 In the first season, there were seven students in the main cast.  After the first season, the producers decided to drop four  characters from the main cast: Molly Parker (Molly Ringwald (qv)),  Cindy Webster (Julie Anne Haddock (qv)), Sue Ann Weaver  (Julie Piekarski (qv)) and Nancy Olson (Felice Schachter (qv)).  But Haddock, Piekarski, and Schacter continued to appear  occasionally until the third season.