Fans loved Sarah Jessica Parker in Square Pegs, but the ratings didn’t
The key to success for high schoolers, Patty and Lauren, in the 1982 series Square Pegs was to be accepted by the popular kids and part of the "in crowd" at Weemawee High School.
For the freshman series — a one-season wonder — Square Pegs knew something about striving for acceptance.
Just as Patty and Lauren tried to climb the social ladder, the sitcom itself tried to climb the Nielsen ratings while competing against network heavyweights such as M*A*S*H and Magnum, P.I..
If Sarah Jessica Parker, who played Patty, had her way, the series would have been as popular as her character hoped to be at school.
Parker was 18 years old at the time and already building a solid resume. She was also receiving about 250 fan letters each week.
"Most of the letters are from ninth through 11th grade girls," Parker said in a 1983 interview with Goldsboro News-Argus. "They say they are just like Patty or have a friend like Lauren. I also get a lot from guys in their late 20s, who wish they had a girl like Patty. The hard part is answering them all right away to let them know I care — but I do answer them all personally."
Despite its struggles in the ratings, the series built a decent fan base. Many viewers thought Patty was already the coolest girl in school, even if she didn’t feel that way.
Even though Parker was beloved, the show itself had trouble passing the final test. That was a continuing challenge for series creator Anne Beatts, a former Saturday Night Live writer.
"Anne’s insight into high school is beyond most high schoolers’," Parker said.
She admitted she didn’t always understand the dialogue written for Patty and her classmates, which may have been a factor in the show’s performance.
"The show has an urban contemporary taste, so we haven’t done well in the Bible Belt," Parker said. "Also, if people can’t accept something different on television, they don’t watch. Maybe the title is a turnoff."
There may have been many reasons why Square Pegs failed to last, but the popularity of Sarah Jessica Parker was not one of them.