High School U.S.A.

In 1983 NBC featured a movie of the week called “High School, U.S.A.”. Apparently it was a pilot for a TV series that never came to fruition. The movie featured every “teen star” of the era, with every former “teen star” from the 50s or 60s as a teacher or other adult role. Here’s a cut and paste from IMDB:

Michael J. FoxJay-Jay Manners (as Michael Fox)
Nancy McKeonBeth Franklin
Todd BridgesOtto Lipton
Angela CartwrightMiss D’Angelo
Bob DenverMilton Feld 
Dwayne HickmanMr. Plaza 
Lauri HendlerNadine
Dana PlatoCara Ames
Crystal BernardAnne-Marie Conklin
Anthony EdwardsBeau Middleton
Frank BankMr. Gerardi 
Elinor DonahueMrs. Franklin 
Tony DowPrincipal Pete Kinney 
Steve FrankenDr. Fritz Hauptmann 
David NelsonMr. Krinsky, Janitor

I have absolutely no idea why this movie crossed my mind the other day but with the wonders of the Internet, I was able to watch this thing via YouTube. It’s as uneven in the 21st century as I remember it being back when I was a sophomore in high school.

Honestly, one of the things I remember from the movie is one of the high school seniors looked way too old for his role and he shaved with a straight razor. In 1983. That was very cool to me, though I had no idea why at the time. I could barely master my Dad’s Gillette Atra. It would be a couple of decades before I mastered the straight razor.

If you want to watch the full movie on YouTube, the best I can do is a Spanish dub.