very passionate about getting A's (going as far as grounding herself in the pilot episode for getting a 'B'), and Jawaharlal Choudhury (Jory Husain aka Joher Coleman) was an exchange student from India whose expertise was natural science. Eleven-year-old Janice Lazarotto (Tannis Vallely), despite her young age, was in high school and the IHP class because of her advanced intellect. Arts student Simone Foster (Khrystyne Haje) was a quiet, sensitive redhead with a particular fondness for poetry. A notable development in the show was the relationship between Simone and Eric Mardian (Brian Robbins), an aspiring writer and, outwardly, the most unlikely member of the IHP - Eric wore black leather, drove a motorcycle, acted tough, and ostensibly disliked anything academic (to Dr. Samuels's delight, he was the only one in the class not on the academic team, although he would never leave the IHP). Eric constantly hit on Simone (on whom he had a crush) and the two eventually had an on-again-off-again romance. There was some turnover in the cast in seasons four and five. Janice left for Harvard, Maria went to Performing Arts High School, and Jawaharlal moved to California with his family. New students included Aristotle McKenzie (De'voreaux White), described by Dennis as "this reject from Do the Right Thing" for his dreadlocks, Viki Amory (Lara Piper), a new-ager interested in quantum physics and skin-revealing clothing, and Alex Torres (Michael DeLorenzo), who had transferred from parochial school. T.J. Jones (Rain Pryor), who had first appeared as a potential IHP member in season three, was eventually added to the program and the cast. Jasper Kwong (Ke Huy Quan) was introduced as a new transfer student late in season four. Appearing as regulars throughout all five seasons were school administrators Dr. Harold Samuels (William G. Schilling) the principal of Fillmore High and Bernadette Meara (Jeannetta Arnette). Dr. Samuels was portrayed as the blustery, overweight principal of the school. His attitude towards the IHP students was one of ambivalence: on the one hand, Dr. Samuels distrusted the kids (and had a particularly antagonistic relationship with Dennis, and tried to avoid Eric), but at the same time he was proud of their achievements and valued the prestige they brought to the school. He also distrusted the teaching methods of the class's teacher, Charlie Moore (Howard Hesseman), concerned that Charlie's methods – which often involved helping the IHP students branch out of their