The Class
Showcase Inventory
Created by David Crane & Jeffrey Klarik
Produced by CraneKlarik in association with Warner Bros. Television
Aired on CBS for one season (19 episodes) from September 18, 2006 – March 5, 2007
Cast
Jason Ritter as Ethan Haas
Lizzy Caplan as Kat Warbler
Heather Goldenhersh as Lina Warbler
Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Richie Velch
Jon Bernthal as Duncan Carmello
Andrea Anders as Nicole Allen
Sean Maguire as Kyle Lendo
Lucy Punch as Holly Ellenbogen
Show Premise
A young romantic (Jason Ritter) sets up a surprise party in order to propose to his girlfriend, inviting members of their third grade class. Attending guests range from twin sisters, one anti-socially cynical (Lizzy Caplan) and the other eager to find love (Heather Goldenhursh), to an awkward would be suicide (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), a scorned at the prom ex (Lucy Punch) of a since out of the closet homosexual (Sean Maguire), and a couple of former flames that begin to reignite despite one being married to a retired football player (Jon Bernthal and Andrea Anders).
At the party, the class stirs up old dramas in comedic fashion, building up to the marriage proposal, which goes awry when the offer is declined. The humiliating event becomes the catalyst for these characters to create unions and relationships that set up the season for more misadventures.
Series Run
This series aired in a post-Friends and post-Joey TV landscape where studios were looking to fill the void left by those shows. This was the same fall season where How I Met Your Mother premiered with a premise that was simply much more accessible to a wide audience. That is not to say that The Class is a lesser show, it’s just that it was a little bit more convoluted as a series, and therefore had a harder time finding an audience. The Class had difficulty finding the right tone as well, as it was a fairly dark comedy with an unusual amount of slapstick in it. But it is because of these tonal inconsistencies that the show was not only entertaining, but oddly compelling as well.
The show did have a period of still trying to figure itself out, with some characters that the writers just didn’t know what to do with. Still, there were certain key storylines that had enough pull to engage viewers into following along with the series narrative. By the end of the season, the show did come together nicely, and if it had continued, the show had the potential to deliver a much improved second season.
A key strength of the series is that it had a really great cast. Andrea Anders was an enjoyable comedic force on Joey, and it was a pleasure to find her working again so soon after Joey‘s cancellation. She had one of the more interesting storylines of the series, only second to the one between Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Helen Goldenhersch. Andrea Anders played mainly across Jon Bernthal, who was quite charming and likable. On this show, he had to balance between comedic and dramatic, which he did successfully. Anders and Bernthal’s story consisted of the moral conflict between love and marriage, in a love triangle that became more complex and interesting as the series went on.
The most interesting plot line of this series, however, had to have been the Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Helen Goldenhersch story that was mentioned earlier. The immediate chemistry that both these actors achieved on screen is nothing short of amazing, and the writers gave them some dark comedic material dealing with suicide, injury, and more marital infidelity. Their storyline really pushed the boundaries of gloom in ways that most TV series would not, and because of that, it was a unique enough take, and made this series worthwhile.
Another main plot line was that of the growing friendship of polar opposite characters played by Jason Ritter and Lizzy Caplan. Caplan was previously seen in a small recurring role on “Freaks and Geeks” and her part in the short lived FOX series “The Pitts,” wherein she had to play a character with a pipe through her skull. Lizzy’s character was definitely a highlight, particularly when watching her giddy bitterness playing off Jason Ritter’s good natured persona. Ritter is always more enjoyable in comedic roles, as there’s something inherent in him that makes him naturally funny.
The final main plot line that made up the series was that of Sean Maguire and Lucy Punch. Now, despite the two playing enjoyable characters, but it was pretty clear that this story was the least developed out of all the cast. However, it may only seem that way because Lucy Punch left the series midway through.
The show should also be lauded for its recurring cast of David Keith, Sara Gilbert, and Jaime King. David Keith had a series long recurring role as Anders’ husband, an ex-football star who may be a little rough around the edges but is still a decent guy. Sara Gilbert had a much smaller arc, but it was very cool to see her in the role of a wife who constantly berated her husband. Jaime King was a joy to watch, as she had very good comedic chemistry with the cast, playing a cheerful yet naive blonde.
The writing of this series was interesting not only for its tone, but also in how it ended each episode in a cliffhanger, much like soap operas. This kind of serialized storytelling is not typical of sitcoms, and to make a sitcom in this way may even be counter intuitive. The only precursor of a sitcom that has also done this type of storytelling would be the 1970’s sitcom Soap, which had a heavily convoluted serialized plot that was, in a way, a parody of soap operas, but mostly a genuine familial series.
At the time of The Class’ airing, the heavily serialized series had been having a bit of a revival, with the success of shows like Lost and 24, so it would make sense to at least attempt to integrate that style to a comedy series. Strangely, the success rate of this type of storytelling in comedy has been fairly low with large audiences. Consider a show like Arrested Development, which had a highly involved plot and reoccurring gags that worked only in creating a cult following, but very low ratings among live views.
Preservation Claim
Although this series only lasted one season and was seldom seen and mostly forgotten, it was one of the better and most unique sitcoms that have fallen through the cracks in the past decade. This is a show that warrants a second chance at finding an audience on home video, because while it’s not a great show, it’s a pretty interesting one with a really great cast.
Notable post series credits of the cast and crew include Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s turn on the hit ABC show Modern Family, Lizzy Caplan going on to Masters of Sex, Jason Ritter appearing on Parenthood, and the writers/creators David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik subsequently developing the Showtime series Episodes, starring Matt Le Blanc.
Availability
It was my intention to spotlight this series as an example of a TV series that was lost on the way to home video, but oddly enough I’ve learned that Warner Archives Collection had announced last April that The Class will have a DVD release through their Made on Demand service. It’s not a full package box set, but it’s still nice to have access to the complete series. Prior to this news the only way to discover or re discover this series was via the following sites:
Youtube: There are a variety of episodes on Youtube right now that can be watched in segment chunks for free.
Amazon: Full episodes can be purchased to stream at Amazon On Demand.