Square Pegs: The Complete Series

I bought this for nostalgia. I watched the first two episodes of it with my 14 year old and thought that it was going to be deemed as lame or boring. On the contrary; I kept hearing how interesting and realistic it was as far as the way they portrayed awkwardness between young people, especially when they are crushing on each other. My teen found it super relatable and heartwarming. It’s nice to have something to share with my kids that we both can enjoy fully. One of the discs did come loose due to somehow disintegrated disc holder plastic pieces. When I tried to pop the other disc out in that same case, the pieces just crumbled out. The second case so far is fine. I chalk it up to a manufacturing issue and not reflective on the seller. The discs are fine and play well. The picture is excellent and clearer than I’d expected. My teen is hard of hearing and there didn’t seem to be more than French subtitles, so that’s disappointing. However, the audio and clear diction from the actors made it easy to understand the dialogue! Another win. Overall, if you have nostalgic feelings about this show, I say go for it and order this. Just be careful about opening the cases and know that there isn’t an English CC option in the menu, if that’s a concern.

The theme song says always never quite right, but this show was opposite. Square pegs is a show following two girls, plump Lauren and brainy Patty (played by sex and the city's sarah Jessica parker) who are freshmen in high school. Lauren is obsessed with getting into a popular clique so the girls can be popular and have a social life they deserve (no way! not even with cleavage!). Instead, they meet two boys, Marshall, an aspiring comedian and class clown, and Johnny Flash, who is as far out there as a person can get. He's often very ditzy but usually very, very funny (totally, totally different head) and he really loves his friends. Rounding out the cast is Muffy Tepperman (played by Jami gertz, facts of life's boots st Clair), an overly peppy girl who is always annoying everyone (one of the main jokes in the show is about the Guatemalan child she is always collecting money for) and the two popular girls Lauren wants to impress so badly. One is Jennifer, a well developed girl with a valley girl attitude and an idiot boyfriend and what can only be referred to as a stereotypical African American girl, Ladonna. Both girls are far from nice and one has to wonder why Lauren would want to impress them, but who didn't want to impress a mean, popular girl in high school? The show is very, very funny, with great one-liners and very 80s themes plots, like pac-man addiction. It's a shame this show only lasted one season. I thought that a lot when I watched the dvds because I think this could have been the little show that could.

Joining other critically-acclaimed yet short-lived high school-themed shows Freaks and Geeks and My So-Called Life on DVD for the first time is CBS's Square Pegs - The Complete Series from Sony Home Entertainment. Created by former Saturday Night Live writer Anne Beatts, Square Pegs follows the misadventures of adorable best friends Patty Greene (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Lauren Hutchinson (Amy Linker) and their neverending quest for popularity. Though sustained by their friendship with fellow square pegs class clown Marshall Blechtman (John Femia) and new wave hipster Johnny "Slash" Ulasewicz (Merritt Butrick), Patty and Lauren desperately yearn for acceptance from valley girl-esque Jennifer DiNuccio (Tracy Nelson), her boyfriend Vinnie Pasetta (Jon Caliri) and best gal pal Ladonna Fredricks (Claudette Wells) to varying degrees of success. The girls could take notes from peppy preppy Muffy Tepperman (Jami Gertz) who thoroughly (and humorously) embraces who she is and doesn't care how others see her. But therein lies the fun of the show, watching how Patty and Lauren's schemes for popularity play out. Featuring great guest stars of the time including Bill Murray ( Caddyshack , Ghostbusters ) and the original unedited musical performances from New Wave acts Devo and The Waitresses (who also perform the classic opening theme song), Square Pegs is undeniably '80s. And that's just fine because thanks to a great cast and crew, the show is also still undeniably entertaining. The episodes look and sound great. The interviews are especially informative and involving. Overall, a quality set. Square Pegs - The Complete Series is a 3-disc (491 min.) set featuring all 19 digitally remastered episodes; Full Frame (1.33:1) video; English Dolby Digital audio; French subtitles; Closed Captioning; and the following Special Features: "Weemawee Yearbook Memories" - Retrospective interviews with the cast and crew, and Minisodes: The Facts of Life "Sex Symbol" and Silver Spoons "Hey, Mrs. Robinson". Highly Recommended!

Pretty good highschool sitcom from 1982 / 1983. This show was aimed at a younger crowd (highschoolers and adults like me will get great pleasure from the experience of buying a piece of their childhood. I watched the show when it was first on and wanted to see them all again as an adult. It brought back a lot of memories. A lot of other reviews state that a lot of the music was left out. I didn't notice or remember much about the music on the show. I enjoyed watching the shows again and as adult I can see how simple the stories are but that's because it was written for school kids. Don't get me wrong, Square Pegs is NOT as simple as Saved the Bell. Square Pegs was filmed, not videotaped, and the situations were similar to what real highschool kids might have gone through. I'm happy that I purchased this boxset.

I love this show...It's cute, entertaining and full of innocence.

How come no reviews from the U.S. yet? An early eighties gem. Definately one I've purchased for nostalgic reasons.I saw most of the episodes for this on S4C in the U.K. It was on at irregularly paced slots around 1982 - 1983 and i don't remember it being repeated. Episodes were shown out of sequence, but I did get to see the Xmas 2-parter at Xmas, which was good. Somehow its stuck quite clearly in my memory as something i liked. Easiest and simplest way to describe the show is as almost a series of bite sized prequels to some of the later John hughes films set around High school, with the stand offs between the cools/jocks and the geeks/nerds. Y'know, Breakfast Club, Ferris Beuler, Wierd Science, that kind of thing. Do you like those and STILL watch them from time to time? You'll like this I reckon. The humour is more subtle than laugh out loud and a sometimes a little dated, but none the worse for it. Overall, episodes stand up on their own merit due to the great casting; Slash and his phrasing still raise a smile- totally! Jennifers Valley-girl speak predicted the way a lot of females in the media would speak now too! The show was also features The Waitresses, Devo and Bill Murray to name a few. Its a shame it never fully took off in the U.S. ( it only lasted a season) as it may have taken off over here in the U.K. and I could have had it on region 2..! Anyhow, the packaging is fine, you get all the episodes plus modern day interviews with most of the cast apart from one who has passed away (Slash)and one who no-one mentions ( Vinnie). Good to see Sarah jessica Parker giving an in depth interview regarding the show too. The cast regard the show with what seems a fondness and a right of passage for a few of them into films and bigger T.V. work. A nice extra and worth a viewing alone. For the price its a bit of a bargain, even if you watch it once through! Get it and enjoy - totally!