Head of the Class: Difference between revisions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
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[[File:Head_Of_The_Class_7106.jpg|frame]]
[[File:Head_Of_The_Class_7106.jpg|frame]]


A highly successful [[Sitcom]] of [[The Eighties]]. Imagine ''[[Saved by the Bell]]'' for primetime.
A highly successful [[Sitcom]] of [[The Eighties]]. Imagine ''[[Saved by the Bell]]'' for prime-time.


Howard Hesseman (of ''[[WKRP in Cincinnati]]'' fame) starred as Charlie Moore, a substitute teacher who is hired to teach history to a class of gifted students at a Manhattan high school. He is not gifted himself, but he thinks outside the box and is full of epiphanies, and so he has much to teach his class even as he finds himself clashing with the school's stuffy, by-the-book principal. Three months later, the [[Very Special Episode]] came in which the original teacher returned from his medical leave. This being a successful American sitcom, after spending most of the episode trying to impress the guy, Charlie is himself; in being himself, he does impress the guy, who was looking for a worthy replacement so that he could retire. This naturally infuriated the principal further, but it finally ensured that there could be a [[Status Quo Is God|stable status quo.]]
Howard Hesseman (of ''[[WKRP in Cincinnati]]'' fame) starred as Charlie Moore, a substitute teacher who is hired to teach history to a class of gifted students at a Manhattan high school. He is not gifted himself, but he thinks outside the box and is full of epiphanies, and so he has much to teach his class even as he finds himself clashing with the school's stuffy, by-the-book principal. Three months later, the [[Very Special Episode]] came in which the original teacher returned from his medical leave. This being a successful American sitcom, after spending most of the episode trying to impress the guy, Charlie is himself; in being himself, he does impress the guy, who was looking for a worthy replacement so that he could retire. This naturally infuriated the principal further, but it finally ensured that there could be a [[Status Quo Is God|stable status quo.]]
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* [[And Knowing Is Half the Battle]]
* [[And Knowing Is Half the Battle]]
* [[Be Yourself]]
* [[Be Yourself]]
* [[Bollywood Nerd]]: Jawaharlal
* [[Bollywood Nerd]]: Jawaharlal.
* [[Bonnie Scotland]]: The replacement replacement teacher came from there, which made for an interesting Revolutionary War episode.
* [[Bonnie Scotland]]: The replacement replacement teacher came from there, which made for an interesting Revolutionary War episode.
* [[Bottle Episode]]: Pretty much every episode took place in that one classroom and the hallway just outside it; occasionally they also used the school theater.
* [[Bottle Episode]]: Pretty much every episode took place in that one classroom and the hallway just outside it; occasionally they also used the school theater.
* [[Brilliant but Lazy]]: Applies to various characters, depending on how you define brilliance.
* [[Brilliant but Lazy]]: Applies to various characters, depending on how you define brilliance.
* [[The Bus Came Back]]: Janice shows up again in the series finale to get her high school diploma; she had just graduated from Harvard.
* [[The Bus Came Back]]: Janice shows up again in the series finale to get her high school diploma; she had just graduated from Harvard.
⚫
* [[Dean Bitterman]]: Dr. Samuels.
* [[The Danza]]: Billy Connolly as Billy MacGregor.
* [[Dawson Casting]]: Dan Schneider was born in 1966. You do the math.
** Tony O'Dell was born in 1960. Dan Frischman, playing one of the students, was born in 1959, making him ''27 years old'' when the series began.
*** Basically most of the cast other than Tannis Vallely (Janice), who was the first one to leave (she was ''really'' smart).
⚫
* [[Dean Bitterman]]: Dr. Samuels
* [[Devil's Advocate]]: In a school debate club meet, Alan has to extemporaneously defend a position he is personally against. He wins the debate.
* [[Devil's Advocate]]: In a school debate club meet, Alan has to extemporaneously defend a position he is personally against. He wins the debate.
* [[Egg Sitting]]
* [[Egg Sitting]]
* [[Enemy Mine]]: [[Invoked Trope]] by Mr. Moore on one occasion. The students were fighting each other, so he became a bad teacher, giving them a greater enemy that would force them to put aside their own differences.
* [[Enemy Mine]]: [[Invoked Trope]] by Mr. Moore on one occasion. The students were fighting each other, so he became a bad teacher, giving them a greater enemy that would force them to put aside their own differences.
⚫
* [[Famous Ancestor]]: In one episode, Mr. Moore has the class research their family trees, and Darlene discovers that she is a direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson.
* [[Famous-Named Foreigner]]: Jawaharlal Choudhury is obviously named after India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. It is very unlikely that an Indian or an Indian-American in his teens in the mid-1980s would have a name like Jawaharlal.
* [[Famous-Named Foreigner]]: Jawaharlal Choudhury is obviously named after India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. It is very unlikely that an Indian or an Indian-American in his teens in the mid-1980s would have a name like Jawaharlal.
⚫
* [[Famous Ancestor]]: In one episode, Mr. Moore has the class research their family trees, and Darlene discovers that she is a direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson.
* [[Final Season Casting]]: See [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] below -- but not similar enough to keep the show going beyond that point.
* [[Final Season Casting]]: See [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] below -- but not similar enough to keep the show going beyond that point.
* [[The Fool]]: Because the teacher himself didn't always seem to know what he was doing.
* [[The Fool]]: Because the teacher himself didn't always seem to know what he was doing.
* [[Frozen in Time]]: If these kids are so smart, why have they been in high school for five years?
* [[Frozen in Time]]: If these kids are so smart, why have they been in high school for five years?
** [[Word of God]] was that the final two seasons took place their senior year - season 4 was 1st semester, season 5 was 2nd semester.
** [[Word of God]] was that the final two seasons took place their senior year - Season 4 was 1st semester, Season 5 was 2nd semester.
* [[Grew a Spine]]: In one episode, Jawarhalal is suddenly well known for agreeing with everyone about everything. Then the class goes to see Mr. Moore's off-off-off-Broadway post-[[Post Modernism|post-Modern]] production of ''[[Hamlet]]''. Everybody hates it except Jawarhalal, who defends it to everyone. They're so caught up in trying to prove him wrong that until the end of the episode they never ask him why he likes it and don't notice that he's disagreeing with them, counter to his personality.
* [[Grew a Spine]]: In one episode, Jawarhalal is suddenly well known for agreeing with everyone about everything. Then the class goes to see Mr. Moore's off-off-off-Broadway post-[[Post Modernism|post-Modern]] production of ''[[Hamlet]]''. Everybody hates it except Jawarhalal, who defends it to everyone. They're so caught up in trying to prove him wrong that until the end of the episode they never ask him why he likes it and don't notice that he's disagreeing with them, counter to his personality.
* [[High School]]
* [[High School]]
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* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: More than once.
* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: More than once.
* [[Save Our Students]]: Somewhat of an inversion, in that Mr. Moore's kids are academically gifted and high-achieving but socially and emotionally underdeveloped.
* [[Save Our Students]]: Somewhat of an inversion, in that Mr. Moore's kids are academically gifted and high-achieving but socially and emotionally underdeveloped.
* [[School Play]]: ''[[Little Shop of Horrors]]'', ''[[Grease]]'', and ''[[Hair (theatre)]]''
* [[School Play]]: ''[[Little Shop of Horrors]]'', ''[[Grease]]'', and ''[[Hair (theatre)]]''.
* [[Snap Back]]
* [[Snap Back]]
* [[Spin-Off]]: The eminently forgettable ''Billy'', which ran for half a season in 1992.
* [[Spin-Off]]: The eminently forgettable ''Billy'', which ran for half a season in 1992.
* [[Status Quo Is God]]
* [[Status Quo Is God]]
* [[Strawman Political]]: Of various flavors. And it's just not a [[The Eighties|1980s]] sitcom without a blatant [[Family Ties|Alex P. Keaton]] ripoff, er, neo-conservative among the students.
* [[Strawman Political]]: Of various flavors. And it's just not a [[The Eighties|1980s]] sitcom without a blatant [[Family Ties|Alex P. Keaton]] ripoff, er, neoconservative among the students.
* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: After Howard Hesseman quit the show, his Charlie Moore was replaced with Billy Connolly as new teacher Billy MacGregor.
* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: After Howard Hesseman quit the show, his Charlie Moore was replaced with Billy Connolly as new teacher Billy MacGregor.
* [[Teen Genius]]: The majority of the teenage cast, although arguably Janice (who was really a ''pre-''teen genius) and Arvid in particular.
* [[Teen Genius]]: The majority of the teenage cast, although arguably Janice (who was really a ''pre-''teen genius) and Arvid in particular.
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[[Category:Head of the Class]]
[[Category:Head of the Class]]
[[Category:Sitcom]]
[[Category:Sitcom]]
[[Category:TV Series]]

Latest revision as of 23:49, 1 October 2020

A highly successful Sitcom of The Eighties. Imagine Saved by the Bell for prime-time.

Howard Hesseman (of WKRP in Cincinnati fame) starred as Charlie Moore, a substitute teacher who is hired to teach history to a class of gifted students at a Manhattan high school. He is not gifted himself, but he thinks outside the box and is full of epiphanies, and so he has much to teach his class even as he finds himself clashing with the school's stuffy, by-the-book principal. Three months later, the Very Special Episode came in which the original teacher returned from his medical leave. This being a successful American sitcom, after spending most of the episode trying to impress the guy, Charlie is himself; in being himself, he does impress the guy, who was looking for a worthy replacement so that he could retire. This naturally infuriated the principal further, but it finally ensured that there could be a stable status quo.

The series ran for five years with almost no cast turnover. This did stretch credulity after a time, but it didn't cause problems until the network was forced to replace the teacher with a Suspiciously Similar Substitute in the fifth year.

Oh, and Robin Givens played a student here before she married Mike Tyson. Also launched the likes of Dan Schneider (responsible in some way for most every recent live-action hit on Nickelodeon) and Brian Robbins, who went on to produce and direct shows with Schneider and without (as well as work with the enemy sometimes). Unlike Brian Robbins, Dan Schneider has yet to direct a big-screen movie, which may be a wise move.

Tropes used in Head of the Class include:
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