I totally remember where I was the first time I saw this video. I was watching it in my room and started jumping up and down (but not dancing...that would have been weird). I LOVED Head of the Class, loved the song, and this video was on the short list of the greatest thing ever! It helped that I was a 17-yo science geek who planned on (and did) major in nuclear science. :)
Also, for anyone yet to reach their mid-thirties, that's not supposed to be a laptop computer that's spewing forth our dancing cast members; it's a highschool yearbook that Howard Hesseman is opening horizontally. There might have been laptop computers on the market in the late 80s, but no one I knew (or their parents) had one til the early 90s. Wikipedia supports my reccollection: the Powerbook was introduced in 1991, the Thinkpad in 1992. (Yes, I'm having trouble getting to sleep).
Jesus, J.OConnor, I SAW THIS EPISODE WHEN IT AIRED and I still thought that was a notebook computer. (Incidentally, the first Apple portable was the Macintosh Portable, introduced in September 1989.)
I'm now re-evaluating my entire upbringing. I must have lived in a strange Luddite cul-de-sac of suburbia. We did have cable by the late 80's, though. And color TV.
Let me be clear, I mean that I thought that was a notebook computer when I was watching it tonight, not when it first aired in 1987. My appalment was at my own retroactively introducing tech into that scene that didn't exist at the time, especially since I saw that episode when it first aired.
At the risk of turning the corner into a threadjack, the Apple IIc, introduced in '84, was designed as a portable although it was not notebook format. The handle doubled as a kickstand to keep the vents unobstructed. You just had to have a monitor to plug it into waiting for you wherever you went with it. I remember the product literature included glossy photos of a busy executive carrying it like a little button-studded briefcase on his morning commute.
I loved this show when I was in HS, primarily because they would name drop my HS occasionally (I remember them having an academic competition with my real HS in the fictional TV world). Also because the exterior was/is Washington Irving HS which was about four blocks away from where I went to HS.
I totally remember where I was the first time I saw this video. I was watching it in my room and started jumping up and down (but not dancing...that would have been weird). I LOVED Head of the Class, loved the song, and this video was on the short list of the greatest thing ever! It helped that I was a 17-yo science geek who planned on (and did) major in nuclear science. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd now the tubby guy in the back is the big tweener mogul of Nickelodeon and Disney.
ReplyDeleteAnd the lipsyncing one-man-band guy with the dated hair is the executive producer of Smallville and One Tree Hill.
ReplyDeleteAlso, for anyone yet to reach their mid-thirties, that's not supposed to be a laptop computer that's spewing forth our dancing cast members; it's a highschool yearbook that Howard Hesseman is opening horizontally. There might have been laptop computers on the market in the late 80s, but no one I knew (or their parents) had one til the early 90s. Wikipedia supports my reccollection: the Powerbook was introduced in 1991, the Thinkpad in 1992. (Yes, I'm having trouble getting to sleep).
ReplyDeleteJesus, J.OConnor, I SAW THIS EPISODE WHEN IT AIRED and I still thought that was a notebook computer. (Incidentally, the first Apple portable was the Macintosh Portable, introduced in September 1989.)
ReplyDeleteI'm now re-evaluating my entire upbringing. I must have lived in a strange Luddite cul-de-sac of suburbia. We did have cable by the late 80's, though. And color TV.
ReplyDeleteLet me be clear, I mean that I thought that was a notebook computer when I was watching it tonight, not when it first aired in 1987. My appalment was at my own retroactively introducing tech into that scene that didn't exist at the time, especially since I saw that episode when it first aired.
ReplyDeleteAnd director of Varsity Blues, Hardball and Norbit.
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of turning the corner into a threadjack, the Apple IIc, introduced in '84, was designed as a portable although it was not notebook format. The handle doubled as a kickstand to keep the vents unobstructed. You just had to have a monitor to plug it into waiting for you wherever you went with it. I remember the product literature included glossy photos of a busy executive carrying it like a little button-studded briefcase on his morning commute.
ReplyDeleteI had completely forgotten that this was where Robin Givens came from.
ReplyDeleteI remember watching this the first time! I used to love this show.
ReplyDeleteI am very tempted to follow this up with a discussion of the class's Very Special Trip To Russia, as well as the annual musical episodes.
ReplyDeleteI loved this show when I was in HS, primarily because they would name drop my HS occasionally (I remember them having an academic competition with my real HS in the fictional TV world). Also because the exterior was/is Washington Irving HS which was about four blocks away from where I went to HS.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonirvinghigh.org/