I never wanted to admit that my enjoyment of Boston Public was a guilty pleasure, but after last night's episode I must raise my arms in surrender. A couple of the plot lines were just too much.

The vice principal, Mr. Guber, is teaching in the dungeon at the moment and is having trouble bringing Shakespear to his students. He also notices that they are into this "rap" thing, as evidenced by one of his student's pre-class rhyming. So, he tells his class that they don't have to read Shakespeare if they can tell him why Shakespeare "is whack" in verse. Of course, the emcee/student stands up and blows us all away. Guber starts listening to hip-hop and doing the old man "cool" dance in his office. At the end of the episode we find out the talented student was shot by a cop in a gunfight. I could easily explain to you why this is so completely played out, but I think you can figure it out on your own.

The other plot line was the American Idol story. Tamayra Gray is a student at the school (her character's name is Aisha) and everyone now knows her talent. This sleazy guy wants to manage her but the teacher's are protective. They get him to sign a contract but note his sleaziness, obviously eluding to something horrible next week, which is the season finale. Once again, a boring story. Triumph over adversity, or did she? Blah.

Still, I keep watching the show, mostly because of the acting of Geri Ryan and Michael Rappaport. I am sucker for their storylines and and I like the new young teachers as well. So, I'll watch next week and probably all next season, but now I know what I'm getting into -- As the School Turns.