High School sitcoms/dramas/movies?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m writing an essay for my English class on the portrayal of geeks and such in movies and tv shows from the early-mid 80s to basically today. So far I have:

Family Matters
Saved by the Bell
Freaks and Geeks
Boston Public
Revenge of the Nerds (possibly including the sequels)
My So-Called Life (depending on if I can remember enough to use it well)

Now this will probably be enough for four to five pages of decent to good material, depending on how much I can spontaneously remember. But A) this is my major (English), and B) I know there are shows I don’t remember very well (Cosby Show, Pickett Fences, etc) or at all.

Ideas? Specific episodes/characters/general tv shows? Comments or suggestions?

2

Well, Revenge of the Nerds was college, not high school, but here are some additions for you:

The Breakfast Club had one geek/nerd character.
You might also check out the movie Never Been Kissed.

I seem to recall the daughter in Growing Pains being a nerd-type. And there’s always Alex Keaton from Family Ties.

3

I saw a lot of Saved by the Bell when I was younger so I could probably help you out there.

I remember Screech had a girlfriend eventually called Violet who was just as well…er, nerdy, as him and who utterly adored him. Lisa did eventually go to the prom with him, I think. And I remember in Saved by the Bell, the cool kids were always in the same class and were basically “normal.” Also all nerdy kids played chess, and got good grades. They were book smart but made stupid mistakes. I.e, Screech letting this popular girl jerk him around when he made money or making money from this sauce that was actually from Betty Crocker, not from his grandmother’s own creation. Basically you couldn’t take the nerds seriously. Oh yes, and nerds like bugs.

I watched practically all of Boston Public this year. The kids seem more regular in this show, less cool vs. geeks. There was that one kid, Anthony Ward, the one who got picked on by the soccer team. A lot of bad things happened to him- he got hung out the window, had to wear a diaper, etc, etc, etc. Because he hacked onto the computer site and (making a long story short) got the soccer team in trouble for cheating on a test. Also he made a hit list (very Columbine, no?) but professed that it was just a way of getting out his anger, however his actions worried the teachers immensely. It should be noted that he wasn’t portrayed as a cliche- really you do get to like him. Eventually he had to change schools, so he’s off the show…

Also, on BP, one girl, Sheryl Holt, practically has the school at her knees with her website- which is very offensive to students and teachers alike. Mainly makes fun of the teachers but not even court could get her to stop. Power to the computer freaks! (She really is a bitch, though.) And there was Christine who due to her weight issues was mocked by her students (the “Blob”) but made it onto the wrestling team and won a match, as I recall. Perhaps we have come far.

oh yeah and on Fresh Prince of Bel Air- Carlton was rather a geek and he made it to Princeton.

Plus- on Boy Meets World, there was one episode where Cory meets a geeky/nerdy girl, asks her to the dance, then has a friend of his make her over. With contacts, her hair down, and a few fashion tips, she’s gorgeous and ultimately dumps him. Later at the dance, she falls into the water and ruins her clothes/loses the contacts, etc. So she comes back to Cory. If I remember correctly she dumps him again when her new boyfriend comes back. (Yeah she leaves Cory moments later, poor fellow.) So, I guess the lesson we gain is no one wants to be unpopular.

Sorry if all that above was unimportant, I just got carried away. :slight_smile: Too bad you can’t use late seventies stuff- “Grease” would have been cool to use.

4

On Roseanne, Darlene derided Becky as a geek and later grew up to exhibit some geekish tendencies of her own. In the later seasons, DJ got a video camera and became a movie geek. Since the kids were portrayed at home rather than in a school setting for the most part, it’s hard to tell whether they were treated as such by other kids.

5

Just a thought and it may be a little new for you, but “Romy and Michelles Highschool Reunion” has some pretty interesting portrayals of geeks.

6

Actually, mayberrydan, my paper is going to attempt to take a look at audiovisual media (eg tv shows and movies) portraying geeks from the 80s to the 2001 season (what’s come out, anyway, unless there’s a compelling movie to read about).

I had thought about going back further, but the further back I go the less “from memory” it gets and the harder it is for me to remember stuff (especially stuff I haven’t seen).

I have seen “Never Been Kissed” and parts of “Breakfast Club”. And boy do I remember “Family Ties” and “Roseanne”!

Thanks, y’all:) My paper, FWIW, will be up on my website when it’s done.

7

“Malcolm in the Middle” has some good examples. All of Malcolm’s friends from his gifted class at school fit the mold pretty well. They are very book smart, social inept with anyone outside the gifted class, the target of bullies, and have extremely overprotective parents.

8

Angus and Lucas are both good. So is Can’t Buy Me Love, or nearly anything from the 80s. Steven King has some good stuff, and their average movie counterparts of Christine and Carrie, if you want to go cross-genre.

BTW, iampunha, where do you go to school?

9

This was a show that was about an honors class (ie – a room full of geeks) and how they had the same ordinary feelings as all high school kids. Basically, it’s * Revenge of the Nerds * meets * Welcome Back Kotter *. If you can find it, it’s a good show. It starred Howard Hesseman (of WKRP fame) as the teacher.

For movies… try * Pretty in Pink * or * Sixteen Candles *

Hope this helps!

10

I only saw one episode, but I think Square Pegs deserves a mention. Sarah Jessica Parker was in it, don’t recall any of the characters, but it was kind of Freaks and Geeks way back in the 80’s. Didn’t last very long.

11

Did anyone yet mention Blossom? I don’t remember much about that show, except that when it was on, I wasn’t allowed to watch it because it was about “teen issues.”

12

Played by Tori Spelling.

Head of the Class. HH was eventually replaced by Billy Connelly (I think that’s the guy’s)
[sub]please don’t ask how I know this stuff[/sub]

:: slinks out ::

13

GMU.

You’ve never heard of it? Figured:) George Mason University. In Fairfax, VA. I’m an English major there, and the class this is for is English 302.

I remember HOTC. Not well, but I remember it. I may well ask my parents about some of these; they remember 'em better than I do.

I’m fighting a battle inside, folks . . . do I go with a few shows and multiple examples, or do I go with lots of shows that say the same thing (i.e. that prove my point)? I don’t have an upper limit, but the people in my small group are on the dumber side of smart. The last essay they read they didn’t have more than two suggestions put together, and those were: expand one section, and shorten the same section. So I left the thing basically as was. I have the option to edit stuff later and turn it in for a chance at a better grade. Seeing as the final essay is basically my child psych one revamped a bit, I figure I have time:)

14

The first 3 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer were set in high school and had many entertaining and realistic portrayals of geeks and nerds. Of the main characters, Willow Rosenberg was a nerd and Xander Harris was a geek. I’d particularly recommend the episode from the third season, “Earshot” (the one that was delayed from airing due to post-Columbine hysteria). In that one, Buffy can read the minds of everyone in school, and learns that just about every student considered himself/herself to be an outcast, except for the ones like Xander who were only obsessed with sex.

As for “Head of the Class”, it featured a pre-Tyson Robin Givens, to which I can only say, “Hubba Hubba”!

15

You might want to distinguish between say, dramedy (drama with comedy, like Roseanne), and sit-com/ broad comedy movies (Revenge of the Nerds or SBTB) because the latter is more likely to employ extremely over-the-top steortypes in pusuit of laffs. By selecting one you can also reduce the number of shows you approach in your paper.

Some movies not yet mentioned:

Say Anything: Reg’lar fella [hearts] Brainiac gal (who is pretty and not at all socially inept), love ensues.

Real Genius: kids at “Pacific Tech” are brainy and cool all at the same time, help save world and defeat pompous/evil professor.

Heathers: ultimate black comedy send up of high school politics. “Fuck me gently with a chainsaw, Heather! Who do I look like, Mother Theresa? If I were I’d be over there with the Geek Squad.”

TV show:
Parker Lewis Can’t Lose – Cool kid Parker rulz the skool and continuously thwarts principle with help of his alterna-dude guitar friend and geeky sidekick (complete with black trenchcoat). Synchronize Swatches!

16

Definately Square Pegs. It had Tracey Nelson and Sarah J. Parker in it and the whole point of the show was geeks in high school trying to be popular.

17

Oh and the Simpsons. Lisa Simpson- an overachiever, a talented sax player, and a voracious reader. And there are episodes where she’s painfully aware of her differences (the one where she goes to the beach and dumbs herself down to meet friends, but ends up being herself and having the friends like her anyway). So, she may be an icoloncastic “geek” but she’s definitely the most intelligent of her family.

18

::slaps cheek::
How could I have forgotten Lisa Simpson? And the Superfriends?