In my opinion "Head of the Class" was one of the more overlooked and underrated primetime sitcoms of the mid to late 80's. The reason why I say this is, of course in the same era as "The Cosby Show", most shows like these get overlooked. Some of the cast members went on to act in motion pictures and other TV shows after the series ended in 1991. I guess the initial draw to the show was Howard Hesseman because like mamy of you, I remember his days on "WKRP in Cincinnati" as the popular "Johnny Fever". I wish it could come on syndication because they made the required 100 episodes for it to go in that format. They made history by being the first U.S. sitcom to film episodes in the Soviet Union. I would love to see a reunion show in the near future, but still, for this show to stay on network TV for five seasons with a relatively unknown cast of characters, even with the standards that "The Cosby Show" had set, that is saying something. To sum it all up "Head of the Class" was one of those overlooked shows that have become Cult Classics.

The show is currently running on Nick-At-Nite, back-to-back with Perfect Strangers. It is amazing how good the casts of both shows are. It is also equally appalling how bad the scripts are for both shows. These shows have not aged well. Also, has anybody noticed that the filter on the videotape looks very odd? Most of the second-rate (and I use that term not as an insult, but to say that they're not Cheers) sitcoms from the 80's have this peculiar look. Remember the "video white" look on a lot of early 80's MTV. Compare Toni Basil's Mickey with the video for Men Without Hats' Safety Dance. Both are weird, but the filmed one still looks like it has production values. This speaks volumes to the superiority of film over videotape. How many television shows lose a quality over time because modern video points out the glaring inadequacies of the medium's past?The cast of Head Of The Class were a perfect combination in chemistry. It is too bad that the show had to let that cast down in so many other areas.

This was one of those wacky 80's premises where sitcoms focused on very light, but heartwarming, subjects like acceptance and social analysis without being overly preachy. Head of the Class wasn't brilliant, but it was groundbreaking in that it thoroughly humanized the nerds on campus instead of making them seem fringe or loony. Kids today could learn alot about striving to attain academic excellence while also exploring the creative, non-logical, side of their personalities. The first few years with Howard Hessemann were much much better than the final year or so with Connolly who was too much like a drunk Australlian doing bad Robin Williams' impressions. I definitely recommend the show for those between the ages of 8-17, seriously good lessons for those in middle or high school.I give it a 7.5 out of 10.

Oh My God, could this show be any worse? I think not!How corny can you possibly get. The 80's certainly were the area of really lame, bad television shows, this being the worst of them all. I have absolutely no idea why Billy Connolly decided to join this show, but he must have been out of his mind. The acting is terrible, stories so pathetic and totally unrealistic. This show should be banished from TV land altogether, maybe they could burn the tapes, but something must be done to rid us of this crap.Avoid at all costs!!!!!!!!!