High School USA
Camlek here, with a very important DVD review for "Just My Show."
I was sitting around last week, surfing around websites, not feeling very fulfilled, probably because I am presently in the middle of the fantasy sports doldrums (in between football and baseball, and hockey's just not getting it done this season). To make myself feel better I decided I needed to venture over to Amazon and pick up a DVD. The challenge was determining what to buy. I gave some serious thought about picking up Season 2 of "Miami Vice," a collection I will eventually own, however I decided to go further back in cinematic time, even back before "Real Genius," another DVD I can't believe I don't own. (By the way, is there any other movie that ends on such an uplifting high note than "Real Genius?" I mean, the way they screw Dr. Hathaway with all those popcorn kernels, the way the kids play in the piles of popcorn, all in slow-mo, as we hear Tears For Fears on the soundtrack? Kent wearing that awful white sweater? Hathaway driving home to his demolished home, as he's greeted by the dog down the street? Really swell ending I think.) Man as I write this I am getting annoyed that I didn't order "Real Genius." That was a mistake.
What wasn't a mistake, however, was picking up the DVD for "High School USA," the 1983 made for TV movie (NBC) starring a then up and coming Michael J. Fox. It also featured several other popular teen talent of the day, kind of like an All Star Game for young actors. We had Todd Bridges (hot off the "Diff'rent Strokes" beat), his TV sister Dana Plato, Crispin Glover (he would shortly reunite with Fox in "Back To The Future," one of the personal faves of the "Just My Show" brass), Nancy McKeon (admit it, Jo Polniaczek was kinda hot) and Anthony Edwards, several years before Goose died during the jetwash disaster in "Top Gun." The film also featured several teen actor veterans from yesteryear, displaced in this movie as teachers. Bob Denver played a Trans Am driving father, Tony Dow (Wally from "Leave it to Beaver") played the principal. You get the idea. Wacky cross-generation casting by NBC. In 1983, this was a big deal. Just like "The A-Team" and "Riptide" on Tuesday nights.
When this movie aired in 1983, the Camlek family had just scored our first VCR. (A classic toploader Panasonic model, with the remote control that was connected via wire to the base of the machine.) My dad used to trip on it. As a kid, I was itching to use the VCR any way I could, so I taped "High School USA," and probably watched it like 10 times over the course of the next two months. I watched this movie so much I had it virtually memorized. I really wore down that tape too. And to make sure I didn't accidentally erase it, I removed that plastic chip. The movie, at a glance, is nothing special. But it goes down smooth for some reason, very enjoyable. A mindless entertainment; a modern day analogy would be "Entourage," a show that is not terribly deep but quite satisfying. I really felt for outcast J.J. Manners (Fox), the king of the geeks who really was a good kid at heart, but kinda walked with the B crowd. His best buddy, Otto (Bridges) was a genius who built robots. So you know on Friday nights these guys weren't doing much except eating BBQ flavored Fritos. J.J. falls in love with Beth Franklin (McKeon), who just so happens to be dating Beau Middleton (Edwards), a richboy jock who runs the school. And Beth kinda likes J.J. too. And they eventually share a smooch, which is nice. You basically see where this is going. I won't get into any more details, but suffice to say that everyone gets what they deserve, and maybe they all learn a thing or two about themselves as well. J.J. has a little pep talk with the Principal. And of course there is the standard car race, with J.J. driving a suped-up car that looked not unlike the sky blue jalopy that Jack Cates drove around in "48 HRS."
Was this movie signficant? Not really. But it does get props for serving as the foundation for what was to come. It really did set the stage for the onslaught of future 80's TV movies. Including "Poison Ivy," which paired Fox and McKeon two years later. And then "Back to the Future" came out and such ended Fox's made-for-TV work. (Although I would have rather sat through "High School USA 2" than "Light of Day," which was a nightmare. Does "High School USA" get the royal DVD treatment? Of course not. I'm glad it even came in a case. Any extras? No. The DVD transfer is mediocre, the sound awfully mono, the cover art an embarassment (seriously, it's terrible), but I bought it for $6.98. That's a deal. I would have paid that even if the DVD came with the original commercials that aired during the 1983 telecast. And thanks to digital technology, I can now get my original videotape and put the scotch tape across the safety area rendering the tape useful again.
Always a pleasure... |
