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If anyone would have reason to be suspicious of Perry's gay-seeming flair, it would be his wife, uptight newscaster Holly Ellenbogen (Lucy Punch). But despite outward appearances, the two seem to enjoy a healthy marriage. In the pilot, they ask Kyle, a teacher, if he can help get their daughter, Oprah, enrolled in the exclusive school where he teaches. It's what any caring parents would do.

Harris thinks the relationship's quirks will make the pairing one that works well for the sitcom format. “[Lucy] is great,” he says. “I had seen her in Being Julia, in which she was hysterical. She's great fun, and when she plays Holly she does it with this great neurotic vulnerability. … And I'm so in charge, so on top of it, and Holly's just a mess.”

As a gay actor, however, Harris says he has given some consideration to how his community may react to Perry's mannerisms. “I love this guy,” he says of Perry. “He's honest, fun, creative. I have a lot in common with him. But maybe there's the twist that maybe he's not gay.”

Harris explains that because Maguire is playing such a grounded character, it allows the show to flirt with some more light-hearted representations of gay men. Furthermore, Harris notes that since TV viewers so readily accepted Jack McFarland in Will & Grace, he feels that Perry will not necessarily be an affront to gay sensibilities. After all, a certain degree of silliness is natural for sitcoms.

“Sean Hayes is brilliant, but with that character on TV people were asking, ‘Why are they portraying gay people as silly and unattached and without love?' Meanwhile, I laughed my ass off every week,” Harris says. “It's comedy. If everything was politically correct, nothing would be funny.”

Harris compares his character to that of The Class' Yonk Allen (David Keith), an aging football star who suffers from head injuries incurred during his athletic days. “In terms of stereotypes, he's the big dumb football jock, really,” he says. “Funny is funny.”

Still, Harris says that Perry's gradual development into a three-dimensional character should allay any fears that viewers might have about stereotypes. “I want Perry to have a full life. I don't want the whole thing to be ‘Is he or isn't he?' I'd like to see him be this complex, balanced character.”

The Class marks Harris' first foray into sitcom acting, but the Oklahoma native may be familiar to viewers as a performer from such Broadway productions as Grease, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Cabaret and The Jazz Singer. Harris got his start in musical theater by becoming the first-ever winner on Star Search, when he swept to victory with his rendition of “Over the Rainbow.” As he progressed as a performer, however, he began to incorporate more and more elements of comedy into his act.

“I'm a huge I Love Lucy freak,” he admits. “It's really dear to me, the whole style of it. I love writing it and performing it.” When he had the opportunity to be part of a sitcom with such high-profile names as Crane and Klarik attached to it, auditioning was a no-brainer. “I'm surrounded by the best of the best. It's exciting to be around all this experience. The whole crew, they're great. The PAs, even. They have done this kind of work more than I have.”

When Harris speaks of his work so far on The Class, he does so with the wide-eyed eagerness of someone just embarking on a new leg of his career. “I can say with great joy that they're writing great stuff for these characters,” he says. “I hope we get to do it for a hundred years. I am not unhappy with the potential for great amounts of money and fame, but I know I want to be in the room with these people for as long as I can.”

On that note, Maguire agrees. “We're all wondering when the hell [our characters] are going to get to be involved with one another,” he says, alluding to the fact that the various interactions may take more than one season to blossom into friendships. “It's all been very fun and exciting. Of course, I hope the show is a big massive hit, but I would settle for it being a good show that stays on the air. I hope the writers continue to write the way that they have.”

He then adds jokingly, “Please don't make me go back to England.”

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