It was the late 1980s before the local UHF stations became hijacked with upstart broadcast networks such as Fox, UPN, WB, etc. Scott Baio was known, at least by me, to be the actor who played the role of Chachi and became a housesitter/babysitter known as Charles. Willie Ames was known as Buddy Lembeck, Willie's role on Eight is Enough seemed to be a faded memory.
Late one night, when these UHF stations aired movies (z-grade usually, other times classics from decades earlier or z-grade movies and serials from previous decades), I was pleasantly surprised to see a relatively new movie, as opposed to Citizen Kane for the umpteenth time. I was pleased even more when I saw Heather Thomas as the popular girl every teenaged male wanted to bed.
This film featured several archetypes frequently used in film: the unpopular nerdy male who loves science, the friend who goofs off a lot and gets the nerd involved in all kinds of schemes, the blonde girl/cheerleader, and of course the jock who is dating her along with the cliques and conflicts that are normally associated with high schools. The film is not a masterpiece and its low critical rating is deserved but I did not find it a total waste of time; especially being 14 and living at home with nothing to do on a weekend night. *Possible spoiler* this film featured projectile vomiting, underaged drinking, a trip to the amusement park, and revenge.