View Full Version : Drexell's Class


Hawkee
06-08-2022, 05:05 AM
Come one come all to the most funniest class ever. Drexell's Class is now in session. In 1991 Fox gave Dabney Coleman his own sitcom that many people considered his underrated sitcom break called Drexell's Class. The show centered on Drexell who may remind you of Fred McMurray of Disney's The Absent-Minded Professor who was assigned to a class of funny students as he taught them his own style of school lessons. One of the stars was the late Brittany Murphy who was fabulous in her role on the show. Despite being a huge hit Drexell's Class was cancelled after the second season by FOX. But Dabney would star in Madman Of The People in 1995 on NBC. It amazes me that Dabney Coleman is still alive but he should've been given more sitcoms to become a huge sitcom star

MRPITT
06-09-2022, 10:45 AM
Despite being a huge hit Drexell's Class was cancelled after the second season by FOX. But Dabney would star in Madman Of The People in 1995 on NBC. It amazes me that Dabney Coleman is still alive but he should've been given more sitcoms to become a huge sitcom star

A couple inaccuracies It finished 67th in the ratings. Huge hit?
Also it didn’t have 2 seasons it was cancelled after the first season.
Dabney Coleman was given at least 5 chances to star in a sitcom and 4 of them didn’t make it past season one.

Buffalo Bill canceled after 2 seasons 26 episodes
Slap Maxwell canceled after 1 season
Drexell’s Class cancelled after 18 episodes
Madman of the People canceled after 16 episodes (rated 12th)
Courting Alex canceled after 12 episodes

You should really considering fact checking things you post it would have taken 5 seconds to check how many seasons Drexel’s class had.

TMC
06-10-2022, 11:20 PM
A couple inaccuracies It finished 67th in the ratings. Huge hit?
Also it didn’t have 2 seasons it was cancelled after the first season.
Dabney Coleman was given at least 5 chances to star in a sitcom and 4 of them didn’t make it past season one.

Buffalo Bill canceled after 2 seasons 26 episodes
Slap Maxwell canceled after 1 season
Drexell’s Class cancelled after 18 episodes
Madman of the People canceled after 16 episodes (rated 12th)
Courting Alex canceled after 12 episodes

You should really considering fact checking things you post it would have taken 5 seconds to check how many seasons Drexel’s class had.

I had previously written about (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=413187) Dabney Coleman (https://www.filmboards.com/board/20001056/), and I said that all of his sitcoms in all likelihood failed to leave a lasting mark, because he always played a character who was irredeemably unlikable (https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/05/arts/what-mean-spirited-dabney-coleman-defends-his-persona.html).

That isn't to say that a show with a main character with obnoxiously irredeemable qualities can't work. As this Los Angeles Times (https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:UZI236TAASIJ:https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-29-ca-2865-story.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us) article noted:
Instantly recognizable cases in point are Jackie Gleason’s explosive Ralph Kramden in “The Honeymooners,” Sherman Hemsley’s scheming George Jefferson in “The Jeffersons,” Ted Knight’s Ted Baxter in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” Ted Danson’s monomaniacally libidinous Sam Malone in “Cheers” and Candice Bergen’s peevishly dismissive Murphy Brown.

But as the article also noted, those other characters still had endearing sides to balance it out. Or like Archie Bunker on All in the Family/Archie Bunker's Place, the character is clearly shown to soften, evolve, and mature over time.

And with something like Married...with Children (https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:SkXyRp6iaU8J:https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-09-19-ca-3405-story.html+&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us), the Bundy family as the LA Times article also states, were so cartoon-like in their outrageousness to one another unlike Dabney Coleman's sitcoms (https://vgg.com/tp/tp_072902_mid50.html) like Buffalo Bill (https://ew.com/article/1997/12/05/remote-patrol-11/) and Slap Maxwell (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/09/23/two-pearls-in-prime-time/489cfdec-fcb6-420b-bee4-ad38b37c9cd5/), that is was hard to take seriously.

icecream
06-11-2022, 12:47 AM
Ted Baxter was not the main character in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. :crazy:

TJ
06-12-2022, 10:53 PM
Drexell's Class had a tough timeslot against A Different World on Thursday nights. It might have had a better chance on Sunday nights with other live-action sitcoms.

They weren't the first or last series to fail airing after The Simpsons.

11 Awful Shows FOX Has Aired Right After The Simpsons - https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=256550

Even an appearance by Tupac and Digital Underground couldn't save them.

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The Simpsons made light of the show's cancellation in their 1992 "Treehouse of Horror III" episode with a "graveyard of cancelled shows". A tombstone of Drexell's Class is featured alongside tombstones of Fish Police, Capitol Critters, and Family Dog.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y2b8XimR8ro/XbSJE8zzH5I/AAAAAAAACCo/NYwuoSV9Xgo_ZBxk44ch1FumEZSJLHKVACLcBGAsYHQ/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/thohcemiii.jpg

TMC
10-04-2023, 04:34 AM
It Was a Thing on TV: Episode 415--Drexell’s Class (https://www.itwasathingontv.com/e/episode-415-drexell-s-class/)

We conclude our trifecta of Dabney Coleman shows by looking back at a show (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drexell%27s_Class) which was a complete contrast to the last two entries, where Coleman played an irritable, cantankerous TV host and an irritable, cantankerous sportswriter. This time (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125223/http://www.jumptheshark.com/d/drexellsclass.htm), Coleman portrays an irritable, cantankerous 5th grade teacher.

TMC
05-10-2026, 07:24 PM
It Was a Thing on TV: Episode 415--Drexell’s Class (https://www.itwasathingontv.com/e/episode-415-drexell-s-class/)

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A review of the short-lived Fox TV series starring Dabney Coleman, featuring Jason Biggs, Brittany Murphy, and Matthew Lawrence.