MovieChat Forums > Room 222 (1969) Discussion > Better early on

Better early on

posted 15 years ago by schappe1
4 replies | jump to latest

I've been collecting episodes of this show from internet collectors, (I understand it's now out on DVD), for a while and it didn't seem as good as I remembered. It was kind of light and goofy and presented a santized version of the issues it dealt with and of high school kids. It resembled "Saved By the Bell" more than "Mr. Novak", the all-time teacher show, which I also have collected. (My mother was a high school teacher, thus the interest.)

I recently got the first two episodes and have watched "Richie's Story". This is the show as I remembered it, serious issues, (the inadequacy of inner city high schools, Alice being intimidated by her first classroom, which includes a rebellious black student), presented with a humanizing spoonful of sugar in the form of some mildly comic elements that don't get in the way of the story. I've read that the network wanted to lighten up the show and emphasize humor more and I think they succeeded- in destroying the delicate balance of the show. In the later episodes the fact that Pete and Liz are black becomes basically irrelevant. That, in a way, is a triumph but it also means the series has moved away from some of the issues it was created to deal with.

[–] jeffster67 13 years ago

In my opinion, you don't want excessive focus on race, and it was good that they were able to stray away from that issue a bit, because it seems like racial tensions were cooling down in that time period, because there were riots in Watts a few years before that. I wasn't around during the time when the riots went on (I was born in late 1967), but it seems I never saw any racial issues until adulthood, though I knew black people from the time I was probably 4 years old and in school. The thing I found nasty to deal with was having snooty neighbors when we moved to the neighborhood that I've lived in off and on since 1974. The snooty neighbors pretty much keep to themselves now, but you would expect that after living someplace for 37 years.

"I'd be very happy to be myself if I could remember who I am. Who am I?"

[–] haley-46 13 years ago

The one far fetched episode early on was the one where the shy girl suggested they all get nude in the school play and the faculty actually considers letting them do it.

[–] ncdwbmk6 (79) 3 years ago

None of the faculty seriously consider letting them do it. The only issue is how to stop it without seeming too authoritarian.

[–] Owlwise (1535) a year ago

And they do so smartly, by telling the students that it's time for an undress rehearsal, which makes them think twice. Yet they appreciate that the teachers left it up to them. Very well done!