# Homeroom (TV series)

Homeroom is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 16 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.

## 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. Darryl's wife Virginia (Penny Johnson) supports his choice but Virginia's father, Phil Drexler (Bill Cobbs) 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 Phil owns and also lives in.

## Cast

* Darryl Sivad as Darryl Harper
* Penny Johnson as Virginia "Vicki" Harper
* Bill Cobbs as Phil Drexler
* Trent Cameron 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 and NBC's My Two Dads. 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

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | "Pilot" | Art Wolff | Gary Gilbert & Andrew Scheinman | September 16, 1989 (1989-09-16) |
| The kids cheat at a big math test. |||||
| 2 | "The Lookin' for West Coast Travelin' 'Long the Missouri River Blues" | Linda Day | David X. Cohen & Roger S. H. Schulman | September 24, 1989 (1989-09-24) |
| Donald takes piano lessons. Anthony gets dumped by his girlfriend. |||||
| 3 | "Food for Thought" | Arlando Smith | Marc Cherry & Jamie Wooten | October 1, 1989 (1989-10-01) |
| The manager for the cafeteria gets tired of Donald's misbehavior. |||||
| 4 | "It's Not Easy Bein' Green" | Linda Day | Marc Cherry & Jamie Wooten | October 8, 1989 (1989-10-08) |
| A tree is left in Devon's care, but the tree dies because of lack of water. Virginia tries to help Phil with his high blood pressure. |||||
| 5 | "Dirty Laundry" | Linda Day | Trish Soodik | October 22, 1989 (1989-10-22) |
| Lisa and Devon run for class president. |||||
| 6 | "Who Is Captain Fitness?" | Linda Day | Marc Cherry & Jamie Wooten | November 5, 1989 (1989-11-05) |
| Sam's hero, Captain Fitness, dies during a classroom workout. |||||
| 7 | "Dinner at Fiveish" | Linda Day | Trish Soodik | November 19, 1989 (1989-11-19) |
| Phil goes out with a colleague of Darryl. |||||
| 8 | "The Commercial Break" | Unknown | David Cohen & Roger S.H. Schulman | December 3, 1989 (1989-12-03) |
| Anthony directs his first commercial. The kids find out that Darryl was once a practical joker. |||||
| 9 | "Mr. Drexler's Neighborhood" | Linda Day | Paul B. Price & Stephen Nathan | December 10, 1989 (1989-12-10) |
| Phil tries to teach the kids in Darryl's class about the streets in the neighborhood. |||||
| 10 | "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, Sister" | Arlando Smith | Trish Soodik | December 17, 1989 (1989-12-17) |
| Darryl lets Lisa direct a school play based on her contest-winning script. |||||
| 11 | "Who'll Be My Role Model Now That My Role Model Is Gone?" | Tony Singletary | David Cohen & Roger S.H. Schulman | UNAIRED |
| 12 | "The Visitor" | Linda Day | David Cohen & Roger S.H. Schulman | UNAIRED |
| 13 | "The Mom Who Came to Dinner" | Linda Day | Marc Cherry & Jamie Wooten | UNAIRED |