Square Pegs: An awesome reminder of a more tubular time

SJP and co-star Amy Linker

Yesterday, I wrote about the virtues and shortcomings of "complete series DVDs." This reminded me of "Square Pegs," which was part of what I now consider CBS' "Must See" Monday night lineup during the 1982-1983 season. This set includes 19 episodes, which is high number for a show that did not make it to a second season.

The dated look of this show and the fact that that many cast members look more like college freshmen then ninth graders add to the fun. Ala "The Breakfast Club" from the same era, "Square Pegs" also does a great job portraying each of the high school stereotypes and the pressure that the cool kids feel to maintain their image. The "Muffy" from my high school class married an attorney and named her kids Austin and Emma. I do not believe that she sponsors a Guatemalan child.

The show also reminds me of the sentiment that one of the creators of "South Park" expressed in an interview that I read somewhere. He said that there have been various times that he was the fat kid, the Jewish kid, or the new kid in school. Many of us can relate to that feeling of isolation.

I also enjoyed the features that consisted primarily of present-day cast interviews and was surprised that Sarah Jessica Parker participated. Far less surprisingly, Johnny Depp did not grant an interview for the "21 Jump Street" DVDs and I doubt that Leonardo DiCaprio will ever do an interview for a "Growing Pains" DVD set.

The cast interviews did include sad information that is worth mentioning. I learned that Merritt Butrick, who paid new wave affecinedo Johnny Slash died of AIDS in the mid-1980s. I enjoyed his great silliness 26 years ago and was not surprised to hear during the interviews that he was a very kind and bizarre man who had a habit of finishing his morning hygenie routine while riding in a carpool to the set each day. I truly would have enjoyed seeing more from this teenage version of Kramer from "Seinfeld.".

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