History Series / Room222

A {{Dramedy}} series created by Creator/JamesLBrooks and airing on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1969 to 1974, focusing on life at a typical American HighSchool in Los Angeles and in particular the American history class taught inside the eponymous Room 222 by idealistic African-American teacher Pete Dixon (Lloyd Haynes).

In addition to being the first major success for Brooks (who would go on to develop many popular TV shows and films), and one of the first successful series set at a high school to appeal directly to teenagers, ''Room 222'' is probably best remembered today for two things:

[[caption-width-right:350:The main faculty of Walt Whitman High School. Top row, left to right: Guidance counselor Liz [=McIntyre=] (Denise Nicholas), student teacher Alice Johnson (Karen Valentine). Bottom row, left to right: Principal Seymour Kaufman (Creator/MichaelConstantine), history teacher Pete Dixon (Lloyd Haynes).]]

In addition to being the first major success for Brooks (who would go on to develop many popular TV shows and films), and one of the first successful series set at a high school to appeal directly to teenagers, ''Room 222'' is best remembered today for two things:

* Karen Valentine, who starred as Dixon's student teacher (and later English teacher) Alice Johnson and became a major heartthrob of the era.
* Being part of [=ABC=]'s memorable Friday night lineup that also included ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', ''Series/ThePartridgeFamily'', ''Series/{{The Odd Couple|1970}}'' and ''Series/LoveAmericanStyle''.

[[caption-width-right:350:The main cast. Top row, left to right: Guidance counselor Liz [=McIntyre=] (Denise Nicholas), student teacher Alice Johnson (Karen Valentine). Bottom row, left to right: Principal Seymour Kaufman (Creator/MichaelConstantine), history teacher Pete Dixon (Lloyd Haynes).]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/room_222.jpeg]]

A comedy-drama series created by Creator/JamesLBrooks and airing on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1969 to 1974, focusing on life at a typical American HighSchool in Los Angeles and in particular the American history class taught inside the eponymous Room 222 by idealistic African-American teacher Pete Dixon (Lloyd Haynes).

* SadClown: The Season 1 episode "Funny Boy" introduces us to Harvey Butcher, an overweight kid who's always on – always cracking wise in and out of class. Eventually, it's revealed that he's not a very happy person inside – he uses his knack for humor to cover up his insecurities over his weight, and his unhappiness at not being too popular with the girls.

* AngryBlackMan: Jason Allen, the deep-voiced, scowling kid who sits in the back of Mr. Dixon's class.

* ConsummateLiar: In the Season 1 episode "The New Boy," a new student named Dennis Joplin transfers to Whitman High, upon which he establishes himself as a former star basketball player who acted out, got bad grades, and was expelled from his old school due to his unhappy family life. He also promises to buy tickets to the upcoming Music/TheRollingStones concert for anyone who wants them, as his dad and Music/MickJagger's dad had supposedly fought together in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Turns out he can't play a lick of basketball, has a happy family life, has no way of procuring the Stones tickets as they're all sold out, and his dad hasn't even heard of Mick Jagger. His name might not even be Dennis, as Principal Kaufman tells Mr. Dixon that he had used the name Fred while at his previous school. Needless to say, Richie and the gang are pretty upset when Dennis fesses up, after initially being called out on his lies by Mr. Dixon.

* Being part of [=ABC=]'s memorable Friday night lineup that also included ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', ''Series/ThePartridgeFamily'', ''Theatre/TheOddCouple'' and ''Series/LoveAmericanStyle''.

* VerySpecialEpisode: A possible UrExample of the trope; as mentioned above, the show dealt with a lot of hot-button issues at a time when most TV shows, especially sitcoms, avoided such topics.

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/room_222_openingtitle.jpg]]

''Room 222'' was a comedy-drama series created by Creator/JamesLBrooks and airing on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1969–74, focusing on life at a typical American HighSchool in Los Angeles and set primarily in the American history class taught in the eponymous Room 222 by African-American teacher Pete Dixon (Lloyd Haynes).

Many serious topics facing teen-agers were addressed, some relevant today: bullying, depression, suicide, teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, cheating, teacher-student relationships and so forth. Despite this, most episodes had at least one lighter-hearted subplot to provide balance.

* ConsummateLiar: In the Season 1 episode "The New Boy," a new student named Dennis Joplin transfers to Whitman High, upon which he establishes himself as a former star basketball player who acted out, got bad grades, and was expelled from his old school due to his unhappy family life. He also promises to buy tickets to the upcoming Music/TheRollingStones concert for anyone who wants them, as his dad and Creator/MickJagger's dad were supposedly fought together in the Second World War. Turns out he can't play a lick of basketball, has a happy family life, has no way of procuring the Stones tickets as they're all sold out, and his dad hasn't even heard of Mick Jagger. His name might not even be Dennis, as Principal Kaufman tells Mr. Dixon that he had used the name Fred while at his previous school. Needless to say, Richie and the gang are pretty upset when Dennis fesses up, after initially being called out on his lies by Mr. Dixon.
* SadClown: The episode "Funny Boy" introduces us to Harvey Butcher, an overweight kid who's always on – always cracking wise in and out of class. Eventually, it's revealed that he's not a very happy person inside – he uses his knack for humor to cover up his insecurities over his weight, and his unhappiness at not being too popular with the girls.

* ConsummateLiar: In the Season 1 episode "The New Boy," a new student named Dennis Joplin transfers to Whitman High, upon which he establishes himself as a former star basketball player who acted out, got bad grades, and was expelled from his old school due to his unhappy family life. He also promises to buy tickets to the upcoming Music/RollingStones concert for anyone who wants them, as his dad and Creator/MickJagger's dad were supposedly fought together in the Second World War. Turns out he can't play a lick of basketball, has a happy family life, has no way of procuring the Stones tickets as they're all sold out, and his dad hasn't even heard of Mick Jagger. His name might not even be Dennis, as Principal Kaufman tells Mr. Dixon that he had used the name Fred while at his previous school. Needless to say, Richie and the gang are pretty upset when Dennis fesses up, after initially being called out on his lies by Mr. Dixon.

''Room 222'' was a comedy-drama series created by Creator/JamesLBrooks and airing on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1969–74, focusing on life at a typical American HighSchool in Los Angeles and set primarily in the American history class taught in the titular Room 222 by African-American teacher Pete Dixon (Lloyd Haynes).

''Room 222'' was a comedy-drama series created by Creator/JamesLBrooks and airing on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1969–1974, focusing on life at a typical American HighSchool in Los Angeles and set primarily in the American history class taught in the titular Room 222 by African-American teacher Pete Dixon (Lloyd Haynes).