Square Pegs was one of my favorite TV shows, mostly because it was so off-beat. There were frequent references to the new style of music that was just about to break through to mainstream media at the time the show began. i.e. a bulletin board in one classroom had notices for the "Tom Tom Club" (a real band formed by two members of the Talking Heads) as if it was some organization for building school spirit. And the theme song was written specifically for the show by another unique and fantastic early 80s band, the Waitresses.
Quirky in delivery but right on in concept, the show was far and away ahead of its time. Perhaps the only recent program on TV it can be compared with would be "Malcolm in the Middle". Although not as sophisticated as MITM, and with many silly, sophomoric jokes, those of us who were aware of the changes bubbling below the crusty American cultural landscape of the time sensed that this was the first breaker of the "New Wave".
The characters on the show were about as broad-stroked as they could be, yet the characterizations were unlike anything I'd seen before. Patty and Lauren were two high school freshman desperate to be admitted to the "in" crowd, but were often spared of making fools of themselves like the kids who considered themselves too good for our heroines. It didn't hurt that "the skinny one" was played by a young actress that would go on to fame and fortune in one of the most popular TV series of the upcoming century. And to marry Matthew Broderick! SJP did bring much heart and honesty to this very small role, as did her co-star Amy Linker, and that was part of what endeared the Square Pegs to us.
The only friend the two could count on in the show was played with goofy panache by Merritt Butrick. The actor managed to stretch his career out through the end of the decade (and possibly longer; the last I remember seeing him was on Hollywood Squares, probably in the 90s), but his portrayal of the eccentric yet somehow cool Johnny Slash landed him the short-lived program's one catch phrase, "Totally."
More success would come to the actresses who played "the pretty one" (Tracy Nelson, who went on to star in "Father Dowling Mysteries", and is still acting today); and the incredibly uptight and driven one with the unforgettable name of Muffy Tepperman (Jami Gurtz, the lead actress in a number of movies over the ensuing years and star of the recent hit TV show "Still Standing".)
Rounding out the cast was the working class Italian hunk (Jon Caliri in an updated version of John Travolta's "Welcome Back, Kotter" character of the same name), the always angry black girl (Claudette Wells) and the nerdy schemer with another classic name, Marshall Blechtman (John Femia), who I swear I went to high school with.
In the end the show didn't catch on, but it will always remain a bellwether to the energetic shift in music, fashion and attitude that was the 1980s.
Quirky in delivery but right on in concept, the show was far and away ahead of its time. Perhaps the only recent program on TV it can be compared with would be "Malcolm in the Middle". Although not as sophisticated as MITM, and with many silly, sophomoric jokes, those of us who were aware of the changes bubbling below the crusty American cultural landscape of the time sensed that this was the first breaker of the "New Wave".
The characters on the show were about as broad-stroked as they could be, yet the characterizations were unlike anything I'd seen before. Patty and Lauren were two high school freshman desperate to be admitted to the "in" crowd, but were often spared of making fools of themselves like the kids who considered themselves too good for our heroines. It didn't hurt that "the skinny one" was played by a young actress that would go on to fame and fortune in one of the most popular TV series of the upcoming century. And to marry Matthew Broderick! SJP did bring much heart and honesty to this very small role, as did her co-star Amy Linker, and that was part of what endeared the Square Pegs to us.
The only friend the two could count on in the show was played with goofy panache by Merritt Butrick. The actor managed to stretch his career out through the end of the decade (and possibly longer; the last I remember seeing him was on Hollywood Squares, probably in the 90s), but his portrayal of the eccentric yet somehow cool Johnny Slash landed him the short-lived program's one catch phrase, "Totally."
More success would come to the actresses who played "the pretty one" (Tracy Nelson, who went on to star in "Father Dowling Mysteries", and is still acting today); and the incredibly uptight and driven one with the unforgettable name of Muffy Tepperman (Jami Gurtz, the lead actress in a number of movies over the ensuing years and star of the recent hit TV show "Still Standing".)
Rounding out the cast was the working class Italian hunk (Jon Caliri in an updated version of John Travolta's "Welcome Back, Kotter" character of the same name), the always angry black girl (Claudette Wells) and the nerdy schemer with another classic name, Marshall Blechtman (John Femia), who I swear I went to high school with.
In the end the show didn't catch on, but it will always remain a bellwether to the energetic shift in music, fashion and attitude that was the 1980s.