Was this the inspiration for "Teachers"?: Stay Awhile, Mr. Dream Chaser (Room 222, 1971)

 From season 3 of Room 222:

Teacher Pete Dixon (Lloyd Haynes) returns from vacation to find that a substitute teacher with a penchant for role playing has charmed the students.

Larry Wilcox, later of CHiPs, guests as a student.

13 years later, "Teachers", with Nick Nolte leading an ensemble cast, featured a psychiatric patient (Richard Mulligan, ex-Soap) mistaken for a substitute teacher who uses role play to make his class entertaining. No, the writers are not the same, but one wonders if the inspiration for Mulligan's character came from this episode.

Rating: A.