Twenty-five years after “Revenge of the Nerds,” girl nerds are now represented equally (perhaps more than equally) in pop culture. Inspired by the new Alexis Bledel movie, I decided to make a list of the 10 cutest TV nerds — the types of girls who I like to think would be compatible with me if they existed in reality.
This list is just off the top of my head, so let me know if I missed any.
1. Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel), “Gilmore Girls”
Nerd cred: 1) She runs out of bookshelves, so she stores her excess books in dresser drawers. 2) She is the editor of her high school paper, and earns admission to Yale with her strong academics. 3) When she and Paris go on spring break, they rent Joseph Campbell’s “The Power of Myth” and watch it in their hotel room. Later that day, she gets drunk for the first time — then calls her mom.
2. Andrea Zuckerman (Gabrielle Carteris), “Beverly Hills 90210”
Nerd cred: 1) She submits a fake address to West Beverly High School so she doesn’t have to attend the crappier school in her own district. 2) She’s the editor of the school paper. 3) She has an unrequited crush on Brandon, as much for his smarts as for his looks.
3. (Pre-Witch) Willow (Alyson Hannigan), “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”
Nerd cred: 1) Her crush, Xander, is oblivious to how hot she is simply because she regularly wears overalls. 2) She heads up the Scooby Gang’s research team in the library. 3) She meets her first date on the Internet (and it doesn’t go well — he turns out to be a robot demon from medieval times).
4. Mac (Tina Majorino), “Veronica Mars”
Nerd cred: 1) She’s Veronica’s go-to gal for anything involving technology, and Miss Mars is no slouch with that sort of thing herself. 2) Rather than going by her given name of Cindy, she goes by the name of a computer. 3) She looks a lot like Napoleon Dynamite’s geeky, boondoggle-making girlfriend (nerds and geeks are not the same, but they are closely related).
Nerd cred: 1) Among the crazy scribblings on her wall during her post-rescue-from-slavery period, there appear to be some math equations. 2) She heads up the research team at Angel Investigations. 3) Wesley, himself a nerd, is all about Fred — he appreciates a like-minded woman.
6. Quinn Pensky (Erin Sanders), “Zoey 101”
Nerd cred: 1) She’s constantly performing bizarre science experiments in her dorm room. 2) She enters a robot demolition derby, and her pink robot literally disintegrates the competition. 3) Her boyfriend is a chubby guy beneath her attractiveness level.
7. River Tam (Summer Glau), “Firefly”
Nerd cred: 1) The evil government kidnaps her in order to study her amazing brain. 2) She learns bad-ass ninjitsu moves not through rigorous physical training, but because the skills are programmed into her. 3) Her best friend growing up is her brother, also a nerd.
8. Megan Smith (Joanna Garcia), “Privileged”
Nerd cred: 1) She is hired as a tutor for two rich girls. 2) She is writing a biography of her boss, and it’s pretty much her dream job. 3) She is quirky and somewhat socially awkward (although she has managed to work that into an adorable quality).
9. Ellie Nash (Stacey Farber), “Degrassi: The Next Generation”
Nerd cred: 1) She works at the school paper. 2) In “Degrassi Goes Hollywood,” her room is right next to the beach, but she stays inside reading a book. 3) She has low self-esteem; when Craig doesn’t return her feelings, she assumes there’s something wrong with her.
10. Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub), “24”
Nerd cred: 1) The things she does with computers and satellite systems can only be done by her; no one else is even in the same league. 2) She’s surly and antisocial. 3) She develops rivalries with other women based on brainpower, not on which guys they are dating.
Honorable mention: (Pre-Freak) Lindsay from “Freaks and Geeks,” Andie from “Dawson’s Creek,” Angela (before she fell in with the cool crowd) from “My So-Called Life,” Lisa Simpson, Grace from “Once and Again,” Scully from “The X-Files,” and the nerd girl from “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.”