Square Pegs

For those of us who remember the golden decade that was the 1980's,then you may remember the short-lived series from the early 1980's starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Jami Gertz. During its run,SQUARE PEGS,was the hippest teen show of its day. Created by former Saturday Night Live writer Anne Beatts(who based the show on her own experiences as a high school student)this show had some great writing,funny and outrageous characters,tubular new wave music and fashions that came out during the height of the MTV generation. So,what is there not to like? This was however an early vehicle for both Sarah Jessica Parker and Jami Gertz who would go on to bigger and better things in their careers,but since the show slipped into oblivion,was never to be heard from again....until 2004 when TV Land resurrected this show from the television graveyard of lost shows and aired it as a marathon. And it hasn't been seen since. Historically,and in perspective,TV shows about teen and high school life have short-life spans. For example shows like "James at 15","The White Shadow","Welcome Back,Kotter","Lucas Tanner", not to mention other great teen shows like "The Bronx Zoo","The Marshall Chronicles","Saved By The Bell","Freaks and Geeks","Boston Public",and "Beverly Hills,90210" were brilliant depictions along with classic shows like "Dobie Gillis","The Patty Duke Show","Room 222", "Mister Novak","The Headmaster","Karen",and "Gidget" along the lines of shows dealing with the subject matter involving teens.

"Square Pegs",premiered on CBS-TV on September 27,1982 and ended its run on March 7,1983 producing 20 episodes. The show during the start of the 1982-1983 season premiered on Monday nights on the network's powerhouse Monday night line-up which included "Newhart","M*A*S*H", "One Day At A Time",and the groundbreaking police drama "Cagney and Lacey"(which replaced "Lou Grant" after six seasons). When it premiered it went opposite the competition alongside the variety-reality series "That's Incredible!"(ABC),and the powerhouse drama "Little House On The Prairie"(NBC). When "Square Pegs" left in 1983,CBS replaced with the action-packed adventure series "Scarecrow and Mrs.King".

Getting back to SQUARE PEGS,the show not only introduced Sarah Jessica Parker and Jami Gertz,but also Tracie Nelson(the daughter of fame actor and rocker Rick Nelson)and Merritt Butrick. The show also broke ground as well that featured high school students playing themselves and also featured teenagers in the leads,and not some twenty or thirtysomething with a Shakespearan accent from the British theater playing a some kid. This was also a series that both some great musical guests like Devo and The Waitresses(who sang the show's theme song). And speaking of guest stars that appeared on this show which included the talent Bill Murray,and the not so talented Steve Sax,Father Guido Sarducci,and some TV legends like Tony Dow(aka Wally from Leave It To Beaver),and Don Grady(aka Robbie from My Three Sons). As you watch the series from the 1982-83 season,this was a show that came out in the midst of the MTV generation along with some of the music,clothing,catch phrases,video games and much more.

Patty Greene (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Lauren Hutchinson (Amy Linker) are high school freshmen best friends. They are desperate to be popular. Jennifer DiNuccio (Tracy Nelson) and Vinnie Pasetta (Jon Caliri) are the hot couple. With LaDonna Fredericks (Claudette Wells), they are the popular crowd. Muffy Tepperman (Jami Gertz) is the type A student leader. Instead of any of them, Patty and Lauren make friends with weird outsiders, Johnny Slash (Merritt Butrick) and Marshall Blechtman (John Femia).

The pilot suggests something closer to Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It turns more towards a broad 80's teen show with some big issues sprinkled in. The laugh track gets used more. The characters become more broad. I still really like this group. The best moment is the hot janitor not recognizing Lauren. That is a pure universal teenager moment. There is some great music starting with The Waitresses. Bill Murray tries to gin up one episode late in the season. He's probably a friend of creator Anne Beatts. The last minute effort didn't work and the show was canceled after one season.

This quirky high school comedy was very popular with the handful who saw it.

Oddly, I always found Jami Gertz to be strangely attractive here as Muffy Tepperman, the quintessential self-centred, bitchy, asinine, somewhat vacuous prima donna of a Jewish princess.

Merritt Butrick played Johnny Slash, the non-conformist anti-hero. We were all very much surprised to see him pop up as Captain Kirk's clean-cut son in "The Wrath of Khan". An incredible transformation that was.

This one always had a good ensemble feel. All of the characters had an appealing screwiness to them which, subjectively, made this show the most realistic high school programme of its day, in its own peculiar way.

Sort of a "Northern Exposure" for the misfit adolescent crowd.

One episode featured the drummer from The Doors. I've said it before and I'll say it again, there are never enough TV shows with drummers on them. Square Pegs also made a comical visual reference to Citizen Kane. No wonder it only lasted one season. The biggest weakness of the show was the premise. Every week Patty and Lauren aspired to join the popular crowd. It should have been apparent after their first attempt that a). The popular kids would never accept them, and that, b). Hanging out with Johnny Slash was way more cooler because he knew the drummer from The Doors. One final note: I thought SJP did well at finding her inner nerd.

I was an extra on this show...for one episode. The one with the quiz show. It was filmed at a closed high school in the LA area. You were supposed to be 18 to be an extra, but they didn't check...just asked "are you over 18?" Of course I said yes. We sat around on the set for hours, then were herded into the auditorium where we sat for hours. The cast finally came in and were seated in the front row. I just remember the one actress saying her line "It's OTIS" over and over again. We sat there for hours. It was extremely boring. But I was in love with the blond guy on the show, so it was all good.

So, this isn't a helpful post at all! But a fun memory of the 80s.