Devo, drugs, and teenagers

Posted April 16th, 2009 by eric

Devo’s appearance on that short-lived early ’80’s sitcom Square Pegs, famous for launching the careers of Sarah Jessica Parker and Jami Gertz, was filled with far more debauchery than anyone might have imagined from a bunch of futuristic nerds and new wave teenagers. According to a piece in Heeb magazine, drugs were rampant off-camera, even with the young stars, who, Devo’s Gerald Casale says, “might have been 15 or 16, but in their heads they were already 40.” Censors weren’t about to let any of the unwholesomeness make it onto television, however, blocking a special video Devo had created to serve as a backdrop for their performance of “That’s Good.” Casale explains, “In the video, “Bob [Casale] is being ridden like a horse by a blonde. Then an animated french fry flies through the air one way, and an animated glazed donut flies through the air the other way, and the french fry goes through the donut, and it cuts to the girl snapping her head back with a big smile on her face on the words, ‘That’s good.’” Maybe Devo will release that video someday because it sounds better than anything that occurred in this episode. In fact, this clip showcases how truly awful and unfunny Square Pegs was before Devo finally hits the stage about 6 and a half minutes in. [via Logan]

Tags: video