Isabella Gomez is moving up to the head of the class…
The 22-year-old Colombian-American actress and One Day at a Time has been cast as the lead of HBO Max’s multi-camera comedy pilot Head of the Class, a reboot of the popular 1980s ABC sitcom.
Gomez’s casting reveals a gender swap in the follow-up as the lead in the original series was played by Howard Hesseman.
HBO Max in May ordered a pilot and five additional scripts for Head of the Class, which hails from American Vandal writers Amy Pocha and Seth Cohen, Bill Lawrence and his Doozer Productions; and Warner Bros. Television, which produced the original series.
Written by Pocha and Cohen, based on the original series created by Rich Eustis and Michael Elias, the reimagined Head of the Class revolves around a group of overachieving high school students who meet their greatest challenge — a first-time teacher, Alicia Adams (Gomez), who wants them to focus less on grades and more on experiencing life.
Gomez’s Alicia Adams is a whip-smart, funny, blunt high school teacher we all wish we had. A former GPA junkie, Alicia thought she had the world all figured out when she was in school. Teaching for the first time, Alicia’s is figuring out what she really wants in life.
Created by Eustis and Elias, Head of the Class ran on ABC from 1986-91. It followed a group of gifted students at the fictional Millard Fillmore High School in Manhattan and their history teacher Charlie Moore (Hesseman).
Gomez most recently played Elena Alvarez on the acclaimed multi-camera comedy One Day at a Time. The series was on Netflix for three seasons before it was canceled and moved to PopTV for Season 4. The ViacomCBS cable network on Tuesday revealed that it has canceled the comedy. One Day at a Time studio Sony Pictures Television is currently trying to find a new home for the show. It’s considered a long shot, but if it happens and if Head of the Class is picked up to series, Gomez can do both shows.
Gomez’s previous credits also include Shatterproof Films’ Dembanger, Disney Channel’s Big Hero 6: The Series, Netflix’s A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish and ABC’s Modern Family.
