The Best Teacher Movies and TV Shows on Free Services

What it's about: Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday adventures of the Simpson family; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, as well as a virtual cast of thousands. Since the beginning, the series has been a pop culture icon, attracting hundreds of celebrities to guest star. The show has also made name for itself in its fearless satirical take on politics, media and American life in general.

Where to Watch: 4 episodes (1%) are available to watch free online (FOX). 6 episodes (1%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 640 episodes (96%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Simpsons World & FOX). 667 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son’s custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.00 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Chen Zhen returns to the international compound of China only to learn of his beloved teacher's death. This is compounded by the continual racist harassment by the Japanese population in the area. Unlike his friends, he confronts it head on with his mastery of martial arts while investigating his teacher's murder.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Cinemax), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Cinemax) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: Wake in Fright is the story of John Grant, a bonded teacher who arrives in the rough outback mining town of Bundanyabba planning to stay overnight before catching the plane to Sydney, but as one night stretches into several he plunges headlong into his own destruction.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, ConTV & Shudder) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: A chronicle of three weeks in the lives of several high school teachers, administrators and students through the eyes of substitute teacher, Henry Barthes. Henry roams from school to school, imparting modes of knowledge, but never staying long enough to form any semblance of sentient attachment.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a subscription service (Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: In the wake of a freak accident, Lance suffers the worst tragedy and the greatest opportunity of his life. He is suddenly faced with the possibility of fame, fortune and popularity, if he can only live with the knowledge of how he got there.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a subscription service (Sundance Now) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: It’s 1990-something, and since Lainey still hasn’t achieved rock ‘n’ roll greatness, she returns to William Penn Academy as the new music teacher.

Where to Watch: 4 episodes (20%) are available to watch free online (ABC). 7 episodes (35%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 3 episodes (15%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (ABC). 20 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: Based on a controversial French novel, Lila Says tells the story of a quiet young poet named Chimo who develops a crush on the pretty, blond Lila, a girl who recently moved into his Arab ghetto with her aunt. When the leader of a rival gang also falls for Lila, the ensuing love triangle initiates a journey of sexual discovery -- and sets off a chain of devastating events.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: Six Californians start a club to discuss the works of Jane Austen. As they delve into Austen's literature, the club members find themselves dealing with life experiences that parallel the themes of the books they are reading.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle), stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When Harvard philosophy scholar Jack Griffin finds himself teaching high school in Toledo, Ohio, he tosses the syllabus and recruits his students to help enact revenge on his rival.

Where to Watch: 18 episodes (69%) are available to watch free online (NBC). 2 episodes (8%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 6 episodes (23%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (NBC). 24 episodes (92%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A French teacher in a small Algerian village during the Algerian War forms an unexpected bond with a dissident who is ordered to be turned in to the authorities.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A comedy that follows the chaos that ensues when a meteor hits the Earth carrying alien life forms that give new meaning to the term "survival of the fittest." David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, and Julianne Moore are the only people standing between the aliens and world domination... which could be bad news for the Earth.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle, PopcornFlix, Tubi TV & 1 other), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: A 16-year-old girl visits her gay half-brother and ends up seducing his boyfriend, thus wreaking havoc on all of their lives.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Stuck at a crossroads in her personal life, it falls on high school English teacher Miss Stevens to chaperone three of her students — Billy, Margot and Sam — on a weekend trip to a drama competition.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (YouTube), stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The students of class 3-E have a mission: kill their teacher before graduation. He has already destroyed the moon, and has promised to destroy the Earth if he can not be killed within a year. But how can this class of misfits kill a tentacled monster, capable of reaching Mach 20 speed, who may be the best teacher any of them have ever had?

Where to Watch: 47 episodes (98%) are available to watch free online (Sony Crackle). 47 episodes (98%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 48 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $0.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Based on actual events that took place at Gwangju Inhwa School for the hearing-impaired, where young deaf students were the victims of repeated sexual assaults by faculty members over a period of five years in the early 2000s.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV).

What it's about: The inhabitants of an institution in a remote country rebel against their keepers. Their acts of rebellion are by turns humorous, boring and alarming. An allegory on the problematic nature of fully liberating the human spirit, as both commendable and disturbing elements of our nature come forward. The film shows how justifiable revolt may be empowering, but may also turn to chaos and depravity. The allegory is developed in part by the fact that the film is cast entirely with dwarfs

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Shout Factory TV & Tubi TV), stream on a subscription service (Fandor & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Vudu).

What it's about: A group of 12 teenagers from various backgrounds enroll at the American Ballet Academy in New York to make it as ballet dancers and each one deals with the problems and stress of training and getting ahead in the world of dance.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Andy is a new teacher at a inner city high school that is like nothing he has ever seen before. There is metal detectors at the front door and everything is basically run by a tough kid named Peter Stegman. Soon, Andy and Stegman become enemies and Stegman will stop at nothing to protect his turf and drug dealing business.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shout Factory TV, Cinefest & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: At an international school in Jakarta, a philosophy teacher challenges his class of twenty graduating seniors to choose which ten of them would take shelter underground and reboot the human race in the event of a nuclear apocalypse.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (Google Play, Prime Video & 3 others).

What it's about: The Whole Wide World tells the story of Novalyne Price, an attractive feisty West Texas schoolteacher and her bittersweet, romantic and turbulent relationship with Robert E. Howard, the great pulp fiction writer of the 1930's.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: A shy teenage boy trying to escape the influence of his domineering mother, has his world changed when he begins to work for a retired actress.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A mysterious virus hits an isolated elementary school, transforming the kids into a feral swarm of mass savages. An unlikely hero must lead a motley band of teachers in the fight of their lives.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a subscription service (Tribeca Short List) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: After his first date at age 15 ended with the girl making out with another man at a party, aspiring writer Lester Grimm has treated all his girlfriends with jealousy and suspicion. While dating Ramona Ray, paranoia gets the best of him when he discovers that her most recent ex is successful novelist Dashiell Frank. Lester begins attending the same group therapy sessions as Dashiell to learn about Ramona's past with him.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: In 1921 in the poor part of an Austrian town called Melchiorgasse there are only two wealthy people: the butcher Josef Geiringer and his wife. Mrs. Greifer runs a fashion boutique and a nightclub patronized by wealthy Viennese. Annexed to the nightclub is Merkl Hotel, a brothel to which the women of the nightclub bring their clients. The film follows the lives of two women from the same poor neighborhood as they try to better themselves during the period of Austrian postwar hyperinflation. They are Marie, who becomes a prostitute, and Grete who does not.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (SnagFilms), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $7.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Matthew Perry is real-life inspiration Ron Clark, a passionate and innovative teacher who leaves his small hometown to teach in one of Harlem's toughest schools. But to break through to this students, Clark must use unconventional methods, including his ground-breaking classroom rules, to drive them toward their potential.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hallmark Movies Now) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: The story of five teenage girls who form an unlikely bond after beating up a teacher who has sexually harassed them. They build a solid friendship but their wild ways begin to get out of control.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The time is in the future and the youth gang violence is so high that the areas around some schools have become "free-fire zones", into which not even the police will venture. When Miles Langford, the head of Kennedy High School, decides to take his school back from the gangs, robotics specialist Dr. Robert Forrest provides "tactical education units". These are amazingly human-like androids that have been programmed to teach and are supplied with devastatingly effective solutions to discipline problems. So when he violent, out-of-control students of Kennedy High report for class tomorrow, they're going to get a real education... in staying alive!

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The Steve Harvey Show is an American sitcom that aired for six seasons from August 25, 1996 to February 17, 2002 on The WB Television Network. It was created by Winifred Hervey and directed by Stan Lathan.

Where to Watch: 80 episodes (66%) are available to watch free online (Sony Crackle).

What it's about: As an awkward idealistic high school teacher begins her first job in the city, things turn out to be much tougher than she had imagined.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Eccentric aliens give a man the power to do anything he wants to determine if Earth is worth saving.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: When wistful introvert Alan Furnace meets quick-witted bombshell Beatrice, he has no idea of her secret life as "B. Monkey" -- the top thief-for-hire in London's criminal underworld. Charmed by Furnace's innocent and chivalrous ways, Beatrice resolves to reform. But to cash in on her first chance at real love, she must escape her former partner in crime, the ruthless Paul Neville -- and a dark past that seems to haunt her every step.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV).

What it's about: Set in the frozen steppes of Mongolia, a young nomad confronted with his destiny after animals fall victim to a plague which threatens to eradicate nomadism.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Fandor) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: A college professor wakes up to find his wife has not returned home, then struggles to understand her disappearance.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV) & stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Tribeca Short List).

What it's about: Max Washington has just been released from prison after serving time for burglary. He returns to his old hangout, a hoofer club. His old girl friend, Amy, who still works at the club as a Tap instructor, is less than thrilled to see him. Her father, Little Mo, is happy to see him, because he has plans for a show involving Max. In addition, Max's old partners in crime have another job for him.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: An art instructor and an English teacher form a rivalry that ends up with a competition at their school in which students decide whether words or pictures are more important.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a subscription service (Tribeca Short List), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: As the debate over the state of America's public school system rages on, one thing everyone agrees on is the need for great teachers. Yet, while research proves that teachers are the most important school factor in a child's future success, America's teachers are so woefully underpaid that almost a third must divide their time between a second job in order to make a living. Chronicling the stories of four teachers in different areas of the country, American Teacher reveals the frustrating realities of today's educators, the difficulty of attracting talented new teachers, and why so many of our best teachers feel forced to leave the profession altogether. But this wake-up call to our system's failings also looks at possibilities for reform. Can we re-value teaching in the United States and turn it into a prestigious, financially attractive and competitive profession? With almost half of American teachers leaving the field in the next five years, now is the time to find out.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Daring Docs) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Teacher Linda Sinclair balances her staid home life with an incredible passion for her subject, but her routine is forever altered when a former star pupil and his unsupportive father reenter her life.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Written by and starring acclaimed comedy troupe The Katydids, Teachers shows their hilariously warped perspective as six elementary school teachers trying to mold young minds, even though their own lives aren’t really together.

Where to Watch: 1 episodes (2%) are available to watch free online (TVLand). 10 episodes (20%) are available to stream on a subscription service (Comedy Central Now). 30 episodes (60%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (TVLand). 48 episodes (96%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A troubled and emotionally fragile woman finds herself at the center of a firestorm, in this gut-wrenching psychological drama.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Todd Boomer is a college student aspiring to get into University. His chances are looking poor when his maths teacher, fails him in every maths test. Help arrives in the guise of the gorgeous Vicki, a mathematical genius who decides to tutor Todd. As the relationship develops,Todd finds himself in an affair with Vicki unknowing of her marriage to his math teacher.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Tribeca Short List), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: An always inappropriate, fearless and unapologetic former trophy wife masquerades as a teacher in order to find a new man after her wealthy husband leaves her penniless.

Where to Watch: 13 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (Sony Crackle). 13 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Mike has felt alienated and alone for as long as he can remember, until a new boy arrives at his school - awakening feelings and a world of possibilities he'd never before dared to dream of.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a subscription service (Realeyz) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: When her mother is killed in a mysterious house fire, rebellious teen Debbie Strand is sent to live with her grandmother, where she becomes even more unhinged. She develops an intense crush on her hunky creative writing teacher, Peter Rinaldi, but her numerous attempts at seduction end in failure. Soon Peter's friends start turning up dead, and he fears that his fiancée, Marilyn, may be Debbie's next victim.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV).

What it's about: Part psychological thriller and part provocative character study, A TEACHER explores the unraveling of a young high school teacher, Diana (Lindsay Burdge), after she begins an affair with one of her teenage students, Eric (Will Brittain). What starts as a seemingly innocent fling becomes increasingly complex and dangerous as the beautiful and confident Diana gets fully consumed by her emotions, crossing boundaries and acting out in progressively startling ways. Lindsay Burdge delivers a deeply compelling and seamlessly naturalistic performance that brings us into the mind of an adult driven to taboo against her better judgment.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu, Sundance Now & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Good Morning, Miss Bliss is an American teen sitcom that aired on the Disney Channel from 1988 to 1989, starring Hayley Mills as a teacher at John F. Kennedy Junior High School in Indianapolis, Indiana.The show was originally a pilot for NBC, which was inspired by NBC president Brandon Tartikoff's idea for a show about an "inspiring" teacher. NBC decided not to pick up the pilot, but Disney Channel did, premiering the show on November 30, 1988, and airing it for one season. The show was later retooled as Saved by the Bell, with much of the same cast but without Mills, and with a different setting. The latter show focused on the students rather than the teacher, and had a much more successful run.

Where to Watch: 10 episodes (77%) are available to watch free online (NBC). 13 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 3 episodes (23%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (NBC). 13 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (Google Play, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: Miss Meadows is a school teacher with impeccable manners and grace. However, underneath the candy-sweet exterior hides a ruthless gun-toting vigilante who takes it upon herself to right the wrongs in the world by whatever means necessary. For Miss Meadows, bad behavior is simply unforgivable.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).