Head of the Class TV series

I remember seeing Krystyne Haje in every tabloid's "worst dressed" celebrities section. She was always photographed at events wearing renaissance clothing and big bows in her hair.

I loved this show. It's long gone and I haven't seen it in years but I remember enjoying it. There was a great episode where the class was divided over Fatal Attraction. I remember one of the female students didn't like how Glenn Close's character was treated.

I could have done without creepy Dan Schneider, though. Both him and Brian Robbins became hugely successful tv producers.

And Robin Givens...

R1 Khyrstyne Haje was the Susan Richardson of the late 80s/early 90s. For some reason, the rags (like National Enquirer and Star Magazine) were transfixed by her every move.

Haje got a lot of press in general during the run of the show. I think she was even on People Magazine's 50 most beautiful people list one year. She wasn't a great actress or anything, but I'm surprised she didn't work more.

Several moved behind the cameras. Besides Robbins and Schneider, the guy who played the principal became a producer also. The guy that played Arvid co-owned a production company with Robbins at one point too, Tony O'Dell became an acting coach and the girl that played Janice became a casting director (and one person claimed on here she was rather unpleasant one as well).

Krystyne Haje had stage IV breast cancer and was given 2 years to live, but survived and is doing well now. I often see her in the Verzenio commercials. She looks great.

I never saw the show, but the guy in OP's pic in the upper left looks familiar. The guy next to him is really cute, too.

Robin Givens was hard to beat!

Rain Pryor stunk up every scene she was in.

It's on HBOMAX

No OP Datalounge is absolutely not well versed in 80s television and pop culture.

Too old to be interested in the show, but Robin Givens (or at least her love life) was a cultural fixture during its run.

I remember the Fatal Attraction episode too r2! That's what I liked about the show. They had real discussions - well, as much as you could on Network TV. I was actually quite impressed with how thoughtful that episode was, humanizing Alex from Fatal Attraction instead of just the easy Fatal Attraction jokes at the time.

Brian Robbins runs Paramount now.

[quote]I remember seeing Krystyne Haje in every tabloid's "worst dressed" celebrities section. She was always photographed at events wearing renaissance clothing and big bows in her hair.

Yes! I was a kid reading my mother's Enquirer or Star and Haje was always on that list. Joan Rivers talked about her on her show once. Said Haje would go to an opening of an envelope. It was the first time I had heard that phrase.

I remember seeing Rain Pryor on a talk show and she was very demure. Nothing like her character on the show.

Jeanetta Arnette (Miss Meara) exposed her boobs in an early movie she did.

[quote]Jeanetta Arnette (Miss Meara) exposed her boobs in an early movie she did.

SCANDALOUS!!!

I don't know what they cut Maria (Leslie Bega) from the original cast and replaced her with that terrible blonde actress. I would have gotten rid of Robin Givens.

I vaguely remember these people.

Obviously the show was not "all that".

Tony was hunky.

I loved the episode where Arvid went in drag.

R18 supposedly Bega had a meltdown on the set when she found out she was cut from the show. She had to be escorted off the WB lot by security.

Remember Aristotle in the later seasons? He gave me the creeps

Me, too R23!

R23 The cast changes were awful.

Who is the actor in the top row, second left in OP's pic with the striped tie?

Believe it or not, there was actually a reboot that brought back Givens’ character, a young cast of new students, and a female lead teacher. It was pretty terrible and is now cancelled.

I remember the episode where they made a cutting edge music video for a time capsule. I wonder what people in the future would think of it?

I doubt future people would be able to see a video, since it was undoubtedly on a VHS tape.

I don’t think the term existed at the time but Robin Givens has always been the premier example of ‘resting bitch face’ to me. Even as a kid I could tell she thought the show was beneath her and I was always surprised she stayed with it through the entire run

I'm surprised, too r30. She stayed with the show even during her whole ordeal with Mike Tyson.

I'm also shocked that the show ended in 1991. I figured it ended before the end of the '80s.

No, seriously, who is the guy in the striped tie in OP's pic?

What happened to the plain little girl who played Janice?

[quote] Who is the actor in the top row, second left in OP's pic with the striped tie?

Tony Dell, who played Alan, the conservative. He's out and gay, although disappointingly he's quite short.

Not only is that fat fuck Schneider allegedly a predator, but his wife is some sort of diet guru. Who the fuck would take advice from her when she's married to that gross hog?

I always thought it was a fascvinating way to redo "Welcome back, Kotter," with gifted and talented students instead of thugs. What I especially liked was that all the kids in the classw were given a personality and a name; on "Welcome back, Kotter,' only the five Sweathogs ever spoke in class (all the other kids were only there to laugh at their jokes.

I would love to see a reunion episode where they all come back together and realize that none of then actually accomplished that much because gifted programs are toxic and foster heightened expectations and a false sense of superiority which quickly becomes depression in college and they’re all working middle-management jobs or became lifelong servers.

r37 obviously rode the short bus, where he nursed his bitternesses.

Was Janice played by Tannis Vallely?

Michael DeLorenzo who was on in the later seasons was big for while when New York Undercover was on. All the girls at my school thought he was so hot. Now he looks like a burn victim.

I had the biggest crush on Tony O’Dell.

The show was good when Howard Hesseman was the teacher. I couldn’t stand Billy whatshisface, the Irish guy.

[quote][R37] obviously rode the short bus, where he nursed his bitternesses.

Lol! Not to brag (but If you insist) I was in gifted programs from 4th grade up, was a National Merit Finalist, and Valedictorian.

And I drove to school.

"Lol! Not to brag (but If you insist) I was in gifted programs from 4th grade up, was a National Merit Finalist, and Valedictorian.

And I drove to school."

And now you're a bitter old Datalounge hag like the rest of us!

Welcome!

Robin Givens was proto-Reece Witherspoon.

[quote] Tony Dell

Oh dear.

[quote] Reece Witherspoon

Oh DEAR!

[quote] Not only is that fat fuck Schneider allegedly a predator, but his wife is some sort of diet guru. Who the fuck would take advice from her when she's married to that gross hog?

Pre-Covid he lost A LOT of weight and was unrecognizable (and looked great). Don’t know about now. Also don’t know how accurate the predator rumors are/were.

Tony with DL faves Ricky Schroeder and Lauri Hendler on Circus of the Stars. Bea Arthur gives a play by play.

Tony O'Dell suffered from Stockyard Channing syndrome.

Brian Bobbins had no upper lip. Didn't he refuse to date Natalie, from "the Facts of Life," because she was fat?

[quote] Brian Bobbins

WHO?!

I need Lemon Pledge.

Tony O'Dell is gay. I used to see him at the Apache in the valley, he would never go in just hang in the outside area looking to hook up.

r44 allegedly, the bulk of the complaints are the outgrowth of adults blowing off steam from working long hours on children shows than actual predatory behavior. One actress was traumatized because of crude jokes made in her presence as people do on many sets, particularly, those performed in front of an audience, forgotting the young actors not mini adults and are sometimes even more sheltered than their audiences. . . to criticism of his direction, to costumes, to story plots, to questioning how a grown man could work in children's television, to dogpiling and centering him as a pseudo harvey... the most they got angry and threw tantrums at some of the young stars rather than treating them like royalty and supposedly has a foot fetish.

Thanks for that groundbreaking revelation, R50.

putting your kid on a studio set is like sending your kid to hang out on a construction site. The men don't give two shits that there is a child within earshot.

r53 And the actresses that led it, "i am an an ack-tor" have more than enough rumours of their own of being little tyrants on set. So, it got hyped at the height of the metoo but ended as much ado about nothing. . . they gained positive p.r. to distract from being tyrannical adults (one of them distracting from said allegations of abusing her assistant) while getting revenge on past enemies and quelling the fans calling for them to reboot their childhood starts. Like Cosgrove and Justice now being serious ack-tors and now their fans would be jeopardizing their mental health by bringing up the traumas of being underpaid in their past. Though Cosgrove was very I'm so beyond acting now and then got into the long talked of reboot after said events... so, now it looks like it was more of a contract negotiation move.

Of course, though Schneider is respulsive.. low brow humor, fat and not a particularly nice human being but the longstanding rumours of his temper, his feuds and being symptomatic of someone who grew up in the industry rather than being a professional not a sexual predator and definitely not towards

huge differences but it rather reminds me of the Diff'rent Strokes kids vs the adult cast and crew, then the subsequent attacks on said people when their troubles started.. not unlike many other (before and after) television sets. . .

vs the more sensationalized, hollywood is all powerful, all evil, there was nothing we could do. . . tabloid fodder.

^not towards "children"

R30 I follow Krystyne Haje on Instagram and it seems like Givens is the only one not included in friendly get-togethers with her former cast mates.

r56

Haje tried to lez her up

R21 Wow. This show really was ahead of its time.

Jeanetta Arnette was great in "Boys Don't Cry."

I didn't see Jeanette Arnette in the video r28 posted.

It was obvious even back then that Givens had a stank attitude.

That was a show where you knew that none of the students would have an acting career after the show was done. Good looking but really unremarkable cast.

R50 I used to go to The Apache but never saw him. I totally would have hooked up with him.

r63 he was friends with the bouncer, Bill. He would call ahead and ask if it was a low key crowd. He was afraid of being recognized. Sorry if he came out - I didn't see any info that he did.

r63 I lived at the Apache. Had the biggest crush on Mario the bartender lol. He was so sweet.

It was less ridiculous than the other ABC sitcoms of the era.

Brian Robbins massive curved downward penis was delish! His pants could barely hold that huge dick in!

I was another young gayling who crushed hard on Tony O'Dell. He was on another series called Otherworld (apparently prior to HOTC). I distinctly remember a scene from that show where he comes to a pool and is shirtless. I remember swooning.

I found the series on youtube and scanned for that scene. Funny how these things can be indelibly imprinted in our memories.

As I scanned other episodes, I found a number of scenes where they were clearly playing up his physical attributes, including one where he is being auctioned off in front of a bunch of women.

Fun reminder of a long ago crush.

R66 Brian Robbins directed The Perfect Score and Varsity Blues!

Ez access to James VDB and Chris Evans.

I had a crush on Brian Robbins.

[quote]And now you're a bitter old Datalounge hag like the rest of us!

I am! That’s why I warn people of the dangers of gifted programs!

Damn. Good for her!

[quote]In 2001, People Magazine reported that Haje was "quarter owner of a Silicon Valley company" worth $500 million. Haje explained, "I was really lucky and made a smart move.

The episode I remember is when they did Hair (where I discovered Easy to be Hard was not just a Three Dog Night song). A teacher fought Hessman about producing the show, because she thought the antiwar movement was unpatriotic. Spoiler - it ended up being the hostility was stemming from feeling guilty and blaming herself that her son died in Vietnam. She and Hessman had a nice conversation at the end which I do not think was quite as heavy-handed as it could have been considering this was the peak era of very special episodes for sitcoms. I wonder why Howard left the show. Maybe he was having some PSTD from being married to Ann Romano.

Hessman wasn't happy about his decreased role on the show and left because of that.

Howard Hesseman left because he could not stand that Krystyne Haje's first bane was spelled so strangely.

*"first name," not "first bane"

LOL R74!

I remember the episode where the class performed the musical Hair. As a young kid watching the show, my mind was blown that a Broadway musical could be that interesting. I immediately started listening to the Hair original Broadway cast recording and became even more obsessed. This obsession spread to other Broadway shows and was really the start of my love of musicals that is still with me today.

Well....plus...I'm super gay.

Hesman’s reactions for that time capsule video are straight out of the Stanislav acting bank. So Lol!

Hesseman publicly trashed the show...while he was still on it.

Kind of like that lady on the sitcom, "Fresh Off the Boat", except Hesseman was released from his contract.

[quote] I wonder why Howard left the show. Maybe he was having some PSTD from being married to Ann Romano.

He would've been lucky to have only had PTSD from being married to Ann Romano, instead of being suicidal.

[quote]Tony Dell, who played Alan, the conservative. He's out and gay, although disappointingly he's quite short.

I always figured he was probably gay but had no idea he was out.

I had a huge crush on Alan and had no idea the actor was gay. I loved the show until they brought in that TJ character who was insufferable.

Tony O'Dell's (Alan) most famous role was as one of the bullies in Karate Kid. He even appeared in a reunion episode of Cobra Kai last year.

No, OP.

[quote]Tony O'Dell's (Alan) most famous role was as one of the bullies in Karate Kid.

No, his most famous role was on "Head of the Class." Aside from that, he's probably best remembered for his starring role in "Chopping Mall."

Tony O'Dell may be gay, but he isn't openly gay.

[quote]I would love to see a reunion episode where they all come back together and realize that none of then actually accomplished that much because gifted programs are toxic and foster heightened expectations and a false sense of superiority which quickly becomes depression in college and they’re all working middle-management jobs or became lifelong servers.

You're not entirely wrong. Another former "Gifted Program" kid here. However, I would have been bored as hell in normal classes. Some of us also managed to thrive and are doing quite well. Some of us did screw up in college because didn't know how to interact with normal people. Then again that was the point of "Head of the Class." He was trying to teach them that you can't learn everything about life from books because sometimes kids (formerly) like us/that need that. (I'd like to thank Ms. Reilly for being the one to teach us that.)

[quote] I follow Krystyne Haje on Instagram and it seems like Givens is the only one not included in friendly get-togethers with her former cast mates.

She was the breakout star and that automatically would have put distance between her in and the cast. Plus, Mike Tyson beating her and chasing her and her mother around Russia. I'm sure she had her own stuff going on. She managed to date Brad Pitt back then. She was on a whole different level. I'm also shocked she managed to stay the entire run of the series but it could have also been grounding for her.

[quote]Believe it or not, there was actually a reboot that brought back Givens’ character, a young cast of new students, and a female lead teacher. It was pretty terrible and is now cancelled.

The show was doomed from the start.

A teacher who looks about as old as the students and students that didn't have that 80s, these kids look like adults, thing going.

Granted, I was very young when the show was on but up until just now I thought the original was composed of college students. My parents had no problem watching it because it didn't seem like a kids show. Howard Hesseman helped with that.

[quote] Tony O'Dell's (Alan) most famous role was as one of the bullies in Karate Kid.

He didn't even have any lines. He was a glorified extra.

I was too young to watch when it first aired, but the episode filmed in Moscow in 1988 is fairly interesting as a time capsule. I think Hesseman was just pissed because the show was supposed to be a vehicle for him but people were only interested in the kids. They spun off his replacement, Billy Connolly, in a show of his own with a pre-Roseanne Johnny Galecki. Connolly’s second wife, Pamela Stephenson, had a silly talk show called “Shrink Rap” where she interviewed people as if they were in therapy. She had Joan Rivers, Carrie Fisher, Robin Williams and others as guests.

[quote] the show was supposed to be a vehicle for him but people were only interested in the kids.

It happens.

Dan Schneider looks like he won the lottery, thanks to that little girl laying in front of him.

I was a kid at the time and I watched this show but can barely remember anything about it. Unlike most DLers, I can't recall every detail of specific episodes of tv shows from decades ago.

Is Dan Schneider still allowed to work around children after all the allegations?

[quote]Connolly’s second wife, Pamela Stephenson, had a silly talk show called “Shrink Rap” where she interviewed people as if they were in therapy. She had Joan Rivers, Carrie Fisher, Robin Williams and others as guests.

Stephenson, best known from "Not The Nine O'Clock News" was smoking hot.

Stephenson is a US-licensed psychologist who practices and publishes under the name Pamela Stephenson-Connolly. In her private practice in Beverly Hills, she provided mental health care to adult individuals and couples for a range of psychological complaints.

I wasn’t a watch of dumb network sitcoms so which one of this shows actors was the Oscar winner? The articles don’t say.

[quote] Khyrstyne Haje was the Susan Richardson of the late 80s/early 90s.

Again, never watched it but this girl was clearly prettier than Richardson. And I’m defending her having no idea who she is, and despite her white trashy name spelling.

watcher^^^

[quote] Tony O'Dell may be gay, but he isn't openly gay.

Or so he thinks.

O'Dell was hot, now he's just fat and old

R23 There was something odd about his face, as if he'd been in a fire.

Tannis, anyone?

R100 She should cast herself as Hillary for a Clintons TV movie.

I don"t know if Dan Schnider sexually assaulted anyone< but he is an asshole with a creepy foot fetish

Fueling my desire for preppy guys in the laye 80s...Tony O'Dell...

I just discovered that we share the same birthday!!!

What a perfect gay couple we would have made!!!

I couldn't find anything about his officially coming out, but he's never been married and he's 63.

Tony O'Dell's Fact Sheet...

Hesseman may have 'been pissed that the kids were more popular than him, but he also wanted it to move beyond sitcom tropes. I actually think some of the writing was pretty progressive and ahead of its time.

R95 Not a watcher or much of a reader are ya?