Product Description

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!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10531 in DVD
• Brand: PARKER,SARAH JESSIC
• Released on: 2008-05-20
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: French
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 491 minutes

Amazon.com
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 Parker’s extreme makeover into Sex and the City’s 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 show’s 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 that’s worthy of us." Alas, it is not to be. The girls instantly run afoul of the school’s reigning Mean Girl, Jennifer (Tracy Nelson), her bad boy boyfriend, Vinnie (Jon Caliri), and her sassy best friend, LaDonna (Claudette Welles). "La Donna doesn’t like anything I do," Patty wails, "and I don’t 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), who’s 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, Jennifer’s 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 show’s 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 Muffy’s New Wave Bat Mitzvah. And that’s Wally Cleaver himself, Tony Dow, as Patty’s estranged divorced father 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 Novello’s Father Guido Sarducci), but the Waitress’s indelible theme song ("I’d like it if they like us/But I don’t 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

Customer Reviews

Girl, they stripped most of the original music. I hate that.
First off, the DVD's do not contain the shows as they originally aired. They may not be cut, but much of the original, recognizable New Wave music has been stripped and replaced with generic New Wave soundalike material. I can't say I'm too surprised, since this seems to be the trend. Though surprisingly, they did have to spring some licensing fees for the obvious use of music by The Waitresses (for the theme song) and Devo, both bands having appeared on the show. Another surprise was the inclusion of a song by Josie Cotton and four songs by Berlin, so they did at least make some effort regarding licensing. Other songs, by such artists as The B-52's, have all been stripped. Part of the show's original and lasting appeal was the now very familiar New Wave music spattered throughout the show, so the replacement of these songs somewhat minimizes the thrill.

I was also one of the many who remember this show crystal clear from its original, short lived run. Being a 12/13 year old at the time, the show remained with me for years until I saw it again on cable reruns some years back, and resorted to 'collectors' video tapes to get the rest of the shows. Square Pegs was the only New Wave show I ever recall seeing on television, and I think that reason alone is why so many people remember it. As the show itself goes, I give it 4 stars. It was not the best show, but it had some wonderfully amusing characters and some memorable dialog. Muffy Tepperman is by far the best thing going for the show. Jamie Gertz has the greatest expressions and delivery as that snooty leader of Pep. She's a total crack up. Jennifer and LD follow with their popular girl shallowness; Jennifer being the, like, typical valley girl, and LD being a bit of a stereotyped (yet hysterical) black girl with a 'tude. Johnny Slash is a charming dope, usually playing some cool New Wave tune in his headphones, and eating treats from Marshall's hand. That's an interesting little relationship there. While I find Patty a bit trying and irritating, I love Lauren's determination. The only character I really cannot stand is Marshall. He's got that annoyingly lame Bob Sagget (AFV) humor, and it's just grating. Interestingly enough, on the interview you see that the actor (John Femia) is pretty much the same as the character he played! I wonder if he got beat up much in school??

The interview footage with most of the original cast was very interesting. I found SJP's interview to be a bit stiff and careful, whereas Amy Linker came off as quite bitter and honest. You could see Amy's interview had been severely edited, indicated by the cut/fades between nearly every sentence. I would have loved to see the whole thing, because it's always interesting (to me anyway) to hear the good and the bad, and I completely respected her frankness and viewpoints. She seems like a very 'real' person. As much as I enjoyed hearing Anne Beats talk about Square Pegs, the main thing that rolled through my head was; Why didn't anyone tell her to wear a bra?? Those things are just hanging off to their respective side like some sort of obscene set of water balloons. Eek!

1982-1983 was the peak of New Wave, and as much as I would have liked to see the show stay on the air, I can only assume this first season probably would have remained my favorite, since it captured the era very well. I love looking at the posters and flats on the DJ room wall - Altered Images, Pete Shelley, Kim Wilde, The B-52's, Soft Cell, Missing Persons, etc, because I still own ALL of those albums, and listen to all of it on a very regular basis.

Even though this DVD set does omit much of the New Wave music, it's still highly recommended. It amazes me such a short lived, cult TV series actually made it to DVD. Buy it before it's gone!

Music GONE!
They took the cheap way out and didn't license most of the great 80s tunes as heard when the show originally aired. In some places it's obvious, like when Marshal introduces a Minor Threat song while DJing at the school radio station and they play some generic dreck. Other times, it's more subtle, like every scene in the diner originally had music playing in the background, and now there's just nothing.

groundbreaking tv show ,
on a much higher level than almost anything ever done about high school . its also funny as hell and done at at a time where most high shool characters were student body president or head cheerleader, now most teen characters are cooly reflective outsiders. This show is long over due but is arguably the best comedy about TEEN life ever