Mr G

Mr G
Chris Lilley as "Mr G"
First appearance	Big Bite (2003)
Last appearance	2008 Logies (2008)
Created by	Chris Lilley
Portrayed by	Chris Lilley
Information
Aliases	Mr G
Gender	Male
Occupation	Drama Teacher, later Acting Director of Performing Arts, later Creative Coordinator of Drama Department at Summer Heights High School
Family	Celine, pet dog

Helen "Greg" Gregson, best known as Mr G, is one of the three fictional characters portrayed by Chris Lilley in the Australian mockumentary series, Summer Heights High. The character also appeared in the sketch comedy series Big Bite.

Biography

Mr G is an effeminate thirty-six-year-old drama teacher at Summer Heights High. Like his creator, Mr G mentions that he graduated from the Teachers' College of Macquarie University in Sydney, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts, where he mentions majoring in the performing arts (music, drama and dance), and a Diploma of Education. Mr G not only believes that he is an incredibly talented and well-liked teacher, but that his students also share his intense passion for drama and performance. He is in constant conflict with himself and other members of staff, particularly the school principal. His self-centred attitude causes him to frequently lose his temper with the students, and he is hostile to the disabled students being involved, under the belief that they will damage the quality of his musical. It is clear that he is unaware that his own perception of his teaching abilities is not shared by most students. He has written several musicals for the school, including "Tsunamarama", based on the events of the 2004 Asian Tsunami, set to the music of Bananarama. The character regularly featured on the Australian television series Big Bite.

On the show Summer Heights High, Mr G wrote a musical based on the death of a student, Annabel Dickson, from a drug overdose. The musical was originally called Annabel Dickson: The Musical and portrayed Annabel as a promiscuous drug addict. However, it is established early on that Mr G had no direct dealings with Annabel. Due to Annabel's parents being unhappy with the script, the focus of the musical changes from being about Annabel to Mr G and how he deals with Annabel's demise. As the show progresses, the musical ultimately becomes the story of how Mr G tried to help Annabel with her drug habit with the character of Mr G being a 'Jesus like figure'.

One of the main songs from the musical was "Naughty Girl", a song told through the voice of Mr G, which describes Annabel's plight. Other songs include "She's a Slut and She Knows It", "My Name is Mr G" and "Bummer Heights High". In the performance as well as in the official CD single release, Annabel's name was changed to Jessica.

One of Mr. G's desires is to construct a lavish performing arts centre named after himself. Since he has trouble convincing the administration to fund this endeavour, he decides that proceeds from "Mr. G: The Musical" are to be directed toward its construction. The enormous building which would likely eclipse the school in height would be able to host arena spectaculars. Despite the loyalty of his friend, science teacher Rodney Parsons, there will not be a room for dramatic sciences.

Greg is also in charge of school evacuations. He states that "I like to use my acting skills to create the drama of the situation". Another useful fact is that he has an above average sense of smell, which enables him to control certain behaviours amongst the students. He regularly "smells" pupils to detect alcohol, graffiti pens, and cannabis.

Mr G's attitude towards his fellow staff members and to his students is often controlling; he enjoys taking authority as (temporary) Director of Performing Arts. He is sensitive about his colleagues touching his property and has frequently used a label maker to emphasise this. His apparent excitement in the mornings contrasts that of his colleagues - "Coffee, coffee, coffee before we teachy teachy!". His constant excitement for the subject of drama has been a frequent comic point of Summer Heights High, as well as his undying love for Celine, his pet dog, and his never ending commitment to his musicals - "It's G time, not free time!".

Logies

Mr G appeared at the 50th Annual 2008 TV Week Logie Awards performing songs from "Mr G the Musical" along with other characters from the series.

CD single release

On 1 March 2008, a single of "Naughty Girl" was released, featuring five additional remixes of the song. It peaked at No. 7 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart.^[1]

References

1. "Mr G - Naughty Girl (Song)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 3 July 2010.