And now, finally, Gen-X'ers can relive some cherished memories that are sure to be better than their real memories of high school, as Sony Pictures Television has released all 19 24-minute episodes (including the 48-minute Christmas episode) on DVD in the 3-disc set, Square Pegs: The Like, Totally Complete Series ... Totally. The series aired for one year during the 1982 - 83 season, exactly one year before I entered high school, so maybe it wasn't completely on the money for me, but it sure gave me a ton to think about, pretty much dictated who I thought was cute in real life, as well as provided me with my first substantive role model, the awesome Johnny Slash.

Square Pegs follows two freshman girls, Patty (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Lauren, (Amy Linker) as they attempt to navigate teen social waters from dork-dom to popularity. Frequently clashing with pep-queen Muffy, (Jami Gertz) ultra-popular Jennifer (Tracy Nelson) and LaDonna (Claudette Wells) and Jennifer's boyfriend Vinnie, (Jon Caliri) the girls aren't helped by their outcast friends, new-waver Slash (Merritt Butrick) and class-clown Marshall (John Femia). Ensuing are a series of topical sit-com setups that both aim for non-serial facility that the average Joe Couch-Potato can enjoy, but which were also trenchant and spot-on in their knowingness of the high school experience - not to mention being subversive and dryly hilarious.

As a shot-on-location single camera television show, Square Pegs possesses a depth and veracity no other sit-coms can match. Soundstage sets like those on Saved By the Bell, etc. just can't compare with the sight of dozens of teens meandering down a long, asbestos-tiled hall lined with lockers. It's this three-dimensional quality that makes Pegs seem so real; even when Lauren and Patty are talking in class, principals and bit-players are always in the background, either reacting or doing their own thing. It's a lot of literal depth in service to stories that effortlessly combine cheap yucks with genuine emotion. Consider Lauren's weight, (something that was never an issue for me, as I thought she was adorable then and still do) many laughs come on the back of her eating habits, low blows that hint at but never overtly address any impact that issue might have.

And brilliant casting is what brings to life these pedestrian (though totally realistic) scenarios, such as; the drama teacher puts on a play; Lauren breaks her leg; Jennifer gets an after-school job; Johnny and Vinnie compete to be team mascot, etc. SJP and Linker are perfect as a pair of BFF geeks who'll do almost anything to get in with the in crowd or find senior boyfriends. Parker's bookish earnestness - sweet and naïve but self-possessed nonetheless - makes one wish she'd never become a glamour queen (no offense, though, the wife and I love Sex and the City!) Meanwhile Linker's wide-eyed moxie makes a savory counterpoint; the girls seem like real friends who could get into a lot of trouble whether via desperate ingratiation or whatever else might have become of them. Femia's mini-Groucho Marx thankfully comes tempered by charm - he's the type of kid you'd go out of your way to avoid (so many lame jokes!) even though you know he'd be your most faithful friend. Merritt Butrick (R.I.P.) crafts Slash with delightful twitchy man-child earnestness. As the grain defying new-waver he's the oblivious rebel-against-nothing I wished I could have been (and in fact modeled most of my freshman year after - even to the extent of wearing a skinny gray leather tie with Japanese flag motif.)

My crush, though, is Nelson as Jennifer Di Nuccio, the Valley Girl fashion plate too cool for school, or, like, anything except the mall. Like pretty much every other cast member, she wasn't the obvious choice. She certainly doesn't look like Farrah or Heather Locklear, but her doe-like eyes, Romanesque nose and pouty lips still strike me as gorgeous, and float her ' I don't care' sarcasm and detachment on a lake of wounded mystery. She's a standout among standouts, modeled not after Moon Unit Zappa, but real life Valley Girls she knew long before the song became a hit. She always seems to be having a great time, even when, like, bored to tears, and it's her enjoyment, as well as that of everyone else on screen, that really makes Square Pegs a joy to watch.

In addition to a fabulous cast, Square Pegs also features a number of excellent cameos in a short time. Bill Murray does his bit as a substitute teacher. Martin Mull guests as a teen quiz-show host. Father Guido Sarducci does a walk-on. Drummer for The Doors John Densmore plays in Johnny Slash's band, and later when we discover Slash is a baseball slugger, Dodgers star Steve Sax scouts him. Devo plays for Muffy's bat mitzvah, and of course The Waitresses (creator of the catchy theme song) play at a high school dance. It's like a who's who for 1982!

As far as comedy goes, Pegs isn't a laugh-a-minute sit-com modern viewers would recognize. Most of the humor is derived from the way the students react to each other, as opposed to easy or prurient one-liners in the vein of Two And a Half Men, for instance. There is plenty of subversive, far from PC stuff to enjoy; the history teacher's constant reminiscence of his days as a pothead for instance, or racial cracks based on the Native American Weemawee mascot or LaDonna's blackness, (none of which are really offensive, mind you) but the best stuff is reserved for the kids' deadpan sniping at themselves or each other. And of course 25 years-on the topicality of the show is positively quaint, with numerous shots at Reaganomics, weird things called computers, and Pac-Man. But comedy is only half of the package, with the rest being a type of primer on how to survive school and keep friends through near-daily changes; as an out-dated time capsule, Square Pegs is a Gen-X gem.

In the end, the Square Pegs story is a tragedy: a show that would have ideally run four years was cut short by suits who didn't like the weird autonomy that location-shooting in Norwalk, CA afforded the show's creators (a setup that also reportedly fostered on-set drug use and shielded an inexperienced staff). How awesome would it have been to see what happened to Lauren, Patty and the rest as they came into their own before graduation? (And how much harder would it have been for Reese Witherspoon to steal her entire Election shtick from the character of Muffy Tepperman?) But it's probably not cool to get all nostalgic for a little high school sit-com. Like, gross me out the door, OK? I won't even get into asking for Tenspeed and Brown Shoe. But thanks to show creator Anne Beatts and Sony Television for the rad gift of Square Pegs. Now if only I could find that leather tie and my linen sports coats ...

The DVD

Video:
19 episodes, plus previews and extras are spread out over three discs. Episodes and extras are presented in fullscreen (1.33:1 ratio) preserving the original broadcast format. At approximately 3-plus hours of material per single-layer disc, the end result is unspectacular, but acceptable. The image is clear and sharp, with rich colors and decent black levels. Minor instances of aliasing crop up occasionally, and edge enhancement stands out a lot, especially when Di Nuccio's glam fashions come into play with their high-contrast color schemes. Film quality is pretty super, with little to no apparent grain and no damage at all to be seen. A four-disc set with less compression would have been nice, but if a lower price means more units sold, then I'm OK with it. It certainly looks as good or better on a high definition set than it did back in the day.

Sound:
Dolby Digital Audio does justice to the music and dialog, which are mixed quite well, with all dialog clear and easy to understand. Much attention was paid to music when crafting this show, so performances by The Waitresses and Devo are present and accounted for (and sound great). Occasional background music at the kids' hangout 'The Grease' seems to be intact, as well, in addition to songs played on Marshall Blechtman's school radio program. These incidental songs are pretty quiet in the mix. The ones I recognized were mostly by The Cars. So, is every song from each broadcast present? It sure seems that way; my memory isn't that great, and I don't have the episodes on tape to compare, so I'll leave it to more obsessive folks to vet this with certainty. The episodes sure seem audio-complete, down to the corny laugh track.

Extras:
Closed Captioning, and English Language Audio Track and French Subtitles partner nicely with Interactive Menus, Episode Selections and Chapter Stops for your plebian extras. Minisodes (hate that word!) for The Facts of Life and Silver Spoons will occupy ten minutes total of your nostalgia time, as will a handful of Previews for other '80s television and movie releases from Sony. Lastly Weemawee Yearbook Memories (consisting of interviews with the cast and crew) complete the mix. The interviews range from a brief eight minutes to almost a half-hour, and include a tribute to Merritt Butrick as well as reminiscences from John Femia, Sarah Jessica Parker, Amy Linker, Tracy Nelson and Claudette Wells, (together) Steven Peterman, Jami Gertz and Anne Beatts. Most delightful is seeing how those who've been more out-of-the-spotlight have aged. Tracy Nelson is still a hottie (did she get a nose job?) and Amy Linker actually looks better than ever. The interviews range from rambling and seemingly unstructured (Nelson and Wells) to laser-focused, (Linker) and reveal a wealth of behind-the-scenes information in addition to the lingering effects (hurts and triumphs) the show had on the mostly teenaged cast. It's an eerie set of interviews in how closely the experiences of the actors echo real-life experiences of high schoolers from that time, and reinforces the veracity of the show. Would commentary tracks and such have been nice? Sure, but for a budget set, the interviews are definitely entertaining and worth it.

Final Thoughts:
Hopefully the Square Pegs series DVD can escape nostalgia confines to find a wide audience. Freaks and Geeks fans ought to check it out, (those who didn't watch it when it originally aired, that is) but as a wholly unique television comedy experience, Square Pegs is fit for everyone from today's teens and tweeners to television historians. Its combination of sass, subversion and sweetness marks it as a groundbreaker compared to more rote teen comedies from that Cosby Show spin-off to melodramas like Beverly Hills 90210. Despite the lack of a huge backpack full of extras and a less than perfect mastering job, this is one series that, for episode content alone, comes Highly Recommended, especially for those who haven't seen it since 'the hostage crisis' was fresh in memory.

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