Head of the Class
Science Fair-Weather Friends
TV Flash files “Science Fair-Weather Friends” as a desk essential hour — Head of the Class (1986–1991) on ABC, season 2, episode 1, aired 1987-09-23, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E01: listed hour 23 of 114 in the Head of the Class guide, first listed hour of season 2. It aired 1987-09-23 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Secret Life of Arvid Engen” (S01E22). Next is “The Write Stuff” (S02E02).
Essential hour: “Science Fair-Weather Friends”. Science Fair-Weather Friends is season two's pun: academic multi-cam still treating the classroom as people, not trophies.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Science Fair-Weather Friends sit in the Head of the Class guide?
S02E01 is listed hour 23 of 114 — first listed hour of season 2, season 2 episode 1.
When did Head of the Class S02E01 air?
Science Fair-Weather Friends aired 1987-09-23 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Do the later recast years count?
They wobble. Hesseman's substitute treating gifted kids like people is the series people mean. Academic multi-cam before nerd was a brand — sample the original classroom.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Howard Hesseman's substitute walks into an Individualized Honors classroom and treats gifted kids like people instead of trophies. Smart-kid sitcom with Robin Givens, Brian Robbins, and a bench of overachievers who actually talk like honors students. Academic multi-cam before nerd was a brand — then the later recast years wobble.
The classroom is the silhouette. ABC, 1986–1991: a laid-back substitute walks into an Individualized Honors classroom and treats gifted kids like people instead of trophies. Head of the Class is Rich Eustis and Michael Elias putting academic overachievers in the multi-cam spotlight — Howard Hesseman's post-WKRP Charlie Moore, Dan Frischman's Arvid, Robin Givens's Darlene, Khrystyne Haje's Simone, a bench of overachievers who actually talk like honors students. *Smart-kid as a look before nerd was a brand, a…
Filed against
- Howard Hesseman as Charlie Moore
Howard Hesseman’s Dr. Johnny Fever made WKRP in Cincinnati a DJ zoo with a hangover — 1970s catalog rock-format workplace, turkeys away, then Head of the Class stretching the cool into an honors-room substitute. TV Flash files him as the…
- Dan Frischman as Arvid Engen
Dan Frischman’s Arvid Engen was Head of the Class’s honors nerd in glasses — Howard Hesseman’s substitute treating gifted kids like people, a bench of overachievers who actually talked like honors students. Smart-kid sitcom before nerd…
- Robin Givens as Darlene Merriman
Robin Givens's Darlene Merriman gave Head of the Class its glossy honors-student steel — Howard Hesseman's substitute treating gifted kids like people instead of trophies, Brian Robbins on the bench, overachievers who actually talk like…
- Khrystyne Haje as Simone Foster
Khrystyne Haje's Simone Foster kept Head of the Class looking like honors kids instead of trophies — Howard Hesseman's substitute, a gifted classroom that talked like students, academic multi-cam before nerd became a brand. TV Flash files…