Who Remembers Merritt Butrick?

I had the major hots for him.....go figure.

[quote]while Kirstie Alley claims he was bisexual and the two had a handsy sort of affair on the set.

She's such a loser. I'm sure she flirted with him, and he was just flirting back with her to be playful and friendly, and she thought she had made a conquest.

Kirstie Alley claims every guy tried to fuck her, including John Travolta. That's how credible she is.

No mention of Square Pegs? Odd.

I loved him in Square Pegs.

Jamie Gertz did an interview a little while ago and talked about how she went to his apartment to drive him to the studio to tape the show, and he opened the door completely naked. She said he had no inhibitions.

Sounds like female attention mattered to him.

A friend of mine saw him at a gay bar not long after Star Trek II was released, and he was surrounded by guys as they were so enamored with him. He was basically "out" long before most others. He didn't try to hide anything. Very daring as he was just starting to become famous. A tragedy that he died so soon and so fast.

[quote]he opened the door completely naked. She said he had no inhibitions.

He'd go starkers as well when he rode SJP around the lot while on breaks.

Gertz said that he partied so much that she was entrusted to get him to the set on time.

Kirstie Alley was doing so much coke at the time she could’ve been groping anyone.

R10 ...or anything, like her back fat.

He was hot on Square Pegs. I think it was the character though.

So did SJP or Gertz say if he was, you know, well-hung?

Did he merit a butt trick?

[quote]Gertz said that he partied so much that she was entrusted to get him to the set on time.

The whole cast of Square Pegs was partying like crazy. So much so, that CBS had to step in and put a stop to it. They filmed the show in an actual school away from CBS studios, and the cast was drinking and doing drugs. The adults on set just let them do whatever they wanted.

When Devo guest-starred on the show, the band members couldn't believe how wild the kids were. I think even Jamie Gertz slept with one of them.

It might have been Traci Nelson who slept with Devo.

Ann Beatts from SNL was the creator and producer and she herself was HEAVY into drugs so no surprise that the cast from Square Pegs was also into it. BTW, Merritt's character veered so widly on the show. One episode he was nerdy, one sexy, one punky, etc. That show is a prime example of what happens when everyone is on drugs.

[quote]Kirstie Alley claims he was bisexual and the two had a handsy sort of affair on the set

She likes that in a guy

[quote] Merritt's character veered so widly on the show. One episode he was nerdy, one sexy, one punky, etc. That show is a prime example of what happens when everyone is on drugs.

I guess that explains Ryan Murphy shows, then.

Johnny Slash from “Square Pegs.” His character had a punk band called “Open 24 Hours.”

Wish it were streaming somewhere but probably music rights are too pricey

Always had the hots for him in Star Trek II. Really sad he died way too soon.

Is that what we're calling the Attorney General now?

He was such a big deal because his period of fame was 1980-84, when the big male ideal (especially among gay men) was very angelic: blond curls and tight bodies coupled with a beautiful boyish face. (What a friend of mine used to call "Botticelli boys.") Among the pin-up boys at the time were Christopher Atkins, Leif Garrett, John Schneider... Merritt Buttrick was very much of that time.

I'm not sure if he would have aged very well, and that type went out of fashion by the late 80s when the extremely muscled look came into fashion, although my guess is that Buttrick (who had one of the best bodies in that set) would have done well.

I once met Amy Linker, who was the other lead on the show besides SJP and who later left the profession entirely (she went on to attend Wellesley--I'm not sure where she is now). She said he problem was that the writers themselves (like the showrunner and creator Ann Beatts) were doing a lot of drugs, and so they let the twentysomethings who were doing the show with them, like Buttrick and Gertz and Nelson, party equally as hard.

Amy and SJP were still in high school and had parental supervision, and so did not party anywhere nearly as hard, since their parents wouldn't let them. She said it was depressing that the set was very dysfunctional because the show was so cutting-edge for its time and had so much talent.

R23 it is funny because I was born during that period but it describes my taste in guys perfectly, I love blond angelic looking guys.

Per Wikipedia:

Square Pegs creator Anne Beatts revealed the show's abrupt demise came from unfortunate circumstances behind the scenes - specifically, drug abuse among the teenage cast. Beatts revealed in 2015, "I think that certainly, there was some drug abuse or drug traffic that may have happened, because I would say that that is norm for a set". Devo member Gerald Casale also confirmed in 2009 about the drug use on set, saying "The girls were out of control — they were doing drugs and they were making out and they were coming on to us in a big way... They might have been 15 or 16, but in their heads they were already 40. I don’t think there was a virgin on the set, except maybe a couple of the guys". Most of the show's scenes were filmed at the abandoned Excelsior High School in the suburb of Norwalk, California. Because Norwalk was twenty miles from Norman Lear's studio and CBS Television in Los Angeles, it was hard to know what was happening during filming. Embassy Television received numerous reports of drug and alcohol abuse in the presence of minors, which caused Embassy president Michael Grade to ask for an investigation and led him to pull the plug on the show shortly after the first season finished production.

No, I don't remember him, but as a Datalounge oldster I remember Bobby Buntrock, is that close enough?

I loved his bareback Falcon videos.

I was shocked they killed him off in Star Trek III.

Seemed ridiculous to have given Kirk a son in Star Trek II The Wrath of Kahn, only to kill him off in the very next movie.

Agree 100%, r29. I never understood why they did that.

The Waitresses and the wonderful dear departed Patty Donahue were a great part of that soundtrack.

KAAAAAAAAAHNNNN!!!!!

Kirstie Alleycunt checks out every mention she gets online. She can do it herself because there are so few.

Everybody say hi to the fat-ass hate monger who's broke, unloved and detested, for good reasons.

Hi, Kirstie!

[quote]The girls were out of control — they were doing drugs...

No surprise the one doing horse.

The drug use is not surprising to me at all. It was still very accepted in the early 80s. I was the same age that they were supposed to be during the same year and we were taking Quaaludes and snorting coke in my high school.

There's wasn't a fag in Hollywood I didn't let finger my cootchie.

Do we think there's no sniff-sniff on the set of "Euphoria"...?

R36 I would've gladly fingered/eaten early 80's KA's cooch. But, not post-Cheers KA.

I had a huge crush on him in Square Pegs and his character was most likely my entry point for the punk look, which I embraced with a Preppy overlay to it. I thought he was stunningly handsome and very funny. Years later when I read Francesca Lia Blocks’s Weetzie Bat, I always imagined him playing Dirk. I remember be shocked when hearing that he had died so young.

I wonder if they killed off his Star Trek character as punishment for him being so "out and about."

I always thought it strange that the male slut Captain Kirk only had one long-lost son.

Three words, R41: cross species mating. No yield. Kirk was a genius, for a straight.

Amy Linker left acting and worked in internet marketing and as a second grade teacher. Since 2012 when she obtained a Masters degree in Social Work from USC and works as an outpatient community therapist.

Her last acting role was in 2016 as detective Angie Huthinson in 2 episodes of "Child of the 70's"

R38, sure Jan!

I know Amy and she's a sweetheart. Looks very much the same as she did then.

She doesn't keep in touch with SJP and says SJP got much harder to get ahold of with fame, as she had too many people preventing that.

Anne Beatts had a house off Sunset and I looked into renting her guest house some years back. I didn't take it, but I knew of Anne's work and was quietly thrilled to meet her. I think she might have been struggling financially, because she appeared to be renting every spare room of her house.

Also, I have a Merritt Butrick story that no one on DL will ever believe, so I'll save it for the next Merritt Buttrick thread, if there ever is one. Not in he mood to be called a liar by random, crazy posters right now.

[Quote] Also, I have a Merritt Butrick story that no one on DL will ever believe, so I'll save it for the next Merritt Buttrick thread, if there ever is one. Not in he mood to be called a liar by random, crazy posters right now.

You're tougher than that. Spill.

Another Square Pegs fan chiming in!

I heard he walked around naked because he expected to do scenes from "Equus" with SJP.

I used to think he was so beautiful. A.I.D.S. took so many talented men from us far too early.

R39 “his character was most likely my entry point for the punk look, which I embraced with a Preppy overlay to it”

You mean New Wave?

He looked good in the Star Trek onesie.

[quote] [R39] “his character was most likely my entry point for the punk look, which I embraced with a Preppy overlay to it”

[quote] You mean New Wave?

Totally different head. Totally.

I LOVE his sewing patterns!

He must have been a real cum hole to have died of aids like that

I knew some high-class sleaze-bag drug dealers during my tenure in Holly wood. The same guy who sold the drugs to the Girl who delivered the Drugs that killed John Beluchi negotiated a co-producer credit on Square Pegs which gave him entre to deliver coke on the set of Square Pegs. The name of this dealer escapes me but he had a Porn star boyfriend named Rusty Something or Other. They used to bring Merritt for weekend-long S&M romps in their Hollywood Hills bordello. I was far too nelly to be a part of their scene but once I walked into a very relaxed Merrit tied to a bedpost with a butt plug in his rectum. I stopped and sat beside him for a bit of a chat. I think we talked about what a nut Francis Farmer was. Then I did a line of coke and split.

Was he surprised when you walked in the room?

"He must have been a real cum hole to have died of aids like that"

It only takes one. You could be a virgin.

R23, other actors on TV with that look were William Katt and David Morse. Both so handsome in the early 80’s.

R24, Linker needs to check her stories. Jami Gertz was not a twentysomething when the show was being filmed: She's actually several months younger than SJP, as is John Femia. Gertz heard the Devo story and said later that it was total crap. Butrick, Nelson, and Claudette Wells may have been partying hard but they were in their 20s, not the coke-sniffing nympets of Devo's story (which name-checked Gertz and SJP).

Anne Beatts herself wrote to New York Magazine to explain the show's cancellation, and says it was all about ratings:

[quote]The highest audience share Square Pegs ever received was a 24, which now would make you the queen of Hollywood, but was considered inadequate for CBS, then the leading “Tiffany network.” In ratings competition Pegs was facing Little House on the Prairie and Monday Night Football, both certified ratings-grabbers. When Harvey Shepherd, a top CBS executive who had always had a fondness for Square Pegs, decided to “save the show” by moving it to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, with a “wonderful new show” as lead-in called Zorro and Son, NBC promptly counter-programmed by moving its hit The A-Team to 8 p.m. opposite both shows. Such were the days before DVR and streaming.

Given the long latency period for HIV to turn into AIDS, Butrick was likely infected in the late 70s when he was still an unknown drama student. During all his wild times as an up-and-coming actor, he already had a ticking time bomb in his bloodstream.

Bless Anne Beatts' heart. She'll never admit that Square Pegs was a nearly unwatchable POS. I loved it when I was a kid and watched every episode, bitched long and loud when it was canceled and remember fondly watching the reruns when they aired on Nick at Nite. And then it all came crashing down. The show was terrible, unfunny and a chore to sit through. Still, when the DVD came out, I bought it, for nostalgia's sake. Just as horrible, though the paltry extras were worth the buy and I still own it, but I doubt I will ever watch the series again. I think CBS made the right call.

I was a huge Square Pegs fan, it aired right as my parents were divorcing & I was starting middle school. Shocked that SjP became such a big star, as I thought Jami Gertz (people, stop misspelling her name!) was the biggest scene stealer & funniest. One of my classmates was a clone of John Femia, I swear.

I liked Merrit’s character & LOVED when he name-checked Debbie Harry, my fave singer at the time. I thought he was cute but was never that into blonds, but now as an adult I appreciate his looks more

. I was so shocked to learn years later that he was gay, I was so young (12) & closeted it didn’t dawn on me that there were other gays out there save for the obviously “flaming” ones.

I bought the Square Pegs DVD to see what the fuss was about. On the commentary interviews one man (older than the others so not a teen at the time of the show) talks about how he was a troubled person. He gets upset saying he wishes he had offered more help to Buttrick who he thought clearly needed it.

It’s threads like this and posts like the two above that keeps me coming back to DL.

Thanks R58 and R59

I've known a number of people who died within 5 years of exposure to HIV, so long latency is not guaranteed. As with many other diseases, including COVID, one's own immune system can either help or betray when exposed to a pathogen.

The laugh track on Square Pegs was so unnecessary.

With a name like Butrick, you're destined to be gay.

Good looking guy . Reminds me of Ryan Phillipi ( sic) died so young and a terrible disease

Square Pegs was getting a 24 share at the time, which would make it the #1 show on TV today by a mile. Those numbers would qualify as a "cultural phenomenon" by today's standards.

Here's the video of Jami Gertz talking about Merritt.

It's mind-blowing that SJP would go on to become a superstar, Merritt would die of AIDS, and Jami would go on to become a billionaire.

Thank goodness Ronald Reagan did nothing about AIDS so gay progress and history could be drastically slowed, altered or destroyed decade after decade right up until today! Now if we can roll back this "marriage equality" thingy.

Not really. SJP was very winning. I think her media image has made a lot of people forget that she was a very likeable and sparky presence.

How in the fuck is mindblowing that a young gay man would die of AIDS in the 1980s?

SJP singing.

[quote]Three words, [R41]: cross species mating. No yield.

Oh, sometimes it happens.

You'd think nude photos of Merritt would have surfaced since he wasn't shy about being naked with others.

In the closet Dark Ages, I doubt people were taking pics.

R76 More than once, for those aliens who outlive their human wives and have to pick up another!

[quote]Mrs. Spock, Sr.

You mean Sarek's wife, Amanda?

[quote]Perrin, the Second Mrs. Spock

You mean Sarek's second wife? Spock's step-mother?

R81 Well, I sure didn't mean Randolph Scott!

Wow, Sarek really had a Terran fetish, didn't he?

What did Anne Beats die from?

People spelling her name with only one T.

I'm sure I would not appreciate the show now as much as I did when I was that age. There are "hothouse flower" shows I've loved because they were special and specific to a time and vibe, and felt so fresh and unique. Square Pegs was one, as well as Days and Nights of Molly Dodd and Wonderfalls.

Merritt had a starring role in a really great/bad 80’s horror movie called DEATH SPA (aka WITCH BITCH), about a high-tech gym possessed by the evil spirit of a girl who was murdered, or something. His role goes from nerdy tech guy, to full-on satanic Norman Bates. Very strange, underrated over-the-top 80’s horror flick. I have a copy and have watched it several times. Always get a kick out of it. Nuts!

He also had a starring role in the underrated (sort of) FRIGHT NIGHT 2!

He fell into homicidal homo/"sensitive" typecasting?

Bump

[quote] Days and Nights of Molly Dodd and Wonderfalls

Those two shows completely hold up. Square Pegs? Not so much.

Poor guy . Had everything to live for and fucking AIDS hit .

r84 It’s still not out there.

I’m surprised NBC, home of SNL, didn’t scoop up Square Pegs when CBS dumped it.

They had to see the allure, no?

What a smart, beautiful, talented, sane person Gertz is.

I would love to see her and fellow Chicagoan, Laurie Metcalf play sisters in something.

Square Pegs never found their 'tone'. Satire, social commentary, teen soap, it was all over the place but I loved it as a middle schooler.

I want to hear r45's story!!!

I suspect R45 is wrong to think no one would believe his Merritt Butrick story here, given that we all believe Jamie Gertz's and those of other people who had crazy run-ins with him.

Merritt singing in 'Square Pegs':

poor guy

Lily von Schtupp sang it better.

DEATH SPA is hilarious!

[quote]Square Pegs was getting a 24 share at the time, which would make it the #1 show on TV today by a mile. Those numbers would qualify as a "cultural phenomenon" by today's standards.

Amazing how many millions of people watched the same shows back in those days of only a handful of channels to choose from. For example, Johnny Carson would draw 55 million viewers on any given night. Today, a show that gets 6 million viewers is a gigantic hit but back then those numbers meant a show was struggling in the ratings.

r102, consider this: the 10th most popular daytime soap opera 40 years ago -- Another World with a 4.8 Nielson rating -- got more viewers than the most popular prime time show does today. That's astonishing to me.

It's kind of mind-blowing to think about things like that now r103. And there were no DVRs or handheld devices to watch tv shows or anything like that back then. You actually had to be in front of an actual television set at the time the show was broadcast to watch it. Just thinking that nearly 1/3 of the population of the United States were all sitting in front of a tv at the same time to watch the same show is just unimaginable now. It sounds like fiction today!

R104, TV actors back then were HUGE. Everybody knew who they were, even the bit players who got one or two lines a show.

Stars back in the 70s-80s had universal fame across all demographics. Just think about how incredibly famous someone like Kristy McNichol was back then. She was more famous than all the young actors today COMBINED.

To bad he never did Battle of the Network stars, I would love to have seen him frolicking with Willie Ames in a Speedo or in those high cut nylon running shorts.

His output really dropped off after Square Pegs and Star Trek. Either he was already sick from the virus, or he was probably suffering from drug/alcohol abuse. Or maybe he would have had a middling career, regardless.

He was no great shakes as an actor. Cute but nothing special.

7/10, R55! It’s not inconceivable that this is true. In any case, well written!

Feygele was no son of mine!