The show could reel you in if you had that dad who barely spoke, an asshole big brother, an older sibling that was counter-culture, or a mom who was trying to hold it all together. For teens who held a girl up on a pedestal, it worked, too. Some of us stopped doing that early in HS, later in HS, or never have. Most of them probably live in their parent's basement at the age of 45, but yeah, they probably still get nervous around a pretty girl.
I identified with the hard-working, always-tired dad and probably the girl-on-a-pedestal thing. I was middle school age, so I was probably the same age as the Kevin character was in the show, year by year.
