The Education of Max Bickford

The portrayal of Erica (formerly Steve) and her ex-wife on the December 9 episode was excellent. As a post-operative male-to-female transsexual woman with an ex-wife of my own, I was amazed at the accuracy of the emotions the writers and actors gave these characters in the show. My only complaint was that the end result, with Erica inviting her ex-wife into the house for tea (or whatever) is a rare, rare outcome. In most cases, the ex-wife will have absolutely nothing to do with the transsexual woman, and frequently, the relationship is extremely antagonistic. (Mine is!) None the less, I applaud the creator and writers of this show for including a transsexual woman among the characters and give them all a great big, THANK YOU, for portraying us a real people, not freaks as shows such as Springer do.

We have been watching Max Bickford since the beginning. As a university professor for the past 35 years, who has been a Chair of a Department, and dealt with Presidents and Deans, Academic Senates and Boards of Governors, I was unsure what to expect when the series started. From my experience, the series truly gives the flavour of academic life, certainly as seen from the perspective of someone who, like Max, has to deal with colleagues of all temperaments and genders. I am often left wondering if the writers were students at MY institution!

Beyond the academic realism, the human side of this series is a real joy to watch and savour. To see a parent willing to sacrifice himself for his kids, to stand up for the "old-fashioned" liberal causes he believes in, and to challenge the rich and the powerful when necessary, is to enter again the world of principles and love that had seemed to have been overridden by the social Darwinism so necessary to the operation of the new economic order.

This is a great show--we certainly hope that it continues in the CBS lineup--it should have real legs. Thanks.

Just goes to show you, after reading recent comments, no change will please everyone. I am in the camp that was getting tired of watching the "severe" Max Bickford, and was considering dropping it all togther, until they changed the focus and softened him up a bit. I watch the show because I find it entertaining, and it usually makes me think. It seldom tries to come up with a solution, but it touches on such diverse topics as transexuality, aging, doing drugs, lying to parents, bigotry, free speech, plagarism, and on and on. I suppose daughter "Nell" is my favorite character. I know "Max", I am almost Max in my own world. But Nell is a good, bright, conflicted girl trying to find her path into and through young adulthood. I like this show, however I wouldn't expect everyone to. You have to be in touch with the real world.

I watched ` The Education of Max Bickford' and found that the premise of the series is quite promising. I like Richard Dreyfuss (American Graffiti, The Good Bye Girl, Mr. Holland's Opus) and know his work pretty well. Max Bickford reminded me of Mr. Holland in Mr. Holland's Opus, a person who is ready to succeed in life, but the problems and circumstances life itself brings stalls his success. He gets just as annoyed as Elliot Garfield, Dreyfuss character in' The Good Bye Girl' does. He does it really well. Actually he can go through a broad spectrum of emotions and succeed. Dreyfus is an outstanding actor. Max Bickford is a professor who seems to be very good. He is a single parent and sole provider for the family. His teenager is a typical rebel teen, and his little son is very wise. The first episode did not show why he is still single, but did mention that his wife had died. He worked a lot in his profession and just found out that one of his ex-students, Marcia Gay Harden (The Spitfire Grill) received a chair instead of him. That made him really mad. I guess I would have made me mad too. It made him made enough to accept the position of department head that he earlier had refused as political garbage. Then there is a she who used to be a he. `Erica Bettis` Helen Shaver' (The Color of Money). The audience is presented with a series of issues, that could raise good discussion between the characters and to create an atmosphere of a great show! My husband and I both enjoyed the first episode. I liked going to college so much that a new show about a teacher brings back that mystery of finding out what a professor is all about! I recommend this series, and please do yourself a favor and watch something fun and intelligent.

Good Show!

This show tells about the life of a Jewish college professor called Max Bickford (Richard Dreyfuss) and his family, which includes Lester (Eric Ian Goldberg) and Nell (Katee Sackhoff), who also studies at the women's college where her father teaches.Other great characters are Andrea Haskell (Marcia Gay Harden), who's also a professor and Erica Bettis (Helen Shaver), who used to be a man.The Education of Max Bickford ran from 2001 to 2002.My question is why? Why did it last for one season only? I liked it.The comedy worked in it, the drama worked in it and the cast was magnificent.The adult actors were great, the kid actors were great.And then you could see these amazing guest stars making visits.There was Eli Wallach in three episodes as Jay Bickford, Max' father.In one episode there was Peter O'Toole as Sidney McKnight, an old professor.These legends can make any show better, and this one was good already.So why didn't it last? What can you do? Some shows go on and some don't.That's the way it goes.