Today "The View" was injected with an extra dose of coolness. Tony Danza sat in for Elisabeth Hasselbeck as a co-host. The veteran actor promoted a slew of projects including his new book, "I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High."
Danza famously spent a year as an English teacher in a tough Philadelphia school. He taught a 10th grade class of 26 students. Northeast High is Philly's largest high school. The "Who's the Boss?" star confessed to the co-hosts that he was struck with fear immediately after writing his name on the blackboard. At well into his 60s, the Italian heartthrob appeared youthful and spry, qualities that undoubtedly came in handy when dealing with rowdy teens.
Joy Behar, a former English teacher herself, pointed out that Tony only had to deal with a small portion of the kids on an average teacher's roster. Danza's stint behind the educational desk was documented in the A&E series, "Teach: Tony Danza." The A&E site contains "Grading Mr. Danza" report cards where students were asked to grade Tony's teaching skills. He does surprisingly well.
Before you think that Tony's teaching stint was just some Hollywood actor on a publicity junket, think again. Tony kept on teaching after the cameras stopped rolling. He discussed the current Chicago teacher's strike on the morning show, becoming somewhat of an activist for teachers' rights.
Danza was calm, cool and fun in the hosting seat. After all, the man once had his own talk show. We say bring back "The Tony Danza Show" and rid the airwaves of the many unwatchable "View" clones out there.
The actor claims to be developing a male version of "The Golden Girls" for TV. Sounds similar to "Men of a Certain Age." Nonetheless, we'll be watching!
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