Tracy Nelson (on left) is the child of actor/singer Ricky Nelson, and Mark Harmon is her uncle. In the first few episodes, Tracy had to wear a wig (shown above) because the show's creator, Anne Beatts, thought her hair was too short and boyish. Tracy went on to enjoy success playing a nun in the Father Dowling Mysteries with Tom Bosley. She is a cancer survivor and still pops up in TV shows and movies here and there (including an appearance on Seinfeld as George's girlfriend).Claudette Wells (on right) has become quite successful in the area of voice-over work (Shrek, Barnyard, etc.). But what I found most interesting from the DVD commentary was that Tracy Nelson and Claudette Wells are best friends to this day, and have been since the show aired. How nice.
Merritt Butrick (on left) went on to play Captain Kirk's son in Star Trek II and III. Sadly, as his career continued to climb, Butrick contracted the AIDS virus and died in 1989.John Femia (on right) was a bit more difficult to track down. Apparently, his showbiz career fizzled right after Square Pegs, and he tried some small budget theater (see an old cast photo for the play Let's Kill Ginny Greg here). Now, it seems he is trying to make it as a stand up comedian- according to his myspace page, this is the year he hopes to finally make it. Good luck, John.
Sarah Jessica Parker (on left), as we all know, went on to bigger and better things (my favorite being Tim Burton's Ed Wood... but that's just me).Amy Linker (on right), a graduate of Beverly Hills High School, dropped out of sight not long after Square Pegs was cancelled. She currently is a second grade teacher. Here's what she looks like now. To me, she looks better.
And as a final note, I'll just add that this show was of particular interest for me because my father went to school with Anne Beatts in New York. Beatts has said she used her own high school experiences as inspiration for writing and creating the show.... I wonder which Square Peg character was modeled after dear ol' dad?
That is so cool about that last chick leaving show biz to become a teacher. I love it! And you're right, she's way hotter now with a little age on her.
ReplyDeleteI still remember the theme song and the episode where Bill Murray played a really cool substitute teacher.
ReplyDeleteThis is a show that I never watched for some reason.
ReplyDeleteNever saw the show. I like this on the TMZ site for Amy Linker "Amy allegedly quit acting to become an elementary school teacher." "Allegedly," like it's something awful she's being accused of. what they really mean is: "How dare she turn her back on fame (or publicity whore celebrity) to become useful to society. It makes us feel bad."
ReplyDeleteYeah, Sam, the theme song by The Waitresses is very memorable: "I'd like it if they liked us, but I don't think they like us..."
ReplyDeleteAnd I have much respect for celebs that actually become useful members of society - the girl from "Blossom" instantly comes to mind (a PhD in neurology I think), and Melody Anderson from Flash Gordon (a renowned alcohol/drug abuse therapist/counsellor).
I remember watching this show when it was first on. At first I was excited about it when it came out on DVD, but then I heard a lot about how it didn't a lot of the original music so I never bought the DVD set.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've ranted about this in several posts already. Those greedy bastards keep taking the original music out of TV shows -
ReplyDeleteThe Fugitive was completely, totally, and utterly ruined with all of its original music taken out.
WKRP took forever to get to DVD because of this issue, and even then, it's still missing half the songs!
And we're still waiting on The Wonder Years DVD's to come out. Why? You guessed it - the music. AAARRGGH!!
Music rights are why the Freaks & Geeks set was so expensive, too.
ReplyDeleteI loved Square Pegs, and I haven't bought the DVDs, either. I was pretty young when it was on, but I remember I had such a crush on Tracy Nelson because she reminded me so much of one of my babysitters that I was totally in love with.
And, of course, I've had it for Jami Gertz ever since...
It's so odd to see that show now. When I was six, "big kids" looked like adults to me. Now I just feel old.