American comedy TV series
Room 222
is an American
comedy-drama
television series produced by
20th Century Fox Television
that aired on
ABC
for 112 episodes, from September 17, 1969, until January 11, 1974. The show was broadcast on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 (
ET
) for its first two seasons, before settling into Friday evenings at 9:00, following
The Brady Bunch
and
The Partridge Family
, and preceding
The Odd Couple
and
Love, American Style
.
[1]
In 1970,
Room 222
earned the
Primetime Emmy Award
for
Outstanding New Series
, while
Michael Constantine
and
Karen Valentine
won for
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
and
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
, respectively.
Plot
[
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]
While the series primarily focuses on an
American history
class in Room 222 at the fictional
Walt Whitman
High School, in
Los Angeles
,
California
, it also depicts other events in and outside the school, such as the home lives of the racially diverse student body and faculty.
The history class is taught by Pete Dixon (
Lloyd Haynes
), an idealistic
African-American
teacher. Other characters featured in the show include the school's compassionate
guidance counselor
, Liz McIntyre (
Denise Nicholas
), who is also Pete's girlfriend; the dryly humorous school principal, Seymour Kaufman (
Michael Constantine
); the petite and enthusiastic Alice Johnson (
Karen Valentine
), who is initially a
student teacher
, later full-time teacher whom Pete mentors; and Principal Kaufman's secretary Miss Hogarth, played by
Patsy Garrett
. Additionally, many recurring students are featured from episode to episode.
Pete Dixon delivers gentle lessons in tolerance and understanding to his students and they admire his wisdom, insight, and easygoing manner. The themes of the episodes are sometimes topical, reflecting the contemporary political climate of the late 1960s and early-to-mid 1970s, such as the
Vietnam War
,
women's rights
,
race relations
, and
Watergate
. However, most plots are timeless and feature themes still common to modern-day teenagers. For example, the 1969 episode "Funny Boy" deals with a class clown who is self-conscious about being
overweight
. In the 1971 episode "What Is a Man?", a student is a mistaken victim of
anti-gay harassment
, while the 1974 episode "I Didn't Raise My Girl to Be a Soldier" delves into parent?teenage child issues.
[2]
Cast
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]
Main cast
[
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]
- Lloyd Haynes
as Mr. Pete Dixon, the protagonist, teaches 11th grade
American History
in room 222 of Walt Whitman High School
- Denise Nicholas
as Miss Liz McIntyre, guidance counselor at Whitman, dating Pete
- Michael Constantine
as Mr. Seymour Kaufman, the principal of Whitman, preoccupied with his duties but dryly humorous
- Karen Valentine
as Miss Alice Johnson, a student teacher learning from Pete
Recurring cast
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]
- Heshimu Cumbuka (as Heshimu) as Jason Allen, the "tough guy" of the class (89 episodes, 1969-1974)
- David Jolliffe as Bernie, the school basketball star (83 episodes, 1969-1974)
- Judy Strangis
as Helen Loomis, the "quiet kid" of the class (70 episodes, 1969-1974)
- Howard Rice as Richie Lane, the "brainy" kid in the class (35 episodes, 1969-1971)
- Ta-Tanisha
as Pam, the "popular girl" of the class (31 episodes, 1969-1972)
- Eric Laneuville
as Larry (29 episodes, 1970-1974)
- Ivor Francis
as Mr. Kenneth Dragen (16 episodes, 1969-1974)
- Patsy Garrett
as Miss Hogarth (12 episodes, 1969-1973)
- Robert Casper as Mr. Wisegarten, Mr Girard (12 episodes, 1969-1973)
- Ty Henderson as Cleon (8 episodes, 1972-1974)
- Ramon Bieri
as Mr. Gil Casey, vice principal (4 episodes, 1969-1970)
- Helen Kleeb
as Miss Tandy (4 episodes, 1969-1971)
- Bruno Kirby
as Herbie Considine (3 episodes, 1971-1973)
- Eve McVeagh
as Madge Morano, Mrs Cates, PTA Member (2 episodes, 1969, 1971)
Guest stars
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]
Notable guest stars during the series five-season run include
Larry Linville
,
Cindy Williams
,
Chuck Norris
,
Nancy Wilson
,
DeForest Kelley
,
Rob Reiner
,
Richard Dreyfuss
,
Burgess Meredith
,
Kurt Russell
,
Aretha Franklin
,
Bernie Kopell
,
Mako
,
Angela Cartwright
,
Ed Begley Jr.
,
Dabney Coleman
and
Mark Hamill
.
Episodes
[
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]
- ^
Tied with
Cannon
- ^
The fifteenth produced episode of the fifth season never aired.
Production
[
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]
The program was filmed at
20th Century Fox
studios. Exterior shots of
Los Angeles High School
,
pre-1971 earthquake
, were shown in the opening credits, and some outdoor scenes in the early seasons.
[6]
The show draws some comparisons to a theatrical movie which premiered during the show's first season,
Halls of Anger
. In that movie, a new, black teacher joins a southern California high school; an attractive, sympathetic black female member of staff shows romantic interest; a militant black student is frequently involved in situations; issues of racism and integration are featured. The film and television show also share actors (Ta-Tanisha, Helen Kleeb, Rob Reiner). However, while
Room 222
is a comedy drama, milder in tone,
Halls of Anger
is purposefully aggressive, using deliberately controversial language and some forceful violence to highlight the real and dangerous potential of unresolved racial conflict.
Reception
[
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]
Room 222'
s initial episodes garnered weak
ratings
, and ABC was poised to cancel the program after one season. However, the show earned several nominations at the 1970
Emmy Awards
, and ABC relented. In the spring of 1970,
Room 222
won Emmy Awards for Best New Series; Best Supporting Actor (Michael Constantine); and Best Supporting Actress (Karen Valentine). The following year, Constantine and Valentine were again nominated in the supporting acting awards category. After the shaky first season,
Room 222
nevertheless managed to receive respectable ratings during its next three years. Ratings peaked during the 1971?72 season, during which it held a #28 viewership ranking. By the start of the 1973?74 season, ratings had fallen drastically, and ABC canceled the show at mid-season. After the series ended, the program entered
syndication
and was rerun on several television stations throughout the United States.
Music
[
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]
The
theme song
was written by composer
Jerry Goldsmith
, written in a
7/4 time signature
. 7/4 is, itself, uncommon, but Goldsmith's theme subdivides the meter as 4+3/3+4, 3+4/4+3. His theme and two episode scores for the series ("Richie's Story" (the pilot) and "The Flu") were later issued by
Film Score Monthly
on an album with his score for the film
Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies
.
Books and comics
[
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]
A series of novels based on characters and dialog of the series was written by
William Johnston
and published by Tempo Books in the early 1970s.
Dell Comics
published a comic book for four issues during 1970 and 1971.
Home media
[
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]
Shout! Factory
has released the first two seasons of
Room 222
on DVD in Region 1. As of 2022, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print. It is unknown if the remaining three seasons will be released.
DVD name
|
Ep #
|
Release date
|
Season One
|
26
|
March 24, 2009
|
Season Two
|
26
|
January 19, 2010
|
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Room 222
.