I was just thinking about this. Both are teenage (well, Alex does grow out of high school), preppy, overly Republican (both express their love for Ronald Reagan), and played by actors waaaaaaaaay too old to play late teens/early adults, and who are considered "short" for men (Tony at 5'7'', Michael at 5'4''). And their character names sound similar!

Does anyone else see this?

They do seem similar. But I think Alan is a bit more cold and not as family oriented!

Exactly!

they were similar but they also had a lot of differences

They are virtually the same character but MJF is tons better of an actor.

No, I agree with Crimson and Clover---there were some similiarties, but enough differences to prevent them from being interchangeable.

And Tony's acting kinda fits in with the rest of the cast, though---most of 'em, anyway.

And Tony's acting kinda fits in with the rest of the cast, though---most of 'em, anyway.

Is that a good thing...or a bad thing?

Well, a friend of my brother-in-law said he can't watch HotC cause "man, the acting sucks!".

Now, my brother-in-law loves acting and has done it and studied it, and he says that lots of shows in the '80s were kinda overacted, and especially facial expressions, and he admitted HotC was one of those shows.

And then when I looked at HotC (and some other '80s shows) objectively, I could see what he meant. I still love the show, and I enjoy it soooo much cause I grew up with it.

But there are certain characters (Darlene, for instance), when it's kinda easy for me to think, "Yeah, she's definitely an actor acting a character", whereas a few others---Mr. Moore, for example, I'm not consciously aware that they're acting, cause it's more natural. :)

I don't think Tony's as "obvious" with his acting as Robin, but there are times now and then when it seems a little more "acted".

But Alan's my favorite character! :D lol :)

There are other flaws with the show as well....such as directing and writing.

I got my BA in Theater (and I think all it's good for is for ruining my escapist-style viewing of TV and movies), and have learned a lot about directing in a semester. A lot of the actors' actions don't work (like getting up before a line as opposed to getting up on the line or using a line to make a move), and things like that. The blocking on "HOTC" is terrible at times, and the people taping it don't know how to get good class shots (why is it that they can get nine of them in one shot...but one is always cut out?) And the writing...I hate how it seems like they'll always have one of them talking about someone in the third person...when that person is right in the room and they could talk directly to them. I hate how it seems like the class is booksmart...but none of them have minds of their own in the real world, honestly.

Other than that, I love the show, because it reminds me of how I wish my HS experience were like...and it has Jory Husain. :)

Alan is in my opinion a rip-off of APK. It didn't surprise me though, because APK was a great character...That guy Alan never got noticed for anything else he did...Did he DO anything else even?