Series Description

The Head of the Class TV show was a 30 minute comedy series on ABC about a group of super-brainy high school students. When substitute teacher Charles Moore took over their class he could have relaxed while the room full of near-geniuses practically taught themselves. Instead, he recognized that while those kids didn't require much help in their studies, they were "nerds" who knew absolutely nothing about life in general. Mr. Moore was determined to educate them in the social skills that would change their lives for the better.

Head of the Class Cast

Howard Hesseman .... Charles Moore (Seasons 1-4)
Billy Connolly .... Billy MacGregor (Season 5)
William G. Schilling .... Dr. Harold Samuels
Jeanetta Arnette .... Bernadette Meara
Dan Frischman .... Arvid Engen
Dan Schneider .... Dennis Blunden
Khrystyne Haje .... Simone Foster
Brian Robbins .... Eric Mardian
Robin Givens .... Darlene Merriman
Tony O'Dell .... Alan Pinkard
Kimberly Russell .... Sarah Nevins
Tannis Vallely .... Janice Lazarotto (Seasons 1-3, 5)
Leslie Bega .... Maria Borges (Seasons 1-3)
Jory Husain .... Jawarhalal Choudhury (Seasons 1-3)
Marcia Christie .... Lori Applebaum (Seasons 1-2)
Rain Pryor .... T.J. Jones (Seasons 3-5)
Michael DeLorenzo .... Alex Torres (Seasons 4-5)
De'voreaux White .... Aristotle McKenzie (Seasons 4-5)
Lara Piper .... Viki Amory (Seasons 4-5)
Jonathan Ke Quan .... Jasper Kwong (Season 5)

Head of the Class Trivia

The setting for the Head of the Class TV show was at the affluent Monroe High School in Manhattan. In the final season of the series, the name of the school was changed to Millard Filmore High and it was scheduled to be torn down!

While some news programs and TV specials like "Candid Camera" had been filmed in Moscow, Russia; the Head of the Class TV show was the first regular entertainment series to do so in episodes #47 and #48; "Mission to Moscow - Parts 1 and 2".

Those who enjoyed the musical numbers by the cast of "That 70s Show" would also have liked a couple of musical extravaganzas that took place on two more two-part episodes of Head of the Class. On episodes #57 and #58, "Little Shop 'Til You Drop - Parts 1 and 2", the entire class of nerds performed a scene fro "The Little Shop of Horrors". On episodes #83 and #84, "From Hair to Eternity - Parts 1 and 2", they performed a scene from "Hair".

Head of the Class got a great start during its first season due to its 8:30PM time slot on Wednesday evenings. It's only real competition was the last half on "Highway to Heaven" on NBC which didn't challenge Head of the Class for potential sitcom viewers. CBS was airing the series, "Better Days" which only survived a few episodes. Head of the Class also followed the hit comedy series, "Perfect Strangers" so it had a "built in" comedy audience.

Howard Hesseman left the series at the end of the fourth season. The disappearance of Mr. Moore was explained by saying that he had left to attempt a career in acting. That had been his life-long dream. Moore was replaced by a new teacher, an exuberant man from Scotland named Billy MacGregor who was portrayed by comic Billy Connolly.

Billy Connolly may have only had one season on the Head of the Class TV show but there was another payoff for him. The series generated a "spinoff series" based on his character on Head of the Class! Since Millard Fillmore High was being torn down, Billy MacGregor needed to find a new teaching job so he moved from Manhattan to California to accept an offer. The series title was simply, "Billy" and it, unfortunately, only survived 13 episodes.

In the final two episodes of the Head of the Class TV show, "It Couldn't Last Forever - Parts 1 and 2", the no longer quite as nerdy class of students all graduated from high school!

Episodes List With Original Air Dates

Season 1

1. Pilot Episode (9/17/1986)
2. Back to the Future (9/24/1986)
3. Charliegate (10/1/1986)
4. Love at First Byte (10/22/1986)
5. The Outsider (10/29/1986)
6. Teacher's Teacher (11/5/1986)
7. Volleyball Anyone? (11/12/1986)
8. Critical Choices (11/19/1986)
9. Cold Turkey (11/26/1986)
10. You've Got a Friend (12/3/1986)
11. As Time Goes By (12/10/1986)
12. The Way We Weren't (12/17/1986)
13. Rebel Without a Class (1/7/1987)
14. Ode to Simone (1/14/1987)
15. Past Imperfect (1/21/1987)
16. A Problem Like Maria (1/28/1987)
17. The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming! (2/4/1987)
18. Valentine's Day (2/11/1987)
19. Video Activity (2/18/1987)
20. Privilege (2/25/1987)
21. Crimes of the Heart (4/1/1987)
22. The Secret Life of Arvid Engen (5/6/1987)

23. Science Fair-Weather Friends (9/23/1987)
24. The Write Stuff (9/30/1987)
25. The Big Squeeze (10/7/1987)
26. Child of the 60's (10/14/1987)
27. Trouble in Perfectville (10/28/1987)
28. Coach Charlie (11/4/1987)
29. That'll Be the Day (11/11/1987)
30. Poltergeist III (11/18/1987)
31. Psyched Out at Fillmore (11/25/1987)
32. Revenge of the Liberal (12/2/1987)
33. Play it Again, Woody (12/9/1987)
34. Will the Real Arvid Engen Please Stand Up? (1/6/1988)
35. On the Road Again (1/13/1988)
36. Fatal Distraction (1/20/1988)
37. Cello Fever (1/27/1988)
38. Parent's Day (2/3/1988)
39. Love is Debatable (2/10/1988)
40. For Better, For Worse (3/2/1988)
41. We Love You, Mrs. Russell (3/9/1988)
42. Don't Play With Matches (3/23/1988)
43. The 21st-Century News (5/4/1988)
44. Moore Than You Know (5/11/1988)

45. The Refrigerator of Fillmore High (10/19/1988)
46. Back in the U.S.S.R. (10/26/1988)
47. Mission to Moscow - Part 1 (11/2/1988)
48. Mission to Moscow - Part 2 (11/2/1988)
49. Let's Rap (11/9/1988)
50. Engen and Son (11/30/1988)
51. Get a Job (12/7/1988)
52. Born to Run (1/4/1989)
53. First Date (1/18/1989)
54. Partners (1/25/1989)
55. Arvid's Sure Thing (2/1/1989)
56. Scuttlebutt (2/8/1989)
57. Little Shop 'Til You Drop - Part 1 (2/15/1989)
58. Little Shop 'Til You Drop - Part 2 (2/22/1989)
59. The Hot Seat (3/1/1989)
60. Radio Activity (3/8/1989)
61. The Little Sister (3/15/1989)
62. Killer Coach (3/22/1989)
63. I Am the King (4/5/1989)
64. King of Remedial (4/26/1989)
65. Labor Daze (5/3/1989)
66. Exactly Twelve O'Clock (5/10/1989)

67. Back to School (9/27/1989)
68. Viki & Eric & Simone & Alex (10/4/1989)
69. The Ring of Darlene M. (10/11/1989)
70. Viki in Love (10/18/1989)
71. Blunden in Love (10/25/1989)
72. The Bright Stuff - Part 1 (11/1/1989)
73. The Bright Stuff - Part 2 (11/8/1989)
74. Gotta Dance (11/15/1989)
75. Good Mourning (11/22/1989)
76. Arvid Nose Best (11/29/1989)
77. The Devil and Miss T.J. (12/6/1989)
78. Why Ronnie Can't Read (12/13/1989)
79. The Joker Is Wild (1/3/1990)
80. Tough Guys Don't Sew (1/10/1990)
81. Reel Problems (1/17/1990)
82. Alan Goes Crimson (1/24/1990)
83. From Hair to Eternity - Part 1 (2/7/1990)
84. From Hair to Eternity - Part 2 (2/14/1990)
85. Recruitment Day (2/21/1990)
86. The Quiet Kid (2/28/1990)
87. Simone Goes Overboard (3/14/1990)
88. Queen, Queen, Queen for a Day (3/21/1990)
89. Politics of Love (4/4/1990)
90. The Reel Charlie Moore (4/11/1990)
91. Cement Hi-Tops (4/25/1990)
92. Teacher's Pet (5/2/1990)

93. Where's Charlie? (9/11/1990)
94. Getting Personal (10/9/1990)
95. Twelve Angry Nerds (9/18/1990)
96. And Then There Were None (10/2/1990)
97. The Heartbreak Nerd (9/25/1990)
98. Napoleon Blown Apart (10/16/1990)
99. Billy's Big One (10/23/1990)
100. Dead Men Don't Wear Pocket Protectors - Part 1 (10/30/1990)
101. Dead Men Don't Wear Pocket Protectors - Part 2 (11/6/1990)
102. Fillmore vs. Billy Jean's (11/13/1990)
103. Be My Baby . . . Sitter (10/20/1990)
104. Dancing Fools (11/27/1990)
105. My Son the Primate (12/4/1990)
106. The Importance of Being Alex (12/11/1990)
107. Viki's Torn Genes (12/18/1990)
108. The Last Waltz (1/8/1991)
109. Most Likely to Be Forgotten (1/15/1991)
110. The Strange Case of Randy McNally (5/28/1991)
111. My Dinner With Darlene (6/4/1991)
112. The Phantom of the Glee Club (6/11/1991)
113. It Couldn't Last Forever - Part 1 (6/18/1991)
114. It Couldn't Last Forever - Part 2 (6/25/1991)