Product Description
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SQUARE PEGS follows the hilarious misadventures of Patty (Sarah
Jessica Parker, TV's "Sex and the City") and Lauren (Amy Linker),
two freshmen girls desperate to fit in at Weemawee High School.
Befriended by oddball characters Marshall (John Femia), a budding
comedian, and Johnny Slash (Merritt Butrick), a wacky new-waver,
Patty and Lauren still hope to impress the popular kids: valley
girl Jennifer (Tracy Nelson), her tough boyfriend Vinnie (Jon
Caliri), and their sassy friend LaDonna (Claudette Wells). And it
would "behoove us" to not forget Muffy (Jami Gertz), the
ever-peppy preppie! Accled by critics, SQUARE PEGS struck a
chord with viewers of all ages and developed a huge cult
following. Featuring guest stars Bill Murray, Martin Mull -- plus
New Wave acts Devo and The Waitresses (who perform the opening
theme) -- all 20 digitally remastered, rad episodes are now
available in this awesome 3-disc set, on DVD for, like totally,
the first time ever!
.com
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Square Pegs was in a class by itself, but much like brainy,
bespectacled Patty (Sarah Jessica Parker) and pushy, overweight
Lauren (Amy Linker), popularity eluded this late, lamented
series, which was expelled from prime time after one season.
Rarely seen in syndication, its cult cachet has only increased
with time (enhanced by Parkers extreme makeover into Sex and the
Citys trend-setting Carrie Bradshaw). In the words of peppy,
preppy Muffy Tepperman (a spirited Jami Gertz in her own
career-launching role), it behooves us to report that the series
lives up to its rep as a smart and hip alternative to what
creator Anne Beatts (in one of the newly filmed interviews with
the shows creators and cast included on each disc) calls
"processed cheese television" of the day. Square Pegs was a
totally different head; totally. Anticipating 16 Candles and
Freaks and Geeks, Square Pegs viewed high school from the
perspective of the bottom of the high-school social food chain.
Patty and Lauren are freshmen at Weemawee High School. Lauren has
it "all psyched out": If the girls can click with the right
clique, they will at last have "a social life thats worthy of
us." Alas, it is not to be. The girls instantly run afoul of the
schools reigning Mean Girl, Jennifer (Tracy Nelson), her bad boy
boyfriend, Vinnie (Jon Caliri), and her sassy best friend,
LaDonna (Claudette Welles). "La Donna doesnt like anything I
do," Patty wails, "and I dont do anything." They are also
treated with disdain by Muffy, who seems to have the run of the
school to rally students around sponsoring a "Guatemalan child"
(they need swimwear, too). Patty and Lauren reluctantly bond with
fellow square peggers Marshall Blechtman (John Fernia), an
aspiring comedian always ready with a <>Saturday Night Live or
Monty Python reference, and the "laid back and left back" Johnny
Slash (the late Merritt Butrick), whos New Wave, and not punk.
(New Wave, he explains, is "a totally different head; totally").
Each episode brings some new fresh hell for Patty and Lauren, but
also some hope that their fortunes will somehow change and their
stock will rise (in the pilot episode, Patty impresses a "stone
fox" upperclassman, and in another, she's Vinnie's leading lady
in the Chorus Line-inspired school musical, "A Cafeteria Line").
Until then, cup size may trump IQ, but friendship will trump
popularity. Weemawee High School appears to be based in New York,
but everything else about the show is totally Los Angeles, from,
like, Jennifers Valley Girl-speak to an appearance in one
episode by Steve Sax and the Dodgers. The laugh track is as lame
and half-hearted as the one employed by SCTV, but the shows left
of center spirit shines through. Two standout episodes feature,
respectively, Bill Murray (Beatts former National Lampoon and
<>SNL colleague) as an unorthodox substitute teacher, and Devo,
who performs at Muffys New Wave Bat Mitzvah. And thats Wally
Cleaver himself, Tony Dow, as Pattys estranged divorced her
in what passes as a Very Special two-part holiday episode. Square
Pegs is totally '80s (in one episode, Marshall's Pac-Man
addiction can only be cured by an intervention by Don Novellos
her Guido Sarducci), but the Waitresss indelible theme song
("Id like it if they like us/But I dont think they like us")
sets just the right pathetic/persevering tone that will resonate
for a new generation for whom "one size does not fit all."
--Donald Liebenson