Head of the Class: Season 04 (1989)

There is quite a cast turnover in season four of Head of the Class, with three of the gifted students in Fillmore High School's Individual Honors Program (IHP) having moved on in life. Overachiever Maria has transferred to the High School of Performing Arts, Indian émigré Jarwarhal has gone to California with his family, and child prodigy Janice has been accepted at Harvard. Among the new students of the IHP's "permanent substitute" teacher Charles Moore (Howard Hesseman) are aspiring filmmaker Aristotle (De'voreaux White), drop-dead-gorgeous Viki (Lara Piper), and smooth-talking Alex (Michael de Lorenzo). Later in the season, the class welcomes another newcomer, the shy, parent-dominated Jasper (Jonathan Ke Quan). Also, after a year of hard work and persistence, former remedial student T.J. (Rain Pryor) finally qualifies for the IHP. She manages to win this honor all by herself, despite a rare foray into fantasy when T.J. almost enters into a deal with the Devil (Richard Libertini) to improve her grades! Among the season's more noteworthy episodes is the third of Head of the Class' musical outings, the two-part "From Hair to Eternity," in which the students stage a production of Hair despite the protests of one of Fillmore High's more prudish teachers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi