HBO Max’s Head Of The Class reboot is dead
The sitcom reboot becomes HBO Max's second scripted cancellation ever
Aux News Head of the Class
HBO Max’s reboot of classic sitcom Head Of The Class, from Bill Lawrence of Scrubs and Ted Lasso fame, has been canceled after only one season (which just premiered on the streaming service a little over a month ago). Like the original series from the ‘80s and early ‘90s, this Head Of The Class was about a teacher coming in to a class of smart students and inspiring to learn more about life than books. It was also HBO Max’s only original multi-cam sitcom and the platform’s second cancellation ever.
Isabella Gomez, previously from One Day At A Time, played the teacher, with the rest of the cast including Jorge Diaz, Jolie Hoang Rappaport, Gavin Lewis, Dior Goodjohn, Brandon Severs, Adrian Matthew Escalona, Katie Beth Hall, Robin Givens, and Christa Miller.
The show was met with a somewhat middling response when it debuted last month, with Will Harris noting in his review for The A.V. Club that “you’d almost certainly never guess” that the show was executive produced by Bill Lawrence. Still, Gomez got high marks and seemed like a strong performer to center the show around.
With this and A.P. Bio both not going forward, the television landscape just got a little bit harder for kids who are smart when it comes to books but less smart when it comes to life—though the kids on A.P. Bio explicitly were not learning anything other than revenge and how to expertly throw an apple into a trashcan, so maybe they would’ve been better off getting on a show like Head Of The Class… but that show got canceled now, so maybe there’s no hope for kids who are smart but need to learn how to enjoy and experience life.
The other HBO Max show to get canceled, if you’re keeping score at home, was Generation (a.k.a. Generat+ion).
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Dear Mr. President,There’s too many media today. Please eliminate three. I am not a crackpot.
In a better world he would be Bill Lawrence of Cougar Town fame.
In a better world, someone would have come up with a better name than Cougar Town.
Oddly enough “Sexy 43 Year Old Women Doing Their Own Thing; Also Wine” was already taken.
The name was supposed to be a double entendre as the town’s high school football team was called the Cougars, but that was completely dropped after the first episode.
They also dropped the whole gimmick of Courtney Cox dating young guys by around Christmas of the first season.
It wasn’t very good, but I found its aggressively retro 90s vibe to be comforting. But it was a weird match for HBOMax. I doubt there’s much will to save it, but if there was it really ought to go somewhere with more PG rated sitcom fare.
I didn’t realize it had even started! That’s a shame. (Not because I’ve seen and liked it, obviously, but there were good people attached.)
I didn’t, either. I assumed this article meant it was killed in the development process. Who knew it was even on?
I didn’t even know it was a thing until they posted their review of it.
I didn’t even though it was on until they posted that it had been cancelled.
I blame that dastardly Billy Connolly, damn it.
They really missed the thing that made the original series so special: legal-aged high school girls I wanted to have sex with.
Richard Pryor’s daughter Rain was on the later seasons. I remember her as the chick that had a great body…with the face of Richard Pryor.
I remember her having the body of Richard Pryor as well.
Khrystyne Haje, man. I blame my lifelong thing for redheads on her. I was only 14-19 when the show was on the air, so the show caught me at exactly the right time.But on the plus side, hopefully none of the actors will go on to be the next D*n Schn*ider.
She’s on one of those pharmaceutical commercials and it took me so long to place her, but she looked so familiar. I assume it’s what it would be like to return to your home town for the 1st time to go to your 30th HS reunion. Just struggling to reconcile aged faces with youthful memories
I remember ‘Head of the Class’.Wait, no I don’t.
C’mon … think, man. It was a show with Class. Lots of Class. And Heads. Lots of Heads, too. And it was on TV.Also Dr. Johnny Fever.
Mostly, Dr. Johnny Fever.
Maybe just don’t reboot/remake every random series? Fuller House, Roseanne/The Conners, and Saved by the Bell worked because Full House, Roseanne, and Saved by the Bell have never fallen out of syndication (except for a few months after Roseanne went all racist on Twitter). Multiple generations have watched those shows over the past three decades.
There are children who grew up watching Full House, Roseanne, and Saved by the Bell as comfort television years after they had gone off the air who now have children of their own watching Full House, Roseanne, and Saved by the Bell as comfort television. These are shows that are (for better or worse) remembered fondly by Americans of all ages.
They’re syndicated several hours a day across multiple networks. There’s a 50/50 chance that I could turn on the television right now and find either Full House, Roseanne, or Saved by the Bell airing on some random network.
Head of the Class, Murphy Brown, and One Day At A Time have not been syndicated nonstop for years. While Murphy Brown and One Day At A Time were groundbreaking television when they originally aired, they’ve fallen out of the public consciousness. Seriously, it was a few years ago that I learned the scene where Selma sings “Natural Woman” to Jub-Jub was a parody of a scene from Murphy Brown.
One Day At A Time 2.0 worked because it was mostly an entirely new show with only the faintest relationship/resemblance to its parent series and was just a good show in its own right. The vast majority of the audience probably were only dimly aware that it was a remake at all and didn’t care.
Those shows you have mentioned are on what I like to call Grandpa tv. Those channels over the air that play old shows that are cheaper to show then the newer more popular stuff.
Roseanne did used to air on broadcast TV and Saved by the Bell currently does, but Full House has not aired on over-the-air channels since the show ended.
The ones I mentioned that aren’t still airing? Or the ones that are? Because Roseanne and Full House aired on Nickelodeon for years until fairly recently (I think they pulled Roseanne after the aforementioned Twitter controversy and Warner Bros. yanked the broadcast rights to Full House to air exclusively on HBO Max) and Saved by the Bell airs on IFC and MTV.
I think the other thing (and you make some really good points) is that Full House embraced the cheese and while annoying, was slightly less bad than its predecessor. Saved By the Bell went meta and openly mocks the original series (with a little 30 rock thrown in), the Connors/Roseanne is a solid story easily updateable- that admittedly gets a little maudlin these days. Head of the Class- a show i watched with my family- I honestly don’t remember its airing too much after it went off the air even in syndication. And while its not bad…it is somewhat dated. I cant imagine how- even with the talent behind it- that it would update well at all. I also saw that simpsons episode the other day- the DVD commentary mentions that “yeah, this is super topical” (Sarcasm)
I remember Howard Hesseman and his being replaced by Billy Connolly for the last season or two, I remember the theme song and how it was the first sitcom I ever saw that in its later years just played a couple bars of the theme and then launched straight into the episode. I kinda sorta remember the kids, especially the really young girl. But that’s about all. I don’t remember the plots of any episodes.
I also saw that simpsons episode the other day- the DVD commentary mentions that “yeah, this is super topical” (Sarcasm)
I think it actually worked better when I didn’t know it was a Murphy Brown parody because I thought they had just written this somewhat surreal but sweet joke about how women shouldn’t allow society to make them feel obligated to become a mother and if you decide you don’t want children there are other things in the world that need to be loved and nurtured.
I could see that! I actually vaguely remember that moment on Murphy Brown (I may not be young) and when Selma singing to Jub Jub came up I giggled like a maniac. Its so maudlin. And also…so right.
Case in point. I occasionally watched the original show during its prime time run, but it was never a favorite. I probably didn’t even take notice when it was canceled. And now, I don’t think the show has even entered my conscious thoughts in over 30 years until reading about this reboot being canceled.
The show’s premise was already copied by Netflix’ Mr. Iglesias, which I liked but only lasted two seasons. Can’t imagine that this could do any better.
Wait, so this wasn’t a reboot of the gay porno starring a young Xander Crews? No wonder it was cancelled.
Apparently that wasn’t even the real Howard Hesseman, and also a lot less boy/girl the box art would’ve led you to believe so… personal disappointment there.
Well, off to the Island of Misfit Reboots. Say hi to Punky Brewster and Murphy Brown!
In related news HBO Max’s Head of the Class was apparently not-dead at some point. This was literally the first I’ve heard of it despite being a subscriber and receiving near-daily emails from HBO.
I know I’m generalising but I don’t imagine too many people with an appetite for a traditional multi-cam studio sitcom would be turning to HBO Max in the first instance in 2021. You’d have to be a real, uh, Head-head to miss this one.
Fans of Head of the Class call ourselves Class Acts.