''Homeroom'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from September 16, 1989 to December 17, 1989. The series stars stand-up comedian Darryl Sivad as a fourth grade teacher at an inner-city school. ABC executives created the show as a vehicle for Sivad after seeing his routine on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

''.

Premise

The series follows Darryl Harper (Sivad), a highly paid advertising copywriter who decides to quit his job to teach underprivileged kids at P.S. 391, an inner city school in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Darryl's wife Virginia (

Penny Johnson Penelope Jane Johnson CBE (born 23 June 1956) has been Director of the Government Art Collection since 1997. She was educated at St. Helen's School, the University of East Anglia (BA, 1978) and the University of Manchester.‘JOHNSON, Penelope J ...

) supports his choice but Virginia's father, Phil Drexler (

Bill Cobbs William Francisco Cobbs (born June 16, 1934) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in movies such as Louisiana Slim in '' The Hitter'' (1979), Water in '' The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), and as Lewis Coleman on ''I'll Fly A ...

) does not. Phil frequently voices his disapproval to Darryl that he feels is his right as Darryl and Virginia live rent-free in the

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Type ...

Phil owns and also lives in.

Cast

*Darryl Sivad as Darryl Harper *

as Virginia "Vicki" Harper *

as Phil Drexler *

Trent Cameron Trent Joseph Cameron (born May 16, 1979, in Los Angeles County, California) is an American actor best known for his roles as John Lee Malvo in '' D.C. Sniper: 23 Days of Fear'', as Jerel Goodrich in the UPN sitcom ''The Parkers'' and as Young R ...

as Sam *Jahary Bennett as Devon *Billy Dee Willis as Donald

Reception and cancellation

''Homeroom'' premiered on ABC on September 16, 1989 to mixed reviews. The series was scheduled on Sunday nights opposite CBS's hit series ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The ser ...

'' and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

's ''

My Two Dads ''My Two Dads'' is an American sitcom television series that was produced by Michael Jacobs Productions in association with Tri-Star Television (later Columbia Pictures Television) and distributed by TeleVentures. It starred Paul Reiser, Greg ...

''. As a result, ''Homeroom'' struggled in the ratings and faced cancellation. In an effort to save the series, the cast and producers asked viewers to start a letter writing campaign. Executive producer Topper Carew went on a cross-country promotional tour to schools where he showed the series to students and teachers and held a Q&A session afterwards. Carew also mailed letters and contacted African-American organizations and activists asking them to watch the show and to talk about it. Despite the cast and producers' efforts, ABC canceled the series in December 1989. Three of the thirteen episodes produced were never aired.

Episodes

References

External links

* * {{epguides, id=Homeroom, title=Homeroom 1989 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings 1980s American black sitcoms 1980s American school television series 1980s American sitcoms 1980s American workplace comedy television series American Broadcasting Company original programming Elementary school television series English-language television shows Television series about educators Television shows set in New York City Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television series by Castle Rock Entertainment