 Square Pegs
 1 9 8 2 - 1 9 8 3 (USA)
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 and Lauren, two
best friends struggling to make the difficult transition to high
school life as freshmen.
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, valley-girl Jennifer DiNuccio, big
man on campus Vinnie Pasetta, and the bigoted black best friend of
Jennifer, LaDonna Fredericks.
The School staff included Principal Dingleman, health teacher
Ms. Loomis, and former radical-turned-Political Science teacher
Rob Donovan.
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 and
aspiring comedian Marshall Blechtman.
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. 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.
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