Class of '96 (found Fox teen drama series; 1993)
The title card for Class of '96.
Status: Found
Date found: 16 May 2023
Found by: GrigioGuy and Nsmith15
Class of '96 is a short-lived teen drama series that aired on Fox from January to May 1993. It followed the lives of seven students during their first year of an Ivy League university. Described by some critics as "90210 goes to college," the show’s first season received mixed to positive reviews. Although the creative team believed Fox would renew the show, it was ultimately cancelled after its first season aired. The show never received release via DVD, VHS, or streaming. All episodes of the series have been uploaded online, coming from VHS recordings made by fans.
Summary
Class of '96 followed the freshman year of seven students at the fictional Ivy League university Havenhurst College. Each student comes from a different background and upbringing, but all seven of them grow to become friends—and sometimes, romantic partners—over the course of the year. The series also dealt with issues such as sexism, racism, and social class differences.[1]
The series followed seven students, each with a unique background. The characters were David Morrissey (Jason Gedrik), a first-generation college student; "Stroke" Dexter (Gale Hansen), a computer expert; Whitney Reed (Brandon Douglas), an upper-class student with alcohol addiction; Antonio Hopkins (Perry Moore), a basketball player on a scholarship; Jessica Cohen (Lisa Dean Ryan), a wealthy student; and Robin Farr (Kari Wührer), a student from Florida.[2]
History
The series aired on Tuesday nights at 8:00 pm on the Fox network. It faced fierce competition with other shows in its timeslot, many of which were aimed at families instead of the young adult audience. Competitors included Full House, Rescue 911, and Quantum Leap.[3] This competitive timeslot may have been a factor in the show’s moderate success.
The series was a joint effort by Mandy Productions Inc. and ABC Productions. Brandon Stoddard and Leonard Goldberg acted as executive producers.[4]
The show aired seventeen episodes in its first season, airing one episode every Tuesday from January 19th, 1993, to May 25th, 1993. Ratings for the series went down progressively after the first episode, going from an estimated 6 million viewers to 2.9 million.[5] Fox cancelled the show after its final season one episode aired.
Critical reception was mixed to positive. The Orlando Sentinal called the show "the next, smarter generation of youth-targeted entertainment after Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, et al."[6] Washington Post speculated that the show could rank as Fox’s best, with the exception of The Simpsons. However, other reviews were less hopeful. Entertainment Weekly gave the show a C+ rating, and stated the following:
"Class of '96 panders to Fox's young audience by assuring them that teenagers are indeed the center of the universe, that going away to college is nothing less than the beginning of life. Family, childhood, and adolescence were just a bad dream; awakened from the coma of home, reality is sex, rock & roll, and keg parties. To the rest of us, of course, there's a good chance that the students in Class will seem like nothing more than moody brats."[7]
Release
Class of '96 never received any home media release following its cancellation, though some interest has been held by fans of the show. A thread on the forum DVDTalk shows interest in a DVD box set, though many note that they doubt a home release would be successful due to the show’s mixed critical opinions.[8]
Because of the lack of a home media release, all uploaded episodes come from VHS tape recordings from fans.
On February 5th, 2023, eight more episodes of the series were found and uploaded by Lost Media Wiki user, GrigioGuy. A couple of months later, on May 16th, 2023, the last four episodes of the series were found and uploaded by Lost Media Wiki user, Nsmith15.
Episode List
| # | Episode Title | Air Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pilot | Jan 19th, 1993 | Found |
| 2 | They Shoot Baskets, Don't They? | Jan 26th, 1993 | Found |
| 3 | Breaking Up is Hard to Overdue | Feb 2nd, 1993 | Found |
| 4 | Midterm Madness | Feb 9th, 1993 | Found |
| 5 | Look Homeward Angela | Feb 16th, 1993 | Found |
| 6 | The Adventures of Pat's Man and Robin | Feb 23rd, 1993 | Found |
| 7 | David is Authorizes | Mar 2nd, 1993 | Found |
| 8 | The Accused | Mar 9th, 1993 | Found |
| 9 | When Whitney Met Linda | Mar 16th, 1993 | Found |
| 10 | Parents Weekend | Mar 23rd, 1993 | Found |
| 11 | The Best Little Frat House at Havenhurst | Mar 30th, 1993 | Found |
| 12 | Bright Smoke, Cold Fire | Apr 6th, 1993 | Found |
| 13 | Greenwich Mean Time | Apr 20th, 1993 | Found |
| 14 | Educating David | Apr 27th, 1993 | Found |
| 15 | Howie Farr is Too Far | May 4th, 1993 | Found |
| 16 | The Jessica File | May 11th, 1993 | Found |
| 17 | See You in September | May 25th, 1993 | Found |
Gallery
Images
A magazine spread featuring information about the show.
A TVGuide advertisement for an unknown episode.
A full cast photo.
Promos
External Links
References
- ↑ A summary of the series. Retrieved 22 Nov '22
- ↑ A summary of the characters. Retrieved 22 Nov '22
- ↑ An image of a magazine spread for the show. Retrieved 22 Nov '22
- ↑ An in-depth Washington Post article on the show. Retrieved 22 Nov '22
- ↑ The ratings and air dates. Retrieved 22 Nov '22
- ↑ An Orlando Sentinal review of the series. Retrieved 22 Nov '22
- ↑ Entertainment Weekly’s review of the series. Retrieved 22 Nov '22
- ↑ The forum on DVDTalk. Retrieved 22 Nov '22
