The Class (TV series)

The Class
File:Theclass.jpg Cast of The Class
Starring	Andrea Anders Jon Bernthal Lizzy Caplan Jesse Tyler Ferguson Heather Goldenhersh Sean Maguire Lucy Punch Jason Ritter
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	6
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 18, 2006 – present

The Class is a television sitcom created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik. The show premiered at 8:00pm on Monday, September 18, 2006 on CBS. It will also air in Canada on CTV and in the United Kingdom on Channel 4. Due to the overwhelming reputation of the creators, many networks (including NBC, Fox Broadcasting Company, and CBS) made bids for a full 13-episode season, prior to seeing a pilot. Ultimately, CBS won the bidding war with an undisclosed amount.

More recently, CBS has ordered four more episodes of the The Class, bringing the episode order to 17.

As of October 9, 2006, CBS shifted the show to the 8:30pm time slot, because its disappointing ratings were impacting the success of How I Met Your Mother in its sophomore year. Ironically, Nielsen ratings for that night indicated The Class was watched by 10 million viewers, 300,000 less than How I Met Your Mother, possibly due to the fact many viewers still were unaware of the switch.

Plot summary

The Class revolves around a core group of eight twenty-somethings 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."

Beyond the core eight, Crane and Klarik said the show will be populated by several other recurring characters.

Cast

Role	Actor
Kat Warbler	Lizzy Caplan
Duncan Carmello	Jon Bernthal
Lina Warbler	Heather Goldenhersh
Ethan Haas	Jason Ritter
Kyle Lendo	Sean Maguire
Richie Velch	Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Holly Ellenbogen	Lucy Punch
Nicole Allen	Andrea Anders

Supporting Cast

Role	Actor
Tina Carmello	Julie Halston
Perry Pearl	Sam Harris
Yonk Allen	David Keith
Fern	Sara Gilbert
Aaron	Cristián de la Fuente

Sara Gilbert was seen very briefly - in Richie's bed - at the end of the October 9, 2006, episode. The following week, it was revealed she works as a cleaning woman in Lina's office, but her exact relationship to Richie, other than that they live together, still has not been established.

Characters

• Ethan L. Haas is head-over-heels in love with his fiancé, Joanne (Kasey Wilson), for whom he has planned the ultimate surprise party: a reunion with their third grade classmates to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the day they met. However, Joanne felt he was smothering her and left. He is a pediatrician with a golden retriever, like his ex-fiancé.

• Lina Warbler wears her heart on her sleeve and remains optimistic about love. She is Kat Warbler's fraternal twin sister. She got the call about the party just as she found her boyfriend in bed with another woman. At the party, she hit it off with Richie but he accidentally ran her over, breaking "every bone in both feet." Despite that, she still wants to date him.

• Kat Warbler is Lina's cynical twin sister whose sarcastic tongue may hide her kind heart. She seems to be a photographer. Her birthday is adjacent to Son of Sam's. She helps Ethan cope after he's dumped and despite her cynicism, seems attracted to him.

• Duncan Carmello was the well-liked boy in school, who is now in a band, but still lives with his mother. He had a relationship with Nicole Allen in high school, but dumped her, a decision he now regrets. After they spend the night of the party together, he gets a job renovating her house while trying to win her back.

• Kyle Lendo was a popular boy in high school whom all the girls were in love with. He took Holly Ellenbogen to the senior prom, only to cheat on her with another guy at the afterparty. He is currently in a homosexual relationship with his live-in boyfriend, Aaron (Cristián de la Fuente). One of the reasons he goes to the party is to make amends.

• Richie Velch was a quiet kid whose life has gone downhill since third grade. His suicide attempt was interrupted by Ethan's party invitation. He and Lina hit it off at the party, having coffee but Richie accidentally ran her over with his car. At the hospital, an angry Kat told him to stay away and he went back to finish his suicide. He was just swallowing the pills when Kat called to tell him the first thing Lina said was she wanted to go out with him again.

• Holly Ellenbogen was Kyle Lendo's prom date, but her heart was broken when he cheated on her with another guy at the afterparty of their senior prom. She is now a successful news anchor. She is also married to Perry Pearl. She goes to the party to show Kyle how happy she is and rub it in his face. She and Perry have a daughter, Oprah (Karley Scott-Collins). Holly appears to be the one person oblivious to how Perry seems to be a walking gay stereotype.

• Nicole Allen, formerly Nicole Cambell is a pretty woman who was popular in high school. She was once in love with Duncan, but he dumped her. She is now the unfulfilled trophy wife of Yonk Allen. After the party, she spent the night with Duncan but went back to her husband. When Duncan visited and pointed out how badly the house was built, Nicole hired him to renovate him as a way to keep him around.

Supporting Characters

• Yonk Allen: A legendary Philadelphia Eagles football player and barbecue grill spokesman. Seems to put his personal achievements ahead of Nicole and oblivious to her feelings.

• Perry Pearl: A highly effeminate man. Named his daughter after Oprah, whom he is a fan of.

• Tina Carmello: Mother to Duncan. Means well, but can sometimes be a bit overbearing. She did show understanding when Nicole came by to be with Duncan and she let them alone.

• Fern: Is involved in an as-yet unspecified relationship with Richie. Preview commercials seem to indicate that the two are married. She works as a cleaning lady in Lina's office.

• Aaron: Kyle's Partner

Episodes

#	Episode	Prod. #	Air Date
1	"Pilot"	3T5150	September 18 2006
2	"The Class Visits a Hospital"	3T5151	September 25 2006
3	"The Class Learns About Hurricanes"	3T5152	October 2 2006
4	"The Class Blows The Whistle"	3T5153	October 9 2006
5	"The Class Gets Frozen Yogurt"	3T5154	October 16 2006
6	"The Class Goes Trick-Or-Treating"	3T5155	October 23 2006
7	"The Class Goes to a Bar"	3T5156	November 6 2006
8	"The Class Celebrates a Birthday"	3T5157	November 13 2006
9	"The Class Gives Thanks"	3T5158	November 20 2006
10	"The Class Runs Into a Convenience Store"	3T5159	November 27 2006

Criticism

The show has been criticized due to the fact that it does not contain a single non-white lead, especially considering its location of Philadelphia, a city where the white population is not a majority. The creators of the show have defended this charge, saying that one of the characters is adopted by Korean parents, and "...when we wrote the script, we wrote it color-blind." Television columnist Lisa de Moraes does not believe this, saying that David Crane has used the color-blind "excuse" since Friends. Nonetheless, Crane promises to make the cast more diverse, saying that this is something he is "now deliberately going about addressing."

External link

• The Class on CBS Web Site
• The Class at IMDb