A Look back at 'THE CLASS' - 2006-07

I was looking at some of the upcoming new network series and noticed that the British actress, Lucy Punch, is now in the cast of BEN & KATE, on FOX. I only noticed her because she was written out of the CBS comedy THE CLASS because she couldn't handle the demands of an American sitcom. So, I thought I would look back at that short lived comedy THE CLASS.

THE CLASS revolves around a core group of eight people who were all in the same third-grade class 20 years ago. A former classmate brings them all together for a party to celebrate his engagement to a girl he met in the class. However, she ends up dumping him at the party as the reunited classmates get to know each other.

THE CLASS had a slightly different format than most sitcoms. Even though it was a traditional three camera set up, it was a continuing story, not to unlike a soap opera or the classic comedy SOAP. The episodes were not tightly wrapped up and could be seen at anytime, in or out of order. This could have been one of the issues that lead to the demise of the series.

For a short lived sitcome, it had a few familiar, yet unknown, at the time, faces in the cast.

Jason Ritter, son of John Ritter, was the lead actor. He organized the party that got everyone together. Ritter has gone onto star in another short lived series THE EVENT and currently has a role on PARENTHOOD. Jason seems to be growing more as a dramatic actor than a comedic actor.

As mentioned above, Lucy Punch played TV Reporter Holly Ellenbogen, who was oblivious that her husband may in fact be gay. But, he was just a clueless, or in denile, as she was. I have not seen Lucy in much lately, but she was in the hilarious spoof movie HOT FUZZ. She was the first of the class member to be written off. She couldn't handle the schedule and a lot of here scenes were disconnected from the rest of the cast.

Hitting big a few years later is Jesse Tyler Ferguson, MODERN FAMILY's Mitchell. in THE CLASS he was married to a controlling wife, played by ROSEANNE's Sarah Gilbert. I also noticed than in between the two gigs, Ferguson was also in the FOX comedy DO NOT DISTURB, starring Jerry O'Connell and Niecy Nash.

Another actor who found fame later was THE WALKING DEAD actor Jon Bernthal. In THE CLASS he played the slightly dim witted ex-jock, turned handy man who's high school girlfriend is now married to an ex-pro football legend.

THE CLASS was a fun concept that just took a little too long to find itself. It never generated any great ratings. It ranked 65th for the season with an average of about 8.4 million viewers and a 3.0 demo rating. For 2006-07, those where not good enough numbers to be renewed.

One very good thing came from the cancellation of THE CLASS. The fall of 2007, the show that replaced THE CLASS in its time slot was the mega-hit THE BIG BANG THEORY. So who knows, if THE CLASS had gotten better grades, we may not have ever gotten Sheldon, Leonard and the gang....  BAZINGA!