Head Of The Class
| Head of the Class | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Michael Elias Rich Eustis |
| Starring |
Howard Hesseman Billy Connolly |
| Theme music composer | Ed Alton |
| Composer(s) | Ed Alton |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 114 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Michael Elias Rich Eustis |
| Producer(s) | Alan Rosen Frank Pace Larry Spencer |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Eustis/Elias Productions Warner Bros. Television |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | September 17, 1986 – June 25, 1991 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Billy |
Head of the Class is an American sitcom that ran from 1986 to 1991 on the ABC television network.
The series follows a group of gifted students in the Individualized Honors Program (IHP) at the fictional Monroe High School (later Millard Fillmore High School) in Manhattan, and their history teacher Charlie Moore (Howard Hesseman). The program was ostensibly a vehicle for Hesseman, best known for his role as radio DJ Dr. Johnny Fever on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982). Hesseman left Head of the Class in 1990 and was replaced by Scottish personality Billy Connolly (in his first major American production) as teacher Billy MacGregor for the final season. After the series ended, Connolly appeared in a short-lived spin-off titled Billy.
The series was created and executive produced by Rich Eustis and Michael Elias. Rich Eustis had previously worked as a New York City substitute teacher while hoping to become an actor.
Head of the Class deals with an entire classroom of academically gifted high school students. The IHP students comprised a diverse range of personalities, ethnicities, and academic specialities. In the first three years of the show, the IHP class had ten students. Arvid Engen (Dan Frischman) was a skinny, bespectacled nerd, mathematics expert and budding scientist. Arvid's best friend was the overweight, wisecracking cynic Dennis Blunden (Dan Schneider), a computer whiz who more often than not had a knack for getting the socially-inept Arvid involved in various schemes. Alan Pinkard (Tony O'Dell) was an ultra-conservative preppy and egotist; his area of expertise was political science and he was a devout fan of Ronald Reagan. Alan competed for the highest grades in the class with Darlene Merriman (Robin Givens), a spoiled rich girl who was probably even more self-centered than Alan. Both Alan and Darlene held the ambition of being named class valedictorian. Sarah Nevins (Kimberly Russell) did not have any one particular area of expertise; she was the most down-to-earth of the IHP class, and was once cited as having the lowest G.P.A. Maria Borges (Leslie Bega) was very passionate about getting A's (going as far as grounding herself in the pilot episode for getting a 'B'), and Jawaharlal Choudhury (Jory Husain aka Joher Coleman) was an exchange student from India. Eleven-year-old Janice Lazarotto (Tannis Vallely), despite her young age, was in high school and the IHP class because of her advanced intellect. Arts student Simone Foster (Khrystyne Haje) was a quiet, sensitive redhead with a particular fondness for poetry. A notable development in the show was the relationship between Simone and Eric Mardian (Brian Robbins), an aspiring writer and, outwardly, the most unlikely member of the IHP - Eric wore black leather, drove a motorcycle, acted tough and ostensibly disliked anything academic (to Dr. Samuels's delight, he was the only one in the class not on the academic team, although he would never leave the IHP). Eric hit constantly on Simone (on whom he had a crush) and the two eventually had an on-again-off-again romance.
...
Wikipedia