''Room 222'' is an American comedy-drama television series produced by

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Com ...

that aired on ABC for 112 episodes, from September 17, 1969 until January 11, 1974. The show was broadcast on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 ( EST) for its first two seasons, before settling into Friday evenings at 9:00, following ''

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family with six children. The show aired for five seasons and, af ...

'' and ''

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from ...

'', and preceding '' The Odd Couple'' and '' Love, American Style''. In 1970, ''Room 222'' earned the

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for Outstanding New Series, while Michael Constantine and Karen Valentine won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, respectively.

Overview

Michael Constantine Lloyd Haynes Room 222 1969

While the series primarily focuses on an

American history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...

class in Room 222 at the fictional

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

High School, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, it also depicts other events in and outside the school, such as the home lives of the racially diverse student body and faculty. The history class is taught by Pete Dixon ( Lloyd Haynes), an idealistic

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

teacher. Other characters featured in the show include:the school's compassionate guidance counselor, Liz McIntyre (

Denise Nicholas Denise Donna Nicholas (born July 12, 1944) is an American actress, author, and social activist. Nicholas is known primarily for her roles as high-school guidance counselor Liz McIntyre on the ABC comedy-drama series ''Room 222'' and Councilwoman ...

), who is also Pete's girlfriend; the dryly humorous school principal, Seymour Kaufman ( Michael Constantine); the petite and enthusiastic Alice Johnson ( Karen Valentine), who is initially a student teacher, later full-time teacher whom Pete mentors; and Principal Kaufman's secretary Miss Hogarth, played by Patsy Garrett. Additionally, many recurring students are featured from episode to episode. Pete Dixon delivers gentle lessons in tolerance and understanding to his students.and they admire his wisdom, insight, and easygoing manner. The themes of the episodes are sometimes topical, reflecting the contemporary political climate of the late 1960s and early-to-mid1970s, such as the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countr ...

race relations Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in t ...

, and

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...

. However, most plots are timeless and feature themes still common to modern-day teenagers. For example, the 1969 episode "Funny Boy" deals with a class clown who is self-conscious about being

overweight Being overweight or fat is having more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being overweight is especially common where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary. , excess weight reached epidemic proportions globally, with m ...

. In the 1971 episode "What Is a Man?," a student is a mistaken victim of

anti-gay harassment Gay bashing is an attack, abuse, or assault committed against a person who is perceived by the aggressor to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). It includes both violence against LGBT people and LGBT bullying. The term covers vi ...

, while the 1974 episode "I Didn't Raise My Girl to Be a Soldier" delves into parent–teenage child issues.

Cast

Main cast

* Lloyd Haynes as Mr. Pete Dixon, the protagonist, teaches 11th grade

American History The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...

in room 222 of Walt Whitman High School *

as Miss Liz McIntyre, guidance counselor at Whitman, dating Pete * Michael Constantine as Mr. Seymour Kaufman, the principal of Whitman, preoccupied with his duties but dryly humorous * Karen Valentine as Miss Alice Johnson, a student teacher learning from Pete

Recurring cast

* Ramon Bieri as Mr. Gil Casey, vice principal * Howard Rice as Richie Lane, the "brainy" kid in the class * Heshimu Cumbuka as Jason Allen, the "tough guy" of the class * Eve McVeagh as Madge Morano, Mrs Cates, PTA Member * Eric Laneuville as Larry * Ta-Tanisha as Pamela, the "popular girl" of the class * Judy Strangis as Helen Loomis, the "quiet kid" of the class * David Jolliffe as Bernie, the school's sports star * Bruno Kirby as Herbie Constadine * Patsy Garrett as Miss Hogarth * Ivor Francis as Mr. Kenneth Dragen * Helen Kleeb as Miss Tandy

Episodes

Background

Karen Valentine Lloyd Haynes Room 222 1970

The program was filmed at

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

studios. Exterior shots of

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are called the Romans. Los Angeles High School is a pub ...

were shown behind the opening credits and for some outdoor scenes in the early seasons.Closing credits of ''Room 222'' (DVD) ''Room 222s initial episodes garnered weak ratings, and ABC was poised to cancel the program after one season. However, the show earned several nominations at the 1970

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s, and ABC relented. In the spring of 1970, ''Room 222'' won Emmy Awards for Best New Series; Best Supporting Actor (Michael Constantine); and Best Supporting Actress (Karen Valentine). The following year, Constantine and Valentine were again nominated in the supporting acting awards category. After the shaky first season, ''Room 222'' nevertheless managed to receive respectable ratings during its next three years. Ratings peaked during the 1971–72 season, during which it held a #28 viewership ranking. By the start of the 1973–74 season, ratings had fallen drastically, and ABC canceled the show at mid-season. After the series ended, the program entered syndication and was rerun on several television stations throughout the United States. The theme song was written by composer

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the ''Rambo'' franch ...

, written in a 7/4 time signature. 7/4 is, itself, uncommon, but Goldsmith's theme subdivides the meter as 4+3/3+4, 3+4/4+3. His theme and two episode scores for the series ("Richie's Story" (the pilot) and "The Flu") were later issued by Film Score Monthly on an album with his score for the film '' Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies''. The show draws some comparisons to a theatrical movie which premiered during the show's first season, '' Halls of Anger''. In that movie, a new, black teacher joins a southern California high school; an attractive, sympathetic black female member of staff shows romantic interest; a militant black student is frequently involved in situations; issues of racism and integration are featured. The film and television show also share actors (Ta-Tanisha, Helen Kleeb, Rob Reiner). However, while ''Room 222'' is a comedy drama, milder in tone, ''Halls of Anger'' is purposefully aggressive, using deliberately controversial language and some forceful violence to highlight the real and dangerous potential of unresolved racial conflict.

Books and comics

A series of novels based on characters and dialog of the series was written by William Johnston and published by Tempo Books in the early 1970s.

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...

published a comic book for four issues during 1970 and 1971.

Home media

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

has released the first two seasons of ''Room 222'' on DVD in Region 1. As of 2022, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print. It is unknown if the remaining three seasons will be released.

References

External links

*
''Room 222''
overview from KFCPlainfield

at The Museum of Broadcast Communications
''Room 222''
opening credits and theme song on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

{{EmmyAward NewSeries 1969 American television series debuts 1974 American television series endings 1960s American comedy-drama television series 1970s American comedy-drama television series 1960s American high school television series 1970s American high school television series 1960s American workplace comedy television series 1970s American workplace comedy television series American Broadcasting Company original programming

222 __NOTOC__ Year 222 (Roman numerals, CCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antoninus and Severus (or, less ...

American high school films Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows set in Los Angeles English-language television shows Television series about educators Television series created by James L. Brooks