Was Room 222 a good Sitcom? It ran from 1969-74 and I'm - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TVFactFan · 06-02-2004, 12:59 AM

still trying to get episodes.

Mr. Television · 06-02-2004, 01:02 AM

I liked it but I always thought it was more of a drama then a sitcom. It probably isn't rerun much because its very dated.

vze3t9q9 · 06-10-2004, 06:20 PM

I saw it too. It was one of the first shows I remember seeing. It was a pretty good show.

jamesanthony · 06-10-2004, 11:15 PM

This show was well made, but if you're looking to laugh out loud this show doesn't have that kind of humor in it at all.

It was kind of groundbreaking because it dealt with all the social issues of the time (race, class, sex issues, religion etc) and as far as I am aware it was the first 1/2 hour humor show to do so.

Casting African Americans as the leads was rather progressive. Lloyd Haynes and Denise Nicholas were the serious ones. The principal was amusing in a dry wit sort of way and Karen Valentine was goofy/cute/clutsy. The acting and writing was good if you ask me, but again if you're looking for big laughs this show didn't have any per se. There was no canned laughter either. One drawback was that some of the actors who played students appeared in all 5 seasons.

I always wondered why this show didn't do well in reruns. I never saw it until I went out of the country in 1982 and it was syndicated overseas. To me it is no more dated than The Ghost and Mrs Muir, Courtship of Eddie's Father or Bill Cosby Show all of which aired at that same time and were syndicated in the 70s and early 80s.

Mr. Television · 06-11-2004, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jamesanthony
This show was well made, but if you're looking to laugh out loud this show doesn't have that kind of humor in it at all.

It was kind of groundbreaking because it dealt with all the social issues of the time (race, class, sex issues, religion etc) and as far as I am aware it was the first 1/2 hour humor show to do so.

Casting African Americans as the leads was rather progressive. Lloyd Haynes and Denise Nicholas were the serious ones. The principal was amusing in a dry wit sort of way and Karen Valentine was goofy/cute/clutsy. The acting and writing was good if you ask me, but again if you're looking for big laughs this show didn't have any per se. There was no canned laughter either. One drawback was that some of the actors who played students appeared in all 5 seasons.

I always wondered why this show didn't do well in reruns. I never saw it until I went out of the country in 1982 and it was syndicated overseas. To me it is no more dated than The Ghost and Mrs Muir, Courtship of Eddie's Father or Bill Cosby Show all of which aired at that same time and were syndicated in the 70s and early 80s.

The last time I saw it was in the early 80's. I believe USA Network reran it but not for long.

Oriole Adams · 06-21-2004, 12:43 AM

TVLand ran the show for a short time in the mid-1990s. I remember because at first our cable company didn't carry TVLand, and I'd see "Room 222" listed in the TV Guide and get frustrated. We finally did get the channel, and I was able to watch "Room 222" again for a while, but they dropped it from the schedule. It seemed, though, that they only showed episodes from the first season or two.

jamesanthony · 06-21-2004, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Oriole Adams
TVLand ran the show for a short time in the mid-1990s. I remember because at first our cable company didn't carry TVLand, and I'd see "Room 222" listed in the TV Guide and get frustrated. We finally did get the channel, and I was able to watch "Room 222" again for a while, but they dropped it from the schedule. It seemed, though, that they only showed episodes from the first season or two.

Aside from going to tvtome.com's episode guide a way to tell which season it is :

Year 1- Karen Valentine is still a student teacher

Year 2-3 Karen Valentine has red hair the episodes in which she and Denise wear extremely short skirts is probably year 2

Year 4- the main title visuals change (in years 1-3 the 4 regulars are shown arriving at school in the morning but in years 4-5 they are already inside- Denise Nicholas wears a wig and Karen Valentine now has a shag hairdo and she drops her books in the hallway)

Year 5- Karen Valentine has a slightly different hairdo

I believe the picture above is from year 1

marvin g · 06-21-2004, 09:21 PM

Room 222 wasn't a sitcom, it was a drama with some light hearted touches too it. as far as it being dated, yes but any old show would be. Check out Laugh In!! I thought that show was so enterating when I was a child! I even had a Laugh In lunch box. When I see it now it is so dated!! You would have to be a history major or around when the show was popular too know who they were talking about!

jamesanthony · 06-22-2004, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by marvin g
Room 222 wasn't a sitcom, it was a drama with some light hearted touches too it. as far as it being dated, yes but any old show would be. Check out Laugh In!! I thought that show was so enterating when I was a child! I even had a Laugh In lunch box. When I see it now it is so dated!! You would have to be a history major or around when the show was popular too know who they were talking about!

Room 222 had a few episodes with a laugh track in its first season and again in its last year. I saw one from year 1 where there was a flu epidemic and the canned laughter was very distracting.

jamesanthony · 06-22-2004, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by marvin g
Room 222 wasn't a sitcom, it was a drama with some light hearted touches too it. as far as it being dated, yes but any old show would be. Check out Laugh In!! I thought that show was so enterating when I was a child! I even had a Laugh In lunch box. When I see it now it is so dated!! You would have to be a history major or around when the show was popular too know who they were talking about!

I remember Flip Wilson from its primetime run, but I had never seen Laugh-In until it was syndicated in the early 80s (i think 1983). When I watched it then I thought: How could people have sat down and watch a whole hour of something like this? Many of the references are very dated and it was too fast paced. In the clsoing credits they still kept cracking jokes and the ending went on for like 5 minutes. Actually watching it I was kind of shocked at some of the things they were getting away with in the jokes: gay references etc. Laugh-In's style inspired shows like Sesame Street and Electric Company which I guess are dated too but I'd much rather watch those.

hch · 01-10-2005, 04:02 PM

I do remember seeing an episode that featured the Queen of Soul herself. I have only seen bits and pieces of it. What was that episode about?

jamesanthony · 01-11-2005, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hch

I do remember seeing an episode that featured the Queen of Soul herself. I have only seen bits and pieces of it. What was that episode about?

That episode is archived at the Museum of TV and Radio (I guess because Aretha is in it). She has a small part as a singer at a Christian coffee house. The main plot is about a student who wants to be a preacher and go to a prestigious university to get his training, but his grades aren't good enough to get in. The subplot is about Lloyd Haynes and Denise Nicholas' characters having a little disagreement. Where is it Written is the name of the episode and its from the third season, 1972 when Aretha had a gospel album on the charts.

tv star collector · 10-23-2005, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetroTVCollector

still trying to get episodes.

Technically, this series was a comedy-drama, not a situation comedy. It had a half-hour format, so that might have led some people to believe it was a sit-com (most dramas are an hour in length). Similarly, in the 1990s ALLY McBEAL further blurred the line between comedy and drama. It WAS an hour but it (and the title character) were both so quirky that it was often played for laughs. So were these shows comedies or dramas? I guess the correct answer is both.

Ireneparalegal · 10-23-2005, 04:33 PM

I remember watching it and as young as I was, I liked it. It made me want to go to college and have fun. I really liked the red-head guy Bernie. Many famous actors made appearances on that show. Bernie, I ended up finding out back in 1987 that he was working as a production assistant on The Arsenio Hall Show. When my first husband and I went to a taping of the show, an hour before it started Arsenio came out and introduced each person that worked on the show. He then brought out this red-headed guy and asked if anyone recognized him. No one did. Then Arsenio told us to look at the monitors and watch. They started playing the opening sequence of Room 222. When they got to Bernie, they stopped it right there and everyone laughed and applauded. I couldn't believe it. He no longer had that afro, but he was still really red-headed and he was talking to us and making us laugh. He really is a funny guy. I guess his character and him are one in the same person.

TVFactFan · 10-28-2005, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

I remember watching it and as young as I was, I liked it. It made me want to go to college and have fun. I really liked the red-head guy Bernie. Many famous actors made appearances on that show. Bernie, I ended up finding out back in 1987 that he was working as a production assistant on The Arsenio Hall Show. When my first husband and I went to a taping of the show, an hour before it started Arsenio came out and introduced each person that worked on the show. He then brought out this red-headed guy and asked if anyone recognized him. No one did. Then Arsenio told us to look at the monitors and watch. They started playing the opening sequence of Room 222. When they got to Bernie, they stopped it right there and everyone laughed and applauded. I couldn't believe it. He no longer had that afro, but he was still really red-headed and he was talking to us and making us laugh. He really is a funny guy. I guess his character and him are one in the same person.

Well I finally saw this show and when I discovered it was a DRAMA, I hit the stop button on the VCR-lol Just something for me to keep in my collection since I trade TV Shows

06-02-2004, 12:59 AM	#1
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 98,949	Was Room 222 a good Sitcom? It ran from 1969-74 and I'm still trying to get episodes.

06-02-2004, 01:02 AM	#2
Mr. Television 22 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,125	I liked it but I always thought it was more of a drama then a sitcom. It probably isn't rerun much because its very dated.
	__________________ Sonny

01-10-2005, 04:02 PM	#11
hch Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jun 07, 2001 Location: Montross, VA 22520 Posts: 983	I never seen this show, but... I do remember seeing an episode that featured the Queen of Soul herself. I have only seen bits and pieces of it. What was that episode about?
	__________________ "You don't own the rights or the patent on scuffling!" Willona from "Good Times"

10-23-2005, 04:33 PM	#14
Ireneparalegal LEGAL SPICE ;) Forum Legend Join Date: Jul 25, 2005 Location: OXNARD, CA - WHERE THE DALLAS COWBOYS TRAIN & PRACTICE Posts: 38,689	I remember watching it and as young as I was, I liked it. It made me want to go to college and have fun. I really liked the red-head guy Bernie. Many famous actors made appearances on that show. Bernie, I ended up finding out back in 1987 that he was working as a production assistant on The Arsenio Hall Show. When my first husband and I went to a taping of the show, an hour before it started Arsenio came out and introduced each person that worked on the show. He then brought out this red-headed guy and asked if anyone recognized him. No one did. Then Arsenio told us to look at the monitors and watch. They started playing the opening sequence of Room 222. When they got to Bernie, they stopped it right there and everyone laughed and applauded. I couldn't believe it. He no longer had that afro, but he was still really red-headed and he was talking to us and making us laugh. He really is a funny guy. I guess his character and him are one in the same person.
	__________________ DALLAS COWBOYS ARE HERE AT TRAINING CAMP!!!

06-10-2004, 06:20 PM	#3
vze3t9q9 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 31, 2003 Location: ROCKCOVE Posts: 548	I saw it too. It was one of the first shows I remember seeing. It was a pretty good show.

06-10-2004, 11:15 PM	#4
jamesanthony Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 30, 2004 Posts: 2,180	This show was well made, but if you're looking to laugh out loud this show doesn't have that kind of humor in it at all. It was kind of groundbreaking because it dealt with all the social issues of the time (race, class, sex issues, religion etc) and as far as I am aware it was the first 1/2 hour humor show to do so. Casting African Americans as the leads was rather progressive. Lloyd Haynes and Denise Nicholas were the serious ones. The principal was amusing in a dry wit sort of way and Karen Valentine was goofy/cute/clutsy. The acting and writing was good if you ask me, but again if you're looking for big laughs this show didn't have any per se. There was no canned laughter either. One drawback was that some of the actors who played students appeared in all 5 seasons. I always wondered why this show didn't do well in reruns. I never saw it until I went out of the country in 1982 and it was syndicated overseas. To me it is no more dated than The Ghost and Mrs Muir, Courtship of Eddie's Father or Bill Cosby Show all of which aired at that same time and were syndicated in the 70s and early 80s.

06-21-2004, 12:43 AM	#6
Oriole Adams Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jun 21, 2004 Posts: 75	TVLand ran the show for a short time in the mid-1990s. I remember because at first our cable company didn't carry TVLand, and I'd see "Room 222" listed in the TV Guide and get frustrated. We finally did get the channel, and I was able to watch "Room 222" again for a while, but they dropped it from the schedule. It seemed, though, that they only showed episodes from the first season or two.

06-21-2004, 09:21 PM	#8
marvin g Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 30, 2003 Location: Chicago,IL Posts: 1,217	Room 222 wasn't a sitcom, it was a drama with some light hearted touches too it. as far as it being dated, yes but any old show would be. Check out Laugh In!! I thought that show was so enterating when I was a child! I even had a Laugh In lunch box. When I see it now it is so dated!! You would have to be a history major or around when the show was popular too know who they were talking about!