"Summer Heights High" coming to HBO ... you've been warned!

HBO has secured the rights to air the first season of the Australian "mockumentary" Summer Heights High, and will unleash the series on an unsuspecting American public sometime this fall.

Working from The Office template, Summer Heights High follows three characters at an Australian school (all played by the creator/writer Chris Lilley): the stuck up girl Ja'mie, troublemaking bully Jonah, and the flamboyant drama/music teacher, Mr. G.

Mr. G lives for musical theater, and has staged such school classics as Ian Thorpe - The Man, The Music, The Water, the affordable-sounding IKEA - The Musical, and his greatest triumph, Tsunamarama, which was a tribute to the victims of the tsunami set to the music of Bananarama.

I've watched the series online, and it's by turns appalling and brilliant. Mr. G says the most cringe-worthy, inappropriate things (like calling the disabled kids "specials"), but is completely clueless to his own cruelty. If you're a fan (like I am) of shows like South Park and Strangers With Candy, then its warped sense of humor might appeal to you, but it will definitely be much debated after it premieres.

After the break, you can see a clip of Mr. G and his unusual teaching methods, and watch for Summer Heights High when it comes to HBO this fall.