The comic misadventures of a group of high-school students and a bumbling school vice principal at the fictional Hawthorne High School. The first two seasons had a sketch comedy format with every episode focusing on a specific 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 of flatulence. By the latter two seasons, the show changed format to a standard sitcom. In the third season, Kevin and Alex become sophomores except for 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. The show also had a few new characters introduced. Like any journey through high school, the series lasted for four years.