Seasons 1 and 2
The earlier episodes of the series consisted of comedy sketches that loosely followed a theme. Some of the comedy routines involved a tortoise named Mortise teaching children about safety, a historian named Mr. History who talks about past generations of freshmen, the bumbling, freshman-hating, vice-principal Mr. Lippman imagining himself as a stand-up comedian telling really bad old jokes that insult freshmen, and a student named Billy Cushman who, though his appearance was occasional, provided not only a good example of how not to behave but also a good example ofRecurring skits
* Home-Room Announcements-Mr. Lippman, the vice-principal, doing the morning announcements (at the same time, imagining how he'd really like to say them as a stand-up format). * The Merv-U-Mentary-Merv's amateurish attempt at uncovering news and scandals at the high school. * Mr. History-featuring the gang as high school students of a past time period. * Mike Who-featuring close-ups of a sidelined high school basketball player driving the crowd wild with a single wave. Eventually cut after vice Principal Lippman said it was too distracting, resulting in a tense showdown between Lippman and Who. * Mortise the Safety TortoiseSeason 3
In the later episodes, the sketch comedy format was abandoned and ''Welcome Freshmen'' became a standard sitcom. In the third season, except Walter who flunked and was held behind. Merv and Tara left. Merv skipped the rest of high school, going straight to college. Tara and her family moved to a Biosphere. New characters came in: Manny, Erin and Grant, who was Erin's brother and soon became Alex's boyfriend. Eventually, Walter moves up as the teachers all threatened to quit if they had him another year.Production
The show's first television pilot was filmed in May 1990, featuring a group of local actors in the main roles, among them was futureCast
* Rick Galloway as Walter Patterson * Chris Lobban as Kevin St. James * David Rhoden as Merv (1991–1992) * Jill Setter as Tara (1991–1992) * Jocelyn Steiner as Alex Moore * Brock Bradley as Grant Kelly (1993–1994) * Arian Waring Ash as Erin Kelly (1993–1994) * Nicholas Caruso as Manny Barrington (1993–1994) * Mike Speller as Mr. Elliott Lippman * Veronica Alicino as Miss Topaz * Janis Benson as Miss Petruka * Nick Barnes as Billy Cushman * Phil Card as Mr. History * Tracy Frenkel as Coach Roach and Coach Rochelle * Jay Martel as Mr. Royd * Al Arasim as Al Patterson * John Parker Searles as Mr. Macbroom * Mark Sarto as Mortise, the Safety TortoiseCharacters
Main characters
*Walter Patterson: the dim-witted, good-natured, optimistic, and laid-back surfer of the group. His stupidity and clumsiness are often the butt of jokes. *Kevin St. James: the cynical, selfish, and egotistical one of the group. He is a smooth talker, a ladies' man, and often makes fun of his friends especially Merv, Manny, and Walter. *Merv: the confident, outgoing, and nerd of the group. Merv is a nerdy guy. *Tara: the eco-conscious feminist activist of the group. Besides Walter, she is among the nicest of the group though she joins in making fun of others at times. *Alex Moore: a beautiful, popular and fashion-obsessed girly girl. Often vain and materialistic, she is obsessed with her status and has no issues manipulating others for personal gain. *Mr. Elliott Lippman: the tyrannical and incompetent principal of Hawthorne High. He often serves as an antagonist to the main characters' schemes though they do not take him seriously.Additional characters
*Grant Kelly: Erin's brother, a junior who becomes Alex's boyfriend. Introduced in the final season. *Erin Kelly: a musically talented freshman who often dresses in aSeries overview
Episodes
Season 1 (1991)
Season 2 (1992)
Season 3 (1993–94)
References
External links
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