Head of the Class
1986 - 1991
Unconventional high school history teacher, Charlie Moore, substitutes for a qurirky class of gifted kids and ends up becoming their permanent teacher.
- Stars: Howard Hesseman, William G. Schilling, Jeannetta Arnette, Dan Frischman, Robin Givens, Khrystyne Haje, Tony O'Dell, Brian Robbins, Kimberly Russell, Dan Schneider
- Created by: Michael Elias, Rich Eustis
Where to Watch :
Episode Tropes
Season 1
- Big Mouth: Episode 3, "Charliegate" (1986). Dennis is late with an article for the school paper, so he says he'll interview Mr. Moore. He lies his way into Mr. Moore's apartment and gets him to talk about Dr. Samuels and the other students in the class, then distorts what he says to make it sound insulting.
- Two Sides of the Story: Episode 10, "You've Got a Friend" (1987). Arvid and Sarah develop a budding romance and go on one date that immediately breaks them up. When their bickering disrupts the class, Mr. Moore asks them what happened, and they tell two completely different versions of the story.
- Back to School: Episode 15, "Past Imperfect" (1987). The Board of Education discovers that Mr. Moore is short a few college credits, so he has to take a macroeconomics class as night to make up for them, and if he fails, he can no longer be a teacher.
- Hyp-NO-sis: Episode 16, "A Problem Like Maria" (1987). Dennis tries to help Arvid get Lori to go out with him by hypnotizing her, so he reads instructions to him from a book on hypnotism, accidentally hypnotizing Arvid. Later, Dennis tries the method on Lori and again hypnotizes Arvid instead.
- Time Capsule: Episode 19, "Video Activity" (1987). The city is burying a time capsule that they plan to open in 2100, and Dr. Samuels talked them into letting the IHP class contribute something, so the class decides to make a music video.
- I Want My MTV: Episode 19, "Video Activity" (1987). The IHP class decides to make a video to put in the city's time capsule, so Dr. Samuels puts Alan in charge of it to make sure they make the video he wants; the result is excruciatingly dull, so Dennis destroys the tape, and they record a music video instead.
Season 2
- Replacement Pet: Episode 1, "Science Fair-Weather Friends" (1987). When Dennis accidentally releases Arvid's depressed rats for his science fair project, he buys new rats to replace them. When Arvid discovers that the rats are not depressed, he thinks he's discovered a cure for depression.
- The Old Pie in the Face Gag: Episode 4, "Child of the 60s" (1987). When another student harasses Dennis in the lunch line in the cafeteria, Dennis throws a pie in his face.
- We'll Put on a Musical: Episode 7, "That'll Be the Day" (1987). Mr. Moore is directing the school musical, Grease, and he talks all the IHP students into auditioning except Alan. After one of the actors drops out at the last minute, Alan finally decides he wants to help out and agrees to take a role in the play with his own solo.
- Rorschach Test: Episode 9, "Psyched Out at Fillmore" (1987). The IHP students take a psychological personality test, which includes ink blots.
- Catfish: Episode 12, "Will the Real Arvid Engen Please Stand Up?" (1988). Arvid has been writing to his pen pal, Nancy, for six years, and she sends him a letter saying she's coming to meet for the first time, but Arvid is nervous because he sent her a picture of Eric instead of him.
- Trading Places: Episode 12, "Will the Real Arvid Engen Please Stand Up?" (1988). Arvid asks Eric to pretend to be him when his pen pal, Nancy, comes to meet him because he sent her a picture of Eric instead of himself. When a man comes to interview Eric for a summer writer's workshop, Arvid pretends to be him.
- Between Friends: Episode 13, "On the Road Again" (1988). Sarah and Darlene buy a car together so they can visit colleges on the weekends, but it keeps breaking down, and they can't afford to get it fixed, so they sell timeshares in the car to the other students in the class, but their constant arguing almost destroys their friendship.
- Fish and Visitors Stink in Three Days: Episode 13, "On the Road Again" (1988). Dr. Samuels's wife kicks him out, and Mr. Moore agrees to let him stay in his apartment while they work things out, but he quickly regrets it when Dr. Samuels starts to get on his nerves.
- Let's Pretend We're Married: Episode 18, "For Better, For Worse" (1988). Bernadette teaches a class on marriage and pairs off all the IHP students as pretend married couples, and they all end up hating each other.
- Electric Dreams: Episode 20, "Don't Play with Matches" (1988). Dennis creates a computer dating service for nerds and charges his classmates for dates.
- Obsession: Episode 20, "Don't Play with Matches" (1988). Simone's computer date, Oswald, follows her around and insists she go on dates with him even though she's not interested, and it gets to the point where she has to hide at her friends' houses to get away from him.
- It's a Wonderful Life: Episode 22, "Moore Than You Know" (1988). Mr. Moore is burned out and considering quitting teaching to return to the theater when his late Uncle Charlie appears and shows him what would happen to his students if he quit.
Character Tropes
- Whiz Kid: Janice Lazarotto - Played by Tannis Vallely.