A 1998 Made-for-TV Movie Canadian-American Adventure Comedy written and directed by Robert King that has a rowdy teen (Zachery Ty Bryan) who gets a drifter (Kevin Nealon) to pose as the principal when the real one (Kurt Fuller) gets into an accident.
The movie also stars Jessica Steen, Rashaan H Nall, Ellie Harvie, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Carlos Jacott, Bill Nye, Laurie Murdoch, and Walter Marsh.
It aired on January 3, 1998 on ABC.
Tropes for the film:
- Alliterative Name: Franklin Fitz.
- Dean Bitterman: The wayward Principal Frank Hockenberry is a strict authoritarian, and none of the students seem to be learning anything while he's in charge. This makes it more justifiable when John Scaduto recruits a homeless man, Franklin Fitz, to pass himself off as the substitute principal and institute some sweeping changes.
- Everybody Hates Mathematics: The math teacher is shown constantly droning on a monotone voice, refusing to answer any questions until the end of the lecture. Finally, when the new (fake) Principal Fitz changes the rules in the formerly-uptight school, one of the students refuses to take this and demands to know "what is X?" This prompts the the teacher to try to make his class more engaging and entertaining.
- Lethal Chef: The lunch cook is shown to make barely-edible food. When Fitz decides to try it, he goes to the kitchen in disgust and forces the cook to eat his own food, telling him he'll have to do this from now on. When the real principal shows up, he remarks how things have improved, including the fact that the food is actually pretty decent now.
- Tagline: "Sure the principal runs the school. But guess who runs the principal?".
