Head of the Class (1986)

Name: Head of the Class
Genre: Comedy
Rating: 6.6
Cast: Billy Connolly, William G. Schilling, Jeannetta Arnette, Michael DeLorenzo, Dan Frischman

Comedy

Head of the Class is an American sitcom that ran from 1986 to 1991 on the ABC television network. The series follows a group of gifted students in the Individualized Honors Program at the fictional Monroe High School in Manhattan, and their history teacher Charlie Moore. The program was ostensibly a vehicle for Hesseman, best known for his role as radio DJ Dr. Johnny Fever in the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. Hesseman left Head of the Class in 1990 and was replaced by Billy Connolly as teacher Billy MacGregor for the final season. After the series ended, Connolly appeared in a short-lived spin-off titled Billy. The series was created and executive produced by Rich Eustis and Michael Elias. Rich Eustis had previously worked as a New York City substitute teacher while hoping to become an actor.

IMDb rating: 6.6 (3,901 votes)
Episode average: 7.0 ↑ +0.4 vs IMDb
Seasons: 5
Language: EN
Type: TV series

Front-loaded trajectory: strong early seasons, weaker later. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well. See every Front-loaded show in the explorer →

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Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 5 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1986)

7.18 avg 22 episodes 7.5 → 6.8 23 min avg

Rollercoaster

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Pilot	7.5	83
2	Back to the Future	7.3	60
3	Charliegate	7.2	51
4	Love at First Byte	7.3	50
5	The Outsider	7.2	51
6	Teacher's Teacher	7.5	48
7	Volleyball, Anyone?	6.8	49
8	Critical Choices	7.3	48
9	Cold Turkey	7.4	47
10	You've Got a Friend	6.9	45
11	As Time Goes By	7.4	57
12	The Way We Weren't	6.8	47
13	Rebel Without a Class	6.7	46
14	Ode to Simone	7.5	49
15	Past Imperfect	6.8	44
16	A Problem Like Maria	7.2	44
17	The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming!	7.4	44
18	Valentine's Day	6.6	44
19	Video Activity	8.2	53
20	Privilege	7.0	43
21	Crimes of the Heart	7.2	42
22	The Secret Life of Arvid Engen	6.8	42

Season 2 (1987)

7.30 avg 22 episodes 6.8 → 7.5 24 min avg

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Science Fair-Weather Friends	6.8	41
2	The Write Stuff	7.0	42
3	The Big Squeeze	7.5	40
4	Child of the 60's	7.4	42
5	Trouble in Perfectville	6.9	38
6	Coach Charlie	7.5	37
7	That'll Be the Day	7.5	50
8	Poltergeist III	7.6	41
9	Psyched Out at Fillmore	7.6	39
10	Revenge of the Liberal	7.2	36
11	Play It Again, Woody	7.5	38
12	Will the Real Arvid Engen Please Stand Up?	6.7	40
13	On the Road Again	6.7	38
14	Fatal Distraction	7.1	39
15	Cello Fever	7.1	39
16	Parent's Day	7.7	40
17	Love Is Debatable	7.4	40
18	For Better, for Worse	7.2	36
19	We Love You, Mrs. Russell	8.3	46
20	Don't Play with Matches	7.1	39
21	The 21st Century News	7.4	37
22	Moore Than You Know	7.5	35

Season 3 (1988)

7.47 avg 22 episodes 7.0 → 6.6 23 min avg

Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Refrigerator of Filmore High	7.0	40
2	Back in the U.S.S.R.	7.3	39
3	Mission to Moscow: Part 1	7.8	41
4	Mission to Moscow: Part 2	7.9	45
5	Let's Rap	6.2	44
6	Engen and Son	7.7	36
7	Get a Job	7.9	34
8	Born to Run	7.3	37
9	First Date	7.5	35
10	Partners	7.1	51
11	Arvid's Sure Thing	8.0	39
12	Scuttlebutt	7.4	35
13	Little Shop 'Til You Drop: Part 1	7.8	39
14	Little Shop 'Til You Drop: Part 2	8.2	41
15	The Hot Seat	7.5	36
16	Radio Activity	7.3	33
17	The Little Sister	6.9	40
18	Killer Coach	7.8	36
19	I Am the King	7.6	39
20	King of Remedial	7.9	35
21	Labor Daze	7.6	36
22	Exactly Twelve O'Clock	6.6	35

Season 4 (1989)

6.65 avg 26 episodes 6.5 → 6.9 23 min avg

Season 4 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Back to School	6.5	37
2	Viki & Eric & Simone & Alex	5.9	35
3	The Ring of Darlene M.	6.3	34
4	Viki in Love	5.8	35
5	Blunden in Love	7.8	40
6	The Bright Stuff: Part 1	6.7	31
7	The Bright Stuff: Part 2	6.9	29
8	Gotta Dance	6.6	33
9	Good Mourning	7.1	33
10	Arvid Nose Best	7.1	30
11	The Devil and Miss T.J.	5.2	42
12	Why Ronnie Can't Read	7.4	31
13	The Joker Is Wild	7.3	35
14	Tough Guys Don't Sew	6.9	32
15	Reel Problems	6.5	36
16	Alan Goes Crimson	6.9	31
17	From Hair to Eternity: Part 1	6.7	40
18	From Hair to Eternity: Part 2	7.4	45
19	Recruitment Day	6.6	29
20	The Quiet Kid	6.7	33
21	Simone Goes Overboard	6.6	34
22	Queen, Queen, Queen for a Day	6.1	35
23	Politics of Love	6.1	29
24	The Reel Charlie Moore	6.4	28
25	Cement Hi-Tops	6.4	32
26	Teacher's Pet	6.9	31

Season 5 (1990)

6.59 avg 22 episodes 6.4 → 8.1 23 min avg

Season 5 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Where's Charlie	6.4	35
2	Twelve Angry Nerds	6.5	27
3	The Heartbreak Nerd	6.5	25
4	And Then There Were None	6.6	26
5	Getting Personal	6.5	26
6	Napoleon Blown Apart	6.8	28
7	Billy's Big One	6.1	28
8	Dead Men Don't Wear Pocket Protectors: Part 1	5.8	37
9	Dead Men Don't Wear Pocket Protectors: Part 2	5.5	36
10	Fillmore vs. Billy Jeans	7.5	29
11	Be My Baby... Sitter	6.4	27
12	Dancing Fools	5.7	28
13	My Son the Primate	6.1	27
14	The Importance of Being Alex	6.4	30
15	Viki's Torn Genes	6.5	27
16	The Last Waltz	6.8	26
17	Most Likely to Be Forgotten	6.4	29
18	The Strange Case of Randy McNally	7.1	34
19	My Dinner with Darlene	6.8	33
20	The Phantom of the Glee Club	7.1	30
21	It Couldn't Last Forever: Part 1	7.4	33
22	It Couldn't Last Forever: Part 2	8.1	31

Head of the Class (1986)

Cast

Seasons

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