The Class

59
Metascore
2006-2007
1 season
CBS
Comedy, Drama
TV-14

As an anniversary gift, for his live-together girlfriend Joan, who met when they entered third grade, Ethan throws a surprise party inviting their entire third-grade class. A Few members of the class agree to come although they have not seen each other in years. Every thing has changed, and new friendships are formed, when the class reunites. The "class clown" still lives at home and rekindles his feelings for his former girlfriend, the now married "beautiful girl next door". The unpopular nerd in school who was on the brink of suicide starts seeing a girl who barely noticed him in school. In addition, a successful female classmates confronts her high school crush and prom date (where she found out he was gay). A whole lot more happens when this class reunites and starts new friendships.

59
Metascore
2006-2007
1 season
CBS
Comedy, Drama
TV-14

Are the Creators of Showtime's Episodes Bitter? They Don't Think So!

It's difficult to believe that the creators of Showtime's Episodes are not holding a grudge against network TV. Their last series, the CBS sitcom The Class, was axed after one short season, and their follow-up comedy (for cable, natch) is nothing if not an indictment of how the worst broadcast shows get made, sometimes in spite of a great idea. Just take a gander at Episodes' fictional network honcho, a crass and careless tyrant who transforms an urbane British hit about the headmaster of an elite boys school into a broad comedy for American audiences starring Matt LeBlanc.

Sat, Jan 29, 2011

Are the Creators of Showtime's Episodes Bitter? They Don't Think So!

Critic's Notebook: Showtime and the CW

The chasm between cable and network programming loomed especially large on Thursday, Day 2 of the Television Critics Association presentations, as Showtime occupied the morning and the CW the afternoon. Never the twain shall meet, as Showtime unveiled a provocative array of shows that caters to the very adult, while the CW, whose focus is anything but, introduced a mere two-pack of new fall shows that rests safely if stylishly within the network's comfort zone of young female empowerment...

Fri, Jul 30, 2010

Ratings: Heroes Takes Off with Three-month High

This Monday's notable numbers:8 pm/ETTrailing Deal or No Deal, Prison Break (9.73 million total viewers) was up 340K week-to-week. CBS' The Class was dismissed by a typical audience of 8.77 million.9 pmThe conclusion of Heroes' second arc (14.9 million, up 630K)  and the last fresh episode until, like, forever  delivered the series' largest audience since Dec. 4, outdrawing both a Two and a Half Men repeat and a thus-handicapped Rules of Engagement (12.6 million, down 1.1 mil). Fox's 24 (13.01 million) was up 200 thou.10 pmPlacing well behind a CSI: Miami repeat (14.27 mil), NBC's The Black Donnellys (7.04 million) lost 1.38 mil from its premiere, but is still 600,000 above Studio 60's last tally. What About Brian had one of its weaker outings, with an audience of just 4.78 mil (slipping 620K).

Tue, Mar 6, 2007

The Class Goes Live, on the Internet

Starting next week, CBS will offer, for the first time ever, a pair of live, behind-the-scenes looks at the making of a major network television series. On Monday, Jan. 15, at 2 pm/ET, TheClassTV.com will feature a webcast of the cast, producers and writers participating in a table read of an upcoming episode of The Class. Then on Wednesday, Jan. 17, at 4 pm/ET, a second live webcast will let viewers witness a full-episode runthrough of the material.

Wed, Jan 10, 2007

Sitcom Shake-up: New Time Slot for Old Christine

To make room for Rules of Engagement  the Adam Sandler-produced sitcom starring Patrick Warburton and David Spade, and premiering Feb. 5  CBS is moving The New Adventures of Old Christine up an hour, to 8:30 pm/ET, starting Monday, March 12 (following a brief hiatus for the Julia Louis-Dreyfus starrer). I know what you're about to ask, and here is the answer: A week prior to that, The Class will have concluded its first-season run.Also per Variety (and here is where it gets tricky): The King of Queens, currently airing on Wednesday and bound for hiatus after its Jan. 3 outing, will replace Rules starting April 9, to unspool the series' last seven episodes ever.

Thu, Dec 21, 2006

Prime-time Shuffle: Will Dancing Stars Take On Idol?

At a Wednesday panel discussion hosted by the International Radio & Television Society Foundation, network entertainment execs previewed their latest plans. Among the reveals, per the Hollywood Reporter: ABC's Dancing with the Stars, which crowned its third winning pair last night, may return as early as March. The big decision is whether to keep it where it is, on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, where it would compete directly against American Idol.  CBS is poised to order additional episodes of The Class, though the exact amount was not disclosed. As reported earlier this week, NBC, come January, will likely move Friday Night Lights from Tuesdays at 8 (aka Idol-time) to a time period "with hopefully more protection." Promises Peacock scheduling VP Mitch Metcalf, "We'll take care of it." Fox will "probably" order six more episodes of the struggling Standoff, and may also move the freshman series. The O.C., however, is staying put on Thursdays, where it is ...

Thu, Nov 16, 2006

Ratings: Howie, Heroes and Miami Hit Highs

Wow, a lot of people were watching television this Monday night: Deal or No Deal, with an audience of 17.97 million total viewers, enjoyed not just a season high but also its second-biggest audience ever, behind the June 5 first-season finale. Prison Break (9.15 mil) had its best outing since Sept. 18. Up 800,000 heads from last week, The Class (8.5 mil) earned its best grades since Oct. 16. Heroes set a new series high, with 15.01 million viewers, coming within a mil of comedy warhorse Two and a Half Men. A repeat of House drew 9.25 mil. That's 3.4 mil more than the number of people who checked out the last fresh outing of Justice. CSI: Miami's based-on-a-LaRue-story episode (18.43 mil) was its season's best. Studio 60 (7.79 million) had its best showing since Oct. 9.Playing the role of Debbie Downer in this ratings recap is What About Brian, which celebrated its full-season pickup by drawing its smallest audience of the season  5.59...

Tue, Nov 14, 2006

Sin City Siren Signs Up for Class

TVGuide.com has learned that Jaime King (Sin City, Pearl Harbor), whose last big small-screen gig was on 2005's short-lived Kitchen Confidential, has been booked for a recurring role on The Class. On CBS' freshman comedy, King will play a former art-school classmate of Kat's  one who has found much success as a fellow photographer, much to Kat's dismay. King's first appearance is scheduled to air in December.

Mon, Nov 13, 2006

CBS Stays After Class

The last of CBS' four new series to hear its ultimate fate, The Class has received an order for four additional scripts. After struggling in its first three Monday-at-8 airings, the comedy's ratings picked up a bit when it was moved to the slot after How I Met Your Mother.

Tue, Oct 24, 2006

Can you give me a yes or no, ...

Question: Can you give me a yes or no, in your opinion, as to whether the following new shows will make it? The Class, Studio 60, Jericho, Men in Trees, Ugly Betty and The Nine?Answer: Yes, no, yes, yes, frak yeah and maybe.

Wed, Oct 11, 2006

Ratings: Two Million More Show Up for Class

CBS sure looked smart this week as The Class, in its new 8:30 pm time slot, drew an additional two million viewers (for a total of 10 mil). Paired with How I Met Your Mother (9.7 mil) in the 8 o'clock hour, the sitcombo placed second behind Deal or No Deal (15.2 mil).At 9 pm, the big week-to-week gainers were Two and a Half Men (up 1.1 million to 17.1 mil), which ruled the hour with Old Christine (13.7 mil) and NBC's Heroes (13.3 mil, up 700,000). At 10, CSI: Miami found yet another 600,000 heads, bringing its unbeatable tally to just shy of 18 million. Placing a distant second and third were Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (8.75 mil, down 300,000) and the season premiere of What About Brian, which with 7.05 million lost a full mil of lead-in The Bachelor's audience.As for the CW's own schedule shuffle, let's grade it "Incomplete," as the network rebroadcast the premieres of former Sunday occupants Chris, All of Us, Girlfriends and The Game  all of which lost to Fox's own repeat...

Tue, Oct 10, 2006

CBS Reschedules Class, Knights Moves

In a bid to bolster ratings for its freshman laffer, CBS is swapping time slots for The Class and How I Met Your Mother, Variety reports. Effective immediately, Ted, Barney, et al, will lead off Monday nights at 8 pm, with The Class to follow. ABC, meanwhile, has "indefinitely delayed" the planned Oct. 17 series premiere of Let's Rob Jeff Goldbum Let's Rob Mick Jagger Let's Rob... Knights of Prosperity, reportedly to give the show a better marketing push but also to perhaps let Help Me Help You benefit more from its current Dancing with the Stars lead-in.

Wed, Oct 4, 2006

Fall Forecast: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Betty

Yeah, yeah, Angel Cohn, among others, beat me to blogging about our favorite new fall shows. But out of fairness to ABC, I was waiting on the screeners for Brothers & Sisters and Men in Trees, among others. Which new series most impresses me? Is it Friday Night Lights, Six Degrees or Men in Trees? Here's how my assorted expectations met reality:SundayBrothers & Sisters, ABC: Expectations were modest, as a stellar cast (Calista Flockhart, Sally Field, Rachel Griffiths, Ron Rifkin, to name but a few) was balanced out by foreboding backstage buzz and shuffles. The pilot starts off slow (the first 20 minutes felt like an eternity), but by the end I was pulled in. The show is just a wee heavy-handed with the constant references to Calista's character being this Ann Coulter-type talking head. We. Get. It.The Game, CW: This one (as well as ABC's Knights of Prosperity) I have yet to watch, sorry. I never watched UPN's Girlfriends, so perhaps I'm afraid I'd be helplessly adrift with ...

Wed, Sep 13, 2006

Upfront Prattle: Lost, 24, Star Trek and More!

Here are some scoopy (and slightly-spoilerish) highlights from my recent Upfront adventures. At ABC's after party yesterday, a little birdie told me that there was a reason Lost baddie Michael Emerson (Henry Gale) made the trek to New York with the rest of the cast to shmooze with advertisers: He's returning next season as a series regular. 24's Kim Raver  now one of the stars of ABC's new drama The Nine  had this to say about Monday's two-hour finale: "It is unbelievable, and it sets up next season in such an extraordinary way." Hmmm... maybe there is something to those rumors that next season picks up immediately where this season leaves off. I ran into my good buddy JJ Abrams  he was on hand pushing his new drama Six Degrees  and I'm relieved to report that all the M:I:III hoopla hasn't gone to his head. He was the same old down-to-earth JJ. He told me that he spent the previous night hashing out the plot of the new Star Trek movie with fellow Lost creato...

Thu, May 18, 2006

CBS' Official Fall Sked

The big news (and the worst kept secret in the TV biz) is that Without a Trace is headed to Sunday night. The complete release is below.CBS ANNOUNCES 2006-2007 PRIMETIME SCHEDULECBS announced today the addition of four new series to its 2006-2007 primetime line-up, enhancing a line-up that will return 18 shows from last year's schedule, including six from last season's freshman class. The line-up, which includes three new dramas and one new comedy, was unveiled this morning by CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler. The four new shows feature a roster of award-winning actors and executive producers and a unique mix of concepts and genres. The freshman series include a young and sexy ensemble comedy, THE CLASS, from "Friends" co-creator David Crane; SMITH, a high octane heist thriller from "ER's" John Wells starring Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen; the apocalyptic drama JERICHO, from the producer of "National Treasure," Jon Turteltaub, starring Skeet Ulrich ("Scream"); and SHARK, a ...

Wed, May 17, 2006