Griffin uses his students to come up with and execute elaborate schemes to seek revenge and hopefully get him out of Toledo. 

In the first season of “A.P. Bio,” Griffin was determined to restore his life to the way it was before he was fired, but by season three he shows major growth as a character. Despite how adamant he was about not teaching or learning from his students, he ends up doing just that.

He has yet to teach them anything about biology, but the life lessons he taught his students, and the ones he ended up learning from them, were much more impactful than a normal curriculum could have ever been.

This perfectly executed character growth could not have been made possible without the actor behind Jack Griffin: Glenn Howerton. Known for his role as Dennis Reynolds in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” Howerton has perfected playing a cynical and egotistical character. However, he takes that role one step further in “A.P. Bio,” giving more complexity and depth to a character that is not always easy to root for. As talented as Howerton is in his lead role, “A.P. Bio” would be nothing without its supporting actors including Patton Oswalt, Paula Pell, Mary Sohn, Aparna Brielle, Eddie Leavy and Jacob Houston, to name a few. It is these actors who make “A.P. Bio” stand out among other shows about high school.

“A.P. Bio” is the AP biology class you wish you took in high school. Each classmate is odd in their own sense, and pairing that with a less-than-enthusiastic teacher is a catalyst for chaos. Similar to the series “Community” about a friend group at a community college, “A.P. Bio” is filled with characters viewers can relate to, no matter how strange. 

Another successful element of the series is its humor. Many shows have to force jokes, but “A.P. Bio” delivers them in such a way that can only be described as snort-inducing. It is the tiny nuances, like finding out Principal Durbin (Patton Oswalt) proposed to his now ex-wife over email, or that one of his secretary Helen’s (Paula Pell) eyes is from her dead father and now she doesn’t look at herself naked out of respect, that make this show so special. Humor is so perfectly interwoven within the show, and it brings a lighter element to a show that otherwise has a more depressing feel. The comedy may seem very cynical at times, but deep down it is a heartfelt show that pays special attention to the importance of friendship, self-confidence and being able to accept change in stride, all while using elements of humor to further these messages.

While we may be living in a time that is very different from what we see on TV, watching Griffin break down mentally from his time living and working in his hometown throughout the course of three seasons easily mirrors the situation many of us face today. With its humorous twists, outlandish situations, visually pleasing cinematography and stellar cast, “A.P. Bio” is an easy watch that can bring a smile to anyone’s face.