Remember this show? I sort of do. It’s hazy. Possibly because it only had one season, but what makes me go, ‘Awww Square Pegs’ whenever it comes up is whenever I think about the show, I get very nostalgic for the 80s.
I remember thinking Tracy Nelson’s character, Jennifer DeNuccio was cooler than cool and I wanted to be popular like her. But I was more like Sarah Jessica Parker’s character, Patty Greene - a bit of a loser with dreams of being popular. That whole shtick may seem sterotypical and cliched these days, but in 1982, I was in junior high, I had braces, coke-bottle glasses, a bad perm, and I never had the right clothes. I envied the girls who wore Ralph Lauren polos and Guess jeans with perfect hair, flawless skin and cute boyfriends.
And so I remember identifying with Square Pegs quite a lot. But to be fair, it’s been 16 years since I’ve seen the show, so forgive my hazy recollection 
But! It came out on DVD yesterday.
The premise of the show follows Patty Greene and Lauren Hutchinson, two freshman who tried hard to be accepted into these cliques. The only problem was they stood out like sore thumbs. Patty was brainy and wore glasses, and Lauren was overweight and had braces. Thankfully, two other “square pegs” accepted them. They came in the form of aspiring comedian Marshall Blechtman and New Wave rocker Johnny Ulasewicz (aka Johnny Slash). Still, Lauren and Patty wanted to be in with the cool kids who came in the form of Jennifer DeNuccio, a wanna-be Valley Girl; LaDonna Fredericks, the hippest black girl in Weemawee High; Jennifer’s boyfriend Vinnie Pasetta, a John Travolta carbon copy; and Muffy Tepperman, a Jewish princess who joined anything from JV pep squad to science fair organizer. - Courtesy IMDb.
Hehe. Muffy. Muffy was played by Jamie Gertz who - to me - is best known as ‘Star’ from the excellent vampire movie, “The Lost Boys.” She had the coolest hair.
So if you’re like me and sometimes miss leg-warmers and neon t-shirts, rolling the cuffs of your jeans and wearing penny loafers without socks, throw Square Pegs in your Netflix queue, or just buy it The more I think about the show, the more I remember it as being a fun little romp.
Bit O’ Trivia: On the locker in the opening credits you will see a wedding invitation of Daytime’s ultimate supercouple: Luke & Laura Spencer.
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