Square Pegs was created by Anne Beatts, one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live, who modelled the show on her own high school experiences.
The storylines focused on the lives of Patty (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Lauren (Amy Linker), two best friends struggling to make the difficult transition to high school life as freshmen at Weemawee High.
The two girls yearned to become members of the popular crowd but discovered how tricky this is when you’re not rich, never up on the latest fashion, and don’t look cool – Patty wore glasses and was skinny, Lauren had braces and was slightly overweight.
The coveted in-crowd included vicious preppie pep squad captain Muffy Tepperman (Jami Gertz), valley-girl Jennifer DiNuccio (Tracy Nelson), big man on campus Vinnie Pasetta (Jon Caliri), and the bigoted black best friend of Jennifer, LaDonna Fredericks (Claudette Wells).
The School staff included Principal Dingleman (Basil Hoffman), health teacher Ms. Loomis (Catlin Adams), and former radical-turned-Political Science teacher Rob Donovan (Steven Peterman).
Patty and Lauren schemed to become cool in the eyes of the popular crowd, often going through elaborate plans dreamt up by Lauren to achieve ‘cool’ status.
These plans usually backfired, and they ended up taking comfort in the company of their fellow outcasts, new wave enthusiast John ‘Johnny Slash’ Ulasewicz (Merritt Butrick) and aspiring comedian Marshall Blechtman (John Femia).
The show earned a devoted cult following, winning over viewers with its unfailing accuracy in detailing the behaviour and habits of high school students circa the early 80s.
Another plus for the show was the carefully-selected new wave music used on the soundtrack, which led to cameos on the show by The Waitresses (who also performed the show’s theme song) and Devo.
Sadly, the show did not perform to expectations for CBS and was cancelled after one season of 20 episodes. Despite its short run, Square Pegs left its mark on many a young viewer and paved the way for more realistic teen-oriented programming.
The show is also notable for giving a start to a lot of memorable talent: Sarah Jessica Parker, Jami Gertz and Tracy Nelson all went on to long-lived careers in film and television.
Patty Greene
Sarah Jessica Parker
Lauren Hutchison
Amy Linker
Muffy Tupperman
Jami Gertz
Jennifer DeNuccio
Tracy Nelson
Vinnie Pasetta
Jon Caliri
LaDonna Fredericks
Claudette Wells
John “Johnny Slash” Ulasewicz
Merritt Butrick
Marshall Blechtman
John Femia
Principal Dingleman
Basil Hoffman
Ms. Loomis
Catlin Adams
Mr. Rob Donovan
Steven Peterman
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The two girls yearned to become members of the popular crowd but discovered how tricky this is when you’re not rich, never up on the latest fashion, and don’t look cool – Patty wore glasses and was skinny, Lauren had braces and was slightly overweight.
