Long before she was the fabulous Carrie Bradshaw paling around New York City with her three very different girlfriends and exploring life and love in her popular weekly column, Sarah Jessica Parker made her start on a quirky little show called Square Pegs. Perhaps you remember it? Or perhaps you might not. After all, it was only on CBS for one television season from 1982-83.
As the show’s lead character Patty Greene, SJP was a nerd with glasses who couldn’t seem to quite fit in with any of the popular kids at her high school, Weemawee High School (which is probably the least catchy name for a school I’ve ever heard!). The show’s title Square Pegs refers to SJP and her best friend Lauren Hutchison (played by Amy Linker) feeling like “square pegs” — or teenage misfits — in their new high school. As geeky freshmen, they long to be in the popular clique. They want to be just like Jennifer DiNuccio (played by Tracy Nelson, who if I’m not mistaken, clearly has a Princess Diana haircut) or LaDonna Fredericks (Claudette Wells) and have a hunky boyfriend like Vinnie Pasetta (played by Jon Caliri) or even Larry Simpson, the big man on campus that all the freshmen girls drool over in the pilot episode. At times, I think the two would even be happier being Muffy Tepperman (played by Jami Gertz) even though she’s the annoying Jessie Spano-like character who has to be in charge of all the school committees.
But instead, the only male friends the two make right off the bat are Marshall Blechtman (played by John Fernia), who is a nerdy wanna-be stand-up comedian (who resembles a young Jim Carrey in my opinion) and Johnny Slash (played by Merritt Butrick), a new wave rocker (not a punker, “like, that’s a totally different head”) with tight pants, a Walkman and a perpetually confused look on his face because he isn’t the brightest crayon in the box. And yet, the two of these unlikely Romeos are probably what I would’ve been attracted to in their high school. Vinnie is too stereotypical to be cute. They made him a greasy jock, probably trying to capitalize on the popularity of Fonzie on Happy Days and John Travolta in Welcome Back, Kotter. He was like a bland hybrid of the two.
I enjoy the fact that Marshall is a huge Saturday Night Live fan, as he does impersonations of Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner and even has a guest visit from Father Guido Sarducci (SNL alum Don Novello) when he’s trying to battle his “Pac-Man Fever” a.k.a. arcade gaming addiction. But I absolutely love Johnny Slash. I love his new wave-inspired wardrobe and he looked really cute when he performed with his band! From his hats to his tight leather pants or chinos, he was like a pre-Duckie from Pretty in Pink and that is perhaps the highest compliment I can pay to a guy as I will forever love the Duckie style (once a Duck-man, always a Duck-man).
Clacked by Kim Tibbs
on Aug 30, 2012 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
Thanks for doing this post. I loved this show! Have been a big fan of SJP and Jamie Gertz over the years. The whole cast was really adorable. That’s sad about the actor that played Johnny Slash, his character was a riot. I will have to check out the DVD.
Now you make me want to rent Square Pegs from NetFlix.