By Gregg Shapiro

Contributing writer

“Square Pegs” (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)—Is there a short-lived television series from the past, your past, that you remember fondly? Perhaps it was a sitcom or drama that you watched religiously, and then when it was abruptly canceled you were deeply disappointed. So much so that you took part in a letter-writing campaign to the offending network to get the program reinstated, but to no avail. For some, the 1980s sitcom “Square Pegs” was one such TV show. Now in a double DVD set, including all 19 episodes, it is an opportunity to be reunited with all of your favorite characters from the freshman class at Weemawee High School. Classmates ranged from Patty (Sarah Jessica Parker), the smartest girl in the school, desperate to be popular and to get contact lenses; Lauren (Amy Linker), Patty’s best friend, an overweight girl with braces and an even more desperate need to be popular; class clown and cut-up Marshall (John Femia), who had a mad and unrequited crush on Lauren; new waver Johnny Slash (Merritt Butrick) and his signature braid and trademark line “It’s a totally different head, totally”;  peppy preppy princess Muffy (Jami Gertz); self-obsessed Valley Girl-type Jennifer (Tracy Nelson); LaDonna (Claudette Wells), a self-described “streetwise lady who knows the ways of the world”; Vinnie, macho class stud and Jennifer’s boyfriend, and hot upper classman Larry (Ben Marley). The administration, which included Principal Dingleman (Basil Hoffman); perpetually frustrated feminist teacher Ms. Loomis (Catlin Adams, a cross between Ellen Greene and Betty Buckley); flaming drama teacher Mr. Spacek (Craig Richard Nelson); and ex-hippie Mr. Donovan (Stephen Peterman), all of whom were square pegs in their own right. The series was created and regularly co-written by Anne Beatts, who established herself as a comedy writer on the first few seasons of “Saturday Night Live.” If you’re feeling nostalgic, then you will probably delight in the unfortunate fashion designs and specific cultural references of the period, of which “Square Pegs” has an abundance on display. Sadly, time has not been kind to the series, and the politically incorrect humor and canned laughter work against it having any longevity, not to mention continuity issues (including Lauren’s missing braces in one scene). Still, this was the sitcom that helped increase Parker’s visibility, and marked Gertz and Nelson’s sitcom debuts. It also featured numerous noteworthy appearances by guest performers, including Bill Murray (as nutty substitute teacher Mr. McNulty); Martin Mull (as game show host Dan Vermillion); Tony Dow, of “Leave It To Beaver” (as Patty’s father); Doors drummer John Densmore; former Harlette Linda Hart; baseball player Steve Sax; and Devo (hired to perform at Muffy’s New Wave Bat Mitzvah party). DVD special features include “Weemawee Yearbook Memories,” recent interviews with cast and crew, including SJP, Gertz, Linker and Nelson and Wells (still best friends, like the characters that they portrayed, to this day), in which we learn about the tragic loss of Butrick to AIDS (at age 30 in 1989).

“American Idol: Season 6 Finale” (Koch Vision)—A direct descendant of the hokey 1980s TV talent show “Star Search,” the inexplicably popular “American Idol” has unleashed a stream of questionably talented performers on the music-buying public. It’s hard to say what’s more annoying about the program—the hideous theme music, Paula Abdul’s shallow gushing and fawning, Randy Jackson’s repetitive and meaningless comments or mincing, prancing and mugging host Ryan Secrest. You can be the judge when you watch the season six finale performance show featuring the “top two”—Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis. Simon Cowell’s thankfully (and often brutally) honest criticism and harsh assessment of the performers is the one true note that rings out in show. Besides, do you really want to listen to music performed by singers whose talent is voted on by the American public? By the segment of the population that qualify as Fox viewers, no less? And yet, it has warranted a double-disc set featuring performances by Sparks and Lewis, as well as biographical and backstage footage. A complete waste of plastic that is utterly without any redeeming facets.