Janice (Tannis Vallely), Jawaharlal (Joher Coleman) and Maria (Leslie Bega) were replaced by Alex (Michael DeLorenzo), Aristotle (De'voreaux White) and Viki (Lara Piper) with T.J. (Rain Pryor) becoming a full-time cast member but not yet a member of the IHP. Janice left to go to Harvard as a incoming sophomore. Jawaharlal had moved to California with his parents. Maria was accepted to the High School Of Performing Arts (NY). Ironically, Michael DeLorenzo who joined the cast as Alex Torres, was a regular cast member on the show Fame (1982) which is set at the High School Of Performing Arts.
The previous opening sequence which showed various landmarks from New York City while Mr. Moore Howard Hesseman embarked on a series of adventures just to show up for class on time was ended after the third season. The fourth season sequence changed to just a photo of the cast which quickly cut to the opening scene of the current episode.