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2006 American TV series or program From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Class is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 18, 2006, to March 5, 2007. The series followed the lives of eight very different alumni of the fictional Woodman Elementary School. The show was created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik's production company CraneKlarik in association with Warner Bros. Television.
The Class | |
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Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | |
Directed by | James Burrows |
Starring | |
Composer | Chad Fischer |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 19 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Production locations | Stage 24 Warner Bros. Studios Studio City Burbank, California |
Editor | Peter Chakos |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | September 18, 2006 – March 5, 2007 |
On May 16, 2007, CBS cancelled the series after one season.
The Class revolves around a core group of eight 28-year-olds who were all in the same third-grade class 20 years ago. A former classmate brings them all together for a party to celebrate his engagement to a girl he met in the class. However, she ends up dumping him at the party as the reunited classmates get to know each other. "They have separate lives and there are few connections that exist beforehand," Klarik said. "But through the course of the series, connections are made between the characters. It's about following their individual lives – there's no one living room where they gather."[1]
The idea for The Class and the ...teacher came about when show creators David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik were cleaning their basement and they found a box of David Crane's school photographs of him with his third grade class. The pair wondered what the third graders were like now and if they were happy with their lives or not.[4]
Due to the overwhelming reputation of the creators, CBS, Fox, and NBC made bids for a full 13-episode season, the latter network was also reported to have offered a 22 episode commitment, prior to seeing a pilot.[5] Ultimately, CBS won the bidding war with an undisclosed amount.
In December 2005, English actress Lucy Punch was the first lead to be cast for the show.[6]
Next to be cast, in January 2006, were Jason Ritter and Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Ethan Haas and Richie Velch, respectively.[7]
In February 2006 Jon Bernthal, Heather Goldenhersh, and Andrea Anders (who at the time was still part of the cast of Friends spin off Joey, which was on hiatus) were cast as Duncan Carmello, Lina Warbler, and Nicole Allen. Legendary sitcom director James Burrows was also announced to be directing the pilot.[8]
In March 2006 Eve star Sean Maguire was cast as Kyle Lendo.[9]
Last to be cast was Lizzy Caplan as the cynical Kat Warbler. Caplan was still part of The WB drama Related at the time.[10] Related was cancelled due to the merger of UPN and The WB to create The CW.
Also, during the middle of 2006, it was announced that Julie Halston, Sam Harris, and David Keith had been cast in co-starring roles.
It was later announced that Roseanne's Sara Gilbert had been cast in the recurring role of Fern Velch, Richie Velch's wife.[11]
The Class premiered at 8:00 p.m. on September 18, 2006, on CBS, after being picked up by CBS before they had even seen the pilot episode, The Class Reunites, possibly due to the reputation of its creators, one of which created Friends, the other, a producer of Mad About You.
Everybody Loves Raymond showrunner Phil Rosenthal stated that a proposed spin-off of his long-running series (focusing on Brad Garrett as Ray's brother) was passed over by CBS so that The Class could make it to series.[12]
As of October 9, 2006, CBS shifted the show to the 8:30 p.m. time slot, because its disappointing ratings were affecting the success of How I Met Your Mother in its second year. The ratings then began to steadily improve, and, on Monday October 23, 2006, CBS ordered six more episodes of The Class, bringing the episode order for the first season to 19.[13] The pickup was conditional on the cost to CBS per episode being reduced compared to the initial episode order – this was the catalyst to Lucy Punch being fired from the show as there wasn't enough money to continue the show with eight main cast members,[14] and also saw the total staff numbers halved.[15]
The Class was the first sitcom to show a live table read session and a live rehearsal. They were shown on Monday January 15, 2007 at 11am PST and Wednesday January 17, 2007 at 1pm PST, respectively.[16] The webcasts were available after the live feed as well.[17]
The Class ended its first season on March 5, 2007.
On May 11, 2007, Zap2It reported that The Class had been canceled, with rumors it was to be replaced by The New Adventures of Old Christine.[18] On May 15, 2007, Variety reported that The Class would not return for a second season.[19] On May 16, 2007, The Class was officially canceled at the CBS Upfront presentation,[20] and replaced with The Big Bang Theory. On May 17, 2007, Jesse Tyler Ferguson posted a message on his MySpace page relating to the cancellation, as did Sam Harris, explaining that the fate of The Class was undecided until the last minute.[21]
Shortly after the cancellation, fans of the show launched a campaign to try to save The Class.[22][23] The campaign proved to be unsuccessful. The campaign consisted of sending erasers, because of their connection to a school and education, and sending in printed off Moroccan Chicken recipes because of a memorable episode of The Class which saw Lina cooking Moroccan Chicken for Kat, Ethan, Benjamin, Palmer, Richie, Kyle, Duncan, and Nicole.
Every episode was directed by James Burrows.
No. | Title [24] | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Pilot" | David Crane & Jeffrey Klarik | September 18, 2006 | |
Ethan plans a class reunion for his third grade class. | ||||
2 | "The Class Visits a Hospital" | David Crane & Jeffrey Klarik | September 25, 2006 | |
Ethan and Kat visit Lina in hospital, after she gets run over by Richie. | ||||
3 | "The Class Learns About Hurricanes" | Mike Sikowitz | October 2, 2006 | |
Holly reports on the approach of Hurricane Fernanda. | ||||
4 | "The Class Blows the Whistle" | Brian Buckner | October 9, 2006 | |
Richie and Lina go on their first date. | ||||
5 | "The Class Gets Frozen Yogurt" | Steven Molaro | October 16, 2006 | |
Ethan and Kat sample a lot of frozen yogurt. | ||||
6 | "The Class Goes Trick-or-Treating" | Amanda Lasher | October 23, 2006 | |
Holly reports about the Upper Derby Autumn Festival. | ||||
7 | "The Class Goes to a Bar" | Corey Nickerson | November 6, 2006 | |
Nicole, Richie, and Lina go to see Duncan's band, Carfire, perform at a bar. | ||||
8 | "The Class Celebrates a Birthday" | David Crane & Jeffrey Klarik | November 13, 2006 | |
Ethan joins his girlfriend and her son at her son's friend's birthday party, only to discover that the party is for Holly's daughter, Oprah Pearl. | ||||
9 | "The Class Gives Thanks" | Jonathan Green & Gabe Miller | November 20, 2006 | |
Richie and Lina break up. Meanwhile, everyone else holds their own Thanksgiving festivities. | ||||
10 | "The Class Runs Into a Convenience Store" | David Crane & Jeffrey Klarik | November 27, 2006 | |
Richie crashes his car into the local convenience store. | ||||
11 | "The Class Celebrates an Anniversary" | Teleplay: Mike Sikowitz Story: David Crane & Jeffrey Klarik | December 11, 2006 | |
Yonk and Nicole celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary. Richie and Lina get back together. | ||||
12 | "The Class Visits a Bad Neighborhood" | Sue Murphy | January 8, 2007 | |
Richie, Nicole and Duncan run into Fern, who's brandishing a gun. | ||||
13 | "The Class Hits It" | Doty Abrams | January 15, 2007 | |
Richie and Lina spend their first night together. | ||||
14 | "The Class Has to Go to a Stupid Museum" | Teleplay: Jonathan Green & Gabe Miller Story: Corey Nickerson | January 22, 2007 | |
Ethan and Kyle listen in on a conversation between Kat and Benjamin. Lina gets out of her wheelchair. | ||||
15 | "The Class Eats Moroccan Chicken" | Teleplay: Steven Molaro Story: David Crane & Jeffrey Klarik | February 5, 2007 | |
Lina and Richie host their first event as a couple; Lina serves some disgusting Moroccan chicken. | ||||
16 | "The Class Has a Snow Day" | Teleplay: David Crane & Jeffrey Klarik Story: Mike Sikowitz | February 12, 2007 | |
Everyone gets snowed in at each other's houses on Valentine's Day. | ||||
17 | "The Class Springs a Leak" | David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik | February 19, 2007 | |
Nicole floods her house trying to create a reason to keep Duncan around. | ||||
18 | "The Class Rides a Bull" | Teleplay: Mike Sikowitz Story: David Crane & Jeffrey Klarik | February 26, 2007 | |
Nicole finally decides to leave Yonk for Duncan. To give herself time to pack, she has Duncan and Richie keep Yonk occupied with dinner at a steakhouse. | ||||
19 | "The Class Goes Back to the Hospital" | David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik | March 5, 2007 | |
The class returns to the hospital after Yonk has a heart attack. |
Episode # | Title | Air date | Rating[25] | Share[25] | 18–49[25] | Viewers[25] | Rank[26] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Class Reunites" | September 18, 2006 | 6.9 | 11 | 3.7 | 10.60 | #42 |
2 | "The Class Visits a Hospital" | September 25, 2006 | 5.7 | 9 | 2.8 | 8.51 | #48 |
3 | "The Class Learns About Hurricanes" | October 2, 2006 | 5.5 | 9 | 2.8 | 8.00 | #55 |
4 | "The Class Blows the Whistle" | October 9, 2006 | 6.5 | 10 | 3.7 | 10.05 | #44 |
5 | "The Class Gets Frozen Yogurt" | October 16, 2006 | 5.6 | 8 | 3.1 | 8.70 | #51 |
6 | "The Class Goes Trick-or-Treating" | October 23, 2006 | 5.5 | 8 | 2.9 | 8.12 | #55 |
7 | "The Class Goes to a Bar" | November 6, 2006 | 4.9 | 7 | 2.9 | 7.70 | #58 |
8 | "The Class Celebrates a Birthday" | November 13, 2006 | 5.5 | 8 | 3.0 | 8.52 | #51 |
9 | "The Class Gives Thanks" | November 20, 2006 | 5.4 | 8 | 2.9 | 8.32 | #50 |
10 | "The Class Runs Into a Convenience Store" | November 27, 2006 | 5.5 | 8 | 3.1 | 8.71 | #47 |
11 | "The Class Celebrates an Anniversary" | December 11, 2006 | 5.5 | 8 | 3.1 | 8.74 | |
12 | "The Class Visits a Bad Neighbourhood" | January 8, 2007 | 5.1 | 7 | 2.9 | 7.76 | #53 |
13 | "The Class Hits It" | January 15, 2007 | 4.5 | 6 | 2.7 | 7.07 | #52 |
14 | "The Class Has to Go to a Stupid Museum" | January 22, 2007 | 5.7 | 8 | 3.2 | 8.99 | #29 |
15 | "The Class Eats Moroccan Chicken" | February 5, 2007 | 6.2 | 9 | 3.6 | 9.72 | #40 |
16 | "The Class Has a Snow Day" | February 12, 2007 | 5.9 | 9 | 3.3 | 8.97 | #45 |
17 | "The Class Springs a Leak" | February 19, 2007 | 5.5 | 8 | 3.3 | 8.80 | #39 |
18 | "The Class Rides a Bull" | February 26, 2007 | 5.7 | 9 | 3.5 | 8.90 | #44 |
19 | "The Class Goes Back to the Hospital" | March 5, 2007 | 5.8 | 9 | 3.2 | 8.77 | #34 |
Key: "Rating" is the estimated percentage of all TVs tuned to the show, "share" is the percentage of all TVs in use that are tuned in. "18–49" is the percentage of all 18- to 49-year olds watching the program. "Viewers" is the estimated number of actual people watching, in millions. "Rank" is the place in which the episode ranked up against all of the shows broadcast during the week that the episode was aired.
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of The Class on CBS:[27]
Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, or occasionally early June, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
Season | Timeslot (EDT) | Series premiere | Series finale | TV season | Rank | Viewers (in millions) |
18–49 Rating/Share (rank) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Monday 8:00 P.M. (September 18, 2006 – October 2, 2006) Monday 8:30 P.M.(October 9, 2006 – March 5, 2007) |
September 18, 2006 | March 5, 2007 | 2006–2007 | #65 | 8.4 | 3.0/8 (#61) |
The Class aired against Prison Break on Fox, Deal or No Deal on NBC, Wife Swap on ABC, and All of Us on The CW. During the first few episodes The Class was up against 7th Heaven and then Everybody Hates Chris. The Class consistently surpassed Wife Swap, All of Us, 7th Heaven, and Everybody Hates Chris in the ratings.[27]
The Class received mostly mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, 44% of 9 critics gave it a positive review, with an average rating of 7.4/10.[28] Metacritic gave it a rating of 59 out of 100 based on reviews from 27 critic, indicating mixed or average reviews.[29][30][31]
The most positive reviews came from The Philadelphia Inquirer[32] and The Hollywood Reporter.[33]
The Class won the Favorite New TV Comedy Award at the 33rd People's Choice Awards. It was up against 30 Rock and 'Til Death. 30 Rock and 'Til Death were both renewed for second seasons while The Class was not.[34]
The Class was also nominated by the Art Director's Guild for Excellence in Production Design for a Multi Camera Television Series, this was for the Pilot episode, The Class Reunites. Mad TV won the award.[35]
In July 2007, The Class was nominated for the 59th Primetime Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series, the show lost to How I Met Your Mother.[36]
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