Los primeros de la clase

This is possibly the wokest show ever made. It also bears no relationship whatsoever to the original. It's not even set in the same location.

Some examples of the wokeness:

-Within the first couple minutes of the first episode, a girl mentions that guys make 17% more than women for the same job.

-There is one of the main schoolkid characters, who is G. He wants a gender neutral bathroom. Many episodes feature him looking for G love.

-There are every race of character in the school, so much so that white is not predominant at all. It is very noticeable and unnatural seeming.

-There is a running debate over whether cancel culture is good or bad. Much more screen time is devoted to why it is good. In fact, I only recall hearing arguments for why it is good (There are consequences for one's actions).

-The main teacher character is a Hispanic woman, rather than a white male, such as was in the original.

So anyways, the show is not funny at all. It feels fairly typical for a Disney Channel show. However, the woke thing stands out strongly, differentiating it somewhat. It doesn't even feel like an actual show so much, as an indoctrination tool. It is guaranteed to be a failure.

If you're expecting a show that looks or feels like the original 80s-90s sitcom, which is pretty good btw (classic 80s sitcom theme song too) and you should try to watch at least some of if you can, this isn't it. The only common factor between both is that they're a class of intellectually gifted high school students. Also, both have diverse casts but the original has a wider range of characters who also seem more distinctive.

The style of the original is more like a real classroom and school, though not 100% realistic, and it is repeatedly made clear the students are above average in various ways academically. The teacher is a role model character and helping these students through their own personal issues as well, sometimes fairly serious. The style of this Head of the Class is more like Saved By the Bell (after the early years) where they hang out and chat in random scenes, rarely seen in a normal class setting, and some little story or two is playing out throughout the episode. The teacher character seems more like an older student buddy who is almost equal level as them but sometimes gives them helpful tips and encouragement.

As for the rating, add maybe 2-3 points for people under 18 as it's fairly in line with the style of comedy found on the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, it's just those shows are hard to watch as an adult beyond nostalgia. The original aired during prime time hours on a major network and before cable was widespread so it's not quite as narrowly fine tuned to younger people and is still enjoyable as an adult I think.

Alicia Gomez is the new young teacher of a honors class at Meadows Creek High School. It's a group of young smart students struggling to find their place in the world.

The original 80's show was one of my favorites for a short time. I love Simone and just about everyone in the class. I love Howard Hesseman from WKRP and his teacher-knows-best character. I love them so much that the show started losing me when they slowly lost some of the kids. Quite frankly, these new kids are all various shades of annoying. They are all cut from the same Disney-Nickelodeon teen character mold. It takes a few episodes to get used to their friendships. Robin Givens has a cameo in this one as a mom. At the end of the day, these are not appealing characters and therefore non of this is compelling. Even the teacher is almost as childish as the kids. Then there is the pilot trying to tackle cancel culture. I don't think anybody wants that... on both sides. The show keeps trying to annoy me more than entertain me. Its only hope is the tween audience of its target. I don't think that they would like this either and I don't think HBO is the place for them. Some exec must have the idea of scattershot programming.

Cute Show, very family orientated but nothing like the original and a very Disney Channel like show. Thought it would be different and more adult being an HBO Max original. Wish they tied in the character of Darlene (Robin Givens) in more showing she's from the original.

The biggest loss of this show, it's presentation is that it isn't set in NYC any longer. It's moved to the Bay Area, so it might as well be Saved by the Bell: The HBO Years. Actually, I'll take it back, Saved by the Bell reboot is lightyears ahead of this.

The kid characters are just bland, they are all interchangeable with one another.

As for Isabella Gomez, as great as she was on the reboot of One Day At A Time, she is so much bleh here. And the go to woman when you need mean on a sitcom Christa Miller, she just falls flat. And bringing in Robin Givens for a single episode and her character is sooooooo far away from Darlene in the original series, it just hurts, yes, people change over the years, but not to the point they would be totally unrecognizable as the same character 30 years later.

At the end of the day, whoever at Warner approved this, needs to be taken out back and shot. Either that, or you pull the series for a year, rework it. Put it back in NYC, besides the fact the city lends itself more to diversity than the Bay Area, used correctly, NYC in and of itself is a character. Plus it makes it easier to have various character call backs even if they don't appear on the show.

Seth Cohen, Michael Elias. And Rich Eustis dropped the ball on this reboot. They don't get the good of the series, and have written episodes that aren't even memorable in any way, shape or form.