DVD Review: Head of the Class (Season One)

Reviewed By Jason Lockard

In May of 2020, a reboot of the 80's series Head of the Class was announced. It was said to be co-produced by Bill Lawrence's Doozer and Warner Horizon Scripted Television. The order includes a pilot episode plus five additional scripts and will air on HBO Max.

So with that news it is the perfect time to re-watch the original show. Now Warner Archive has given us the classic TV fans the opportunity to own Season One of Head of the Class on DVD.

Substitute teacher Charlie Moore (Howard Hesseman, WKRP in Cincinnati) is brought in to a New York City high school to more or less just baby sit. Assigned to the Individualized Honors Program. The group of kids are the best and brightest in the school, including; Arvid (Dan Frischman), Darlene (Robin Givens), Simone (Khrystyne Haje), Alan (Tony O’Dell), Dennis (Dan Schneider), Sarah (Kimberly Russell), Janice (Tannis Vallely), Jawaharlal (Jory Husain), Eric (Brian Robbins) and Maria (Leslie Bega). Mr. Moore feels his job is to get these kids to realize life is much more than just facts and figures.

Episode Ratings:
****=Don’t Miss it!
***=Worth a look.
**=An Ok way to spend some time.
*=You haven’t missed anything.


Disc One:

1. Pilot: A high school substitute teacher (Howard Hesseman) takes over a class of geniuses. ****

2. Back to the Future: The class imagines life 20 years in the future, but Eric has trouble imagining his. ***

3. Charliegate: Dennis, trying to be provocative, writes a devastating profile of Charlie in the school newspaper. ****

4. Love at First Byte: Charlie receives a love note from a secret admirer he suspects is in the IHP. ***

5. The Outsider: Janice feels left out in class and decides to throw a party to make friends. ***

6. Teacher's Teacher: Charlie is upset when the IHP's regular teacher announces his return from sick leave. ***

7. Volleyball Anyone?: Arvid tries to impress a girl by challenging the school basketball players to a volleyball match against the IHP class. ***

Disc Two

8. Critical Choices: Charlie tries his hand at Hamlet, and solicits his students' feedback -- which is less than flattering. ***

9. Cold Turkey: Charlie, alone for Thanksgiving, is invited to each of his students' homes, but ends up spending Thanksgiving with Dr. Samuels. ***

10. You've Got a Friend: After their team project wins them a trip to Washington, D.C., Sarah and Arvid develop slight feelings for each other. **

11. As Time Goes By: Charlie's ex-flame evaluates the class. ***

12. The Way We Weren't: When doing reports on their ancestry, both Alan and Darlene find things out that they don't want to. ***

13. Rebel Without a Class: Eric makes trouble for another teacher. ***

14. Ode to Simone: Simone receives a discouraging letter from her favorite poet....after his death. ***

Disc Three

15. Past Imperfect: Charlie must pass a test in Macro Economics in order to keep his teaching license. ***

16. A Problem Like Maria: Maria dates the captain of the opposing team. ***

17. The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming!: The IHP faces their Russian counterparts in an academic tournament. ***

18. Valentine's Day: While Mr. Moore tries to teach on Valentine's Day all kings of problems arise amongst the students. ***

19. Video Activity: Dr. Samuels wants the IHP to create a dignified video for the Fillmore High time capsule, but instead they make a music video. ***

20. Privilege: Arvid up with a job at a hot nightclub, andoand he adopts an obnoxious attitude. ***

21. Crimes of the Heart: The class is baffled at Sarah's grades tumbling. ***

22. The Secret Life of Arvid Engen: Arvid starts to daydream about Lori (placing them in scenes of Star Trek, The Honeymooners and Moonlighting). ***

As a huge fan of Welcome Back Kotter I never noticed the similarities of Kotter and this show until re-watching it this time around. Mr. Kotter was a teacher with a sense of humor teaching less than studious kids. Head of the class is that premise flipped where Mr. Moore's sense of humor teaches the intellectuals. 

Howard Hessman is amazing. I remember him as the spaced-out Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cinncinnati and here is the laid back comedic teacher Mr. Charles Moore. He is a tremendous lead for this series and the kids play perfectly to his wit.

While I only watched a few episodes when I was a kid. I remember those episodes fondly and it is so cool to get to see this show's first season in it's entirety. In a world where shows are considered offensive. This 80's show is wholesome and sensitive and should not offend anyone.

As for the DVD release the shows are presented in their original full screen format. The audio is presented in English 2.0 Mono Dolby Digital. Now for those that are expecting HD quality video here, you are looking in the wrong place. These shows were never shot in HD so they are not going to be in HD. But I have to say I think they look better than I remember as a kid watching the reruns.

I am so glad Warner Archive gave this show a chance to live again on home video. A huge bonus in this release is they left in the music "My future's so bright I gotta wear shades" in the episode "Video Activity".

In a world that is focused on entertainment that is edgy and filled with adult language and content, it is awesome that Warner Archive is releasing classic family entertainment. I can not thank Warner Archive enough for keeping shows like this alive for generation to come.

So if you are a fan of the 80s TV show Head of the Class is going to be one you are going to want to own. Head over to Amazon.com or WBShop.com today and get your copy today.

Check out the Series Intro Here:

Offensive Material: Nothing
Audience: Families
Genre: Comedy, Sitcom
Length: 517 Minutes
DVD Value Rating: A