Head of The Class - Characters

Characters

Head of the Class deals with an entire classroom of academically-gifted high school students. The IHP students comprised a diverse range of personalities, ethnicities, and academic specialities. In the first three years of the show, the IHP class had ten students. Arvid Engen (Dan Frischman) was a skinny, bespectacled nerd, mathematics expert and budding scientist. Arvid's best friend was the overweight, wisecracking cynic Dennis Blunden (Dan Schneider), a computer whiz who more often than not had a knack for getting the socially-inept Arvid involved in various schemes. Alan Pinkard (Tony O'Dell) was an ultra-conservative preppy and egotist; his area of expertise was political science and he was a devout fan of Ronald Reagan. Alan competed for the highest grades in the class with Darlene Merriman (Robin Givens), a spoiled rich girl who was probably even more self-centered than Alan. Both Alan and Darlene held the ambition of being named class valedictorian. Sarah Nevins (Kimberly Russell) did not have any one particular area of expertise; she was the most down-to-earth of the IHP class, and was once cited as having the lowest G.P.A. Maria Borges (Leslie Bega) was very passionate about getting A's (going as far as grounding herself in the pilot episode for getting a 'B'), and Jawaharlal Choudhury (Jory Husain aka Joher Coleman) was an exchange student from India. Eleven-year-old Janice Lazarotto (Tannis Vallely), despite her young age, was in high school and the IHP class because of her advanced intellect. Arts student Simone Foster (Khrystyne Haje) was a quiet, sensitive redhead with a particular fondness for poetry. A notable development in the show was the relationship between Simone and Eric Mardian (Brian Robbins), an aspiring writer and, outwardly, the most unlikely member of the IHP - Eric wore black leather, drove a motorcycle, acted tough and ostensibly disliked anything academic (to Dr. Samuels's delight, he was the only one in the class not on the academic team, although he would never leave the IHP). Eric hit constantly on Simone (on whom he had a crush) and the two eventually had an on-again-off-again romance.

There was some turnover in the cast in seasons four and five. Janice left for Harvard, Maria went to Performing Arts High School, and Jawarhalal moved to California. New students included Aristole McKenzie, described by Dennis as "this reject from Do the Right Thing" for his dreadlocks, Vicky Amory, a new-ager interested in quantum physics and skin-revealing clothing, and Alex Torres, who had transferred from parochial school. T.J. Jones and Jasper Kwan, who had appeared as potential IHP members in earlier seasons, were eventually added to the program and the cast.

Appearing as regulars throughout all five seasons were school staff members Dr. Harold Samuels (William G. Schilling) and Bernadette Meara (Jeanetta Arnette). Dr. Samuels was the blustery, overweight principal of the school. His attitude towards the IHP students was one of ambivalence: on the one hand, Dr. Samuels distrusted the kids (and had a particularly antagonistic relationship with Dennis, and tried to avoid Eric), but at the same time he was proud of their achievements and valued the prestige they brought to the school. Ms. Meara was Dr. Samuels’ level-headed administrative assistant (there was some romantic tension between her and Charlie, although this ultimately came to nothing).

In the series, the students often faced off against the rival Bronx High School of Science. Also, in every season, the IHP students produced the school musical. Musicals staged by the students included Grease, Little Shop of Horrors, and Hair.