Abhiroop Das
Created by Bert Kreischer, Jarrad Paul, and Andy Mogel, Netflix’s ‘Free Bert‘ is a situational comedy series detailing the lives and shenanigans of the Kreischer family. Bert, once a star comedian, now struggles to reconcile with the very stunts that made him popular. Turned off by his reputation as the man who rips off his shirt at the start of every performance, Bert seeks to reinvent himself by socialising with a group of rich dads. All of their children, including Bert’s two daughters, Ila and Georgia, study at the prestigious Barklidge Academy, which has stood firm for 150 years. With this all-encompassing legacy, however, also comes a level of classism that neither Bert nor his family is prepared for.
Still, nothing can stop Bert from making his daughter the most beloved student in the school, even if it means playing with his own identity as a humorist, but also as a human. Throughout this entire saga, we continually learn more things about Barklidge, both good and bad. While it may be the most reputable school in town, its under-the-table dealings worry Bert to no end, forcing him to truly think about the future he wants for his children.
Barklidge is a Fictional Institution Created to Channel Bert’s Real-life Anxieties
While Barklidge Academy is a fictional private school concocted by Bert Kreischer, Andrew Mogel, and Jarrad Paul, its roots can be traced back to Bert’s real-life experiences. Specifically, Barklidge as a concept draws from his feelings about his own daughters’ school life. In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, he opened up about having an identity crisis while visiting his daughters’ private school on one particular occasion. He described it as a place “where it felt like everyone had money. Everyone had nice cars. Everyone had big houses.” This experience serves as the backbone to ‘Free Bert,’ which is largely about Bert’s character trying to fit in with a clique of wealthy dads.
While creating Barklidge, Bert deliberated on how wealth informs social inclusion or exclusion. In particular, he, along with the writing team, penned down a scenario where “you go to a new school, and you’re trying to fit in, and you just aren’t, (…) everyone went to preschool together, and you’re like, we were at the cheap preschool over in Koreatown.” From this, we can gather that Bert has a set of real experiences to draw on and expand. However, it is still unlikely that Barklidge is intended as a direct jab at the real-life high schools of Bert’s two daughters, Georgia and Ila, who are pursuing higher studies as of writing. Instead, Bert dramatizes his anecdotes to convey a humorously compelling story about isolation, peer pressure, and myriad other socially relevant subjects.
A Real Private School in Georgia Doubles as the Fictional Barklidge Academy
The real-life Georgia Kreischer, who reportedly studied at Louisville High School, an all-girls private Catholic school in Woodland Hills, California, has been described as a model student according to sources. She also played varsity softball for her school prior to her graduation in 2022. Notably, Bert’s conceptualization of Barklidge is markedly different from its potential real-life counterpart, starting with the fact that it’s a co-educational institution. Additionally, all the subplots surrounding the academy tie back to the rest of the story invented by the writing team, making any real-life correlations increasingly unlikely. All of this confirms the idea that it is crafted as a fictional vessel to further the story’s larger points.
Barklidge may be an invented institution, but it was filmed inside a real-life educational campus belonging to Woodward Academy in Georgia’s Fulton County. Specifically, the crew set up camp in Jane Woodruff Hall, located in Woodward’s College Park campus, at 14-0159-LL-002-7, Fulton County. The building, standing three storeys tall and covering roughly 101,000 square feet, was redressed as the fictional Barklidge Academy, with many of its classrooms, labs, and even the atrium featuring in the production. While Jane Woodruff Hall is primarily a humanities center, in the show, it is depicted as a state-of-the-art school full of rich and notorious kids. It is important to note that Woodward Academy merely serves as a backdrop location for the show and is most likely not an inspiration for Barklidge’s narrative purposes.
Read More: Is Free Bert Based on the True Story of Bert Kreischer’s Life?
