In this DVD commentary Tracy “Jennifer” Nelson and Claudette “LaDonna” Wells talk about their audition for Square Pegs
In it Nelson [and Wells] say this:
See video at 3:50
Does anyone have any guesses to whom she may be referring?
I’m thinking Karen Carpenter, who died in Feb. 1983 of complications of anorexia.
Nelson and Wells said, “who have recently have had weight issues…”
The singer that has weight issues recently that comes to mind is Jessica Simpson, but she was like 2 years old so likely not.
Karen Carpenter would not have been auditioning for a role as a high-schooler in 1982, though.
I can’t really think of anyone the right age.
Janet Jackson would be the right age. She apparently put on a little weight a couple years ago though I don’t remember it being a big deal in the media.
Paula Abdul is the right age but wasn’t yet well known for her music in 1982. She has gotten some flack about her weight but maybe not so much recently.
Do we know when that video was made? It’s hard to know what they mean by “recent.” By the catty way they are talking about it I get the impression it is someone who has gained weight, not someone who has anorexia.
Marie Osmond?
Part of the thing I wasn’t sure of, does Nelson mean “Famous” THEN or “famous” now but an unknown at the audtion?
Nelson says she was intimidated at the audition by the famous names, so whoever it was must’ve been famous at the time. Whitney Houston for instance, didn’t become well known till way after the auditions. Square Pegs ran from 1982 so the auditions must’ve been well before that.
Or I just may not be reading into it right. Darn it Tracy,
That’s how I took it. So it would be someone probably born between 1959 and 1966 or so who was already a pretty well-know singer in 1982.
I thought of Marie Osmond too but it doesn’t seem like the kind of show she’d be on. I can’t see her competing for either of the roles these actresses had. Maybe as one of the “nerdy” girls.
The DVDs are copyright 2008 so the interview must’ve happened around then or shortly before
The article I found about Janet Jackson is from August of 2008.
Carnie Wilson?
Does anyone have any guesses to whom she is? Square Pegs sounds like a nickname a double amputee would have.
Not “major”.
Assuming the question wasn’t just an excuse for a terrible joke, Tracy Nelson was one of the stars of Square Pegs, a 1982 teen sitcom. Although it wasn’t a ratings success, it is fondly remembered by some for having actors who were actual teenagers instead of pushing 30 and nerds who were kind of nerdy and not underwear models wearing glasses, both of which were even rarer then than they are today. It was also one of the few shows to delve into then-current youth subcultures and get them at least partially right.
Now that I think about it, I think it must’ve been Janet Jackson. OK she wasn’t a big singing star yet, her albums flopped until “Control,” (1986) but she was well known from “Good Times,” “Diff’rent Strokes” and the like.
So Nelson and Wells would’ve known her and I know when you think back on someone it’s easy to think she was a bigger success at the time than she was.
Nelson and Wells were talking about how lucky they were to be cast. Assuming that they’re talking about a major, major singing star who had weight issues, AND who would have been the right age at the time (1982) to cast in the show, there are Marie Osmond (who would have been about 23) and Carnie Wilson. Carnie Wilson would have been only about 14 at the time, but Valerie Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips were only 15 and 16 when they started in One Day at a Time, so it’s not completely impossible.
And since Sarah Jessica Parker came to the show from Broadway, we can also consider Jennifer Holliday (born 1960). At the time the show premiered, Dreamgirls had only been running a few months, so maybe Holliday was considered and then her Broadway career took off.
Whitney Houston is the right age, but then again, so is Wynona Judd.
Well it’s probably a Hollywood star. Although this wasn’t stated in this particular commentary, the auditions were held in NYC (Sarah) and in Chicago (Jami Gertz AKA-Muffy) and other cities too. Sarah and Jami state they got the jobs and were only flown to Hollywood for final approval by the “suits” as they called them.
So Nelson and Wells wouldn’t most likely have seen Broadway or locals stars, 'cause they were cast in other locations
Looking at the transcript, Nelson starts off saying this person was “pretty well known” then Welles cuts in with the comment about being a major singing star so she might have been referring more to who she was in later years. I think it’s fair to say Janet Jackson was “pretty well known” in 1982 between her TV roles and her famous family.
I can’t think of anyone else who really qualifies as a major singing star who fits. They do give the impression it’s someone pretty big, not some one hit wonder.
And even though Jackson’s weight battles didn’t really register on my radar a little googling shows that going back at least as far as 2006 or so it’s been discussed quite a bit in tabloids and on weight loss blogs.
I think it’s certainly plausible that is who they meant.
I was surprised to see Wells was actually about 28 when the show started. She didn’t look that old. They both look much younger than I would expect in the commentary video too. I guess that’s what living in Hollywood and having good lighting do for you.
I also discovered the guy who played Johnny Slash died quite young and that he was in Wrath of Khan. I can see it now but I never made that connection before.