Square Pegs: The Complete Series focuses on a couple of misfit freshmen, Patty Greene (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Lauren Hutchinson (Amy Linker), determined to fit in and find their way into the cliques with the popular kids. These are the smart kids and watching this as an adult, I want to throttle them and tell them that they are already way cooler than the "popular kids". But then, I think that was the whole point of the show from creator Anne Beatts (Saturday Night Live). This show made the "cool" kids seem like morons, which was totally awesome dude.
Of course, Patty and Lauren attract fellow misfits Marshall Blechtman (John Femia), class clown and comedian extraordinaire, and Johnny Slash (Merritt Butrick), new wave rocker living in his own world. Lauren seems forever entrenched in the goal of crashing the popular kids' parties and getting in good with them, while Patty doesn't really seem to care. What I think is the most astounding aspect of watching this show so many years later is the fact that Patty, the nerdy girl, became the fashion icon of the 90's, Carrie Bradshaw of Sex and the City.
Memorable characters include Muffy Tepperman (Jami Gertz, Twister), peppiest girl at Weemawee High, Jennifer DeNuccio (Tracy Nelson), who is, like, the coolest girl in, like, the whole school, ya know? Then there's the school stud, Vinnie Pasetta (Jon Caliri) and Jennifer's best friend, LaDonna Fredericks (Claudette Wells). Seeing these people as they are now and hearing about their experiences while filming Square Pegs was so interesting to me. Tracy Nelson and Claudette Wells became best friends while filming and are still best friends to this day. Jami Gertz auditioned and essentially got the role while her parents were out of town. There was also a tribute to Merritt Butrick, who succumbed to AIDS just a few years after the show ended. The show's creator, Anne Beatts, found out it was cancelled when she got the call from someone at a different network. Damn. Each retrospective is a nice length of like 10-15 minutes and really worth watching.
Notable guest stars include Devo (who play at Muffy's Bat Mitzvah), The Waitresses (who also sing the theme song), Bill Murray (as hysterical substitute teacher, Mr. McNulty), Tony Dow (as Patty's dad and formerly, Wally Cleaver, Leave it to Beaver) Richard Blade (L.A.'s K-Rock radio personality), Father Guido Sarducci (Saturday Night Live) and baseball player, Steve Sax. If you want a blast back to the totally rad 80's, Square Pegs: The Complete Series is the perfect way to do it. I loved revisiting 80's-tastic Weemawee High and you will too.
