See if you've heard of this one before. A teenage boy dreams of dating the most popular, big chested girl in the school. He has a best friend who is considered a little bit of an ugly duckling but secretly is in love with him. The boy's wish comes true and he gets to go out with the girl of his dreams only to find she is not as great as he thought she would be. In fact, he comes to realize that he has been in love with the ugly duckling all along. Some circumstance seeks to keep the two of them apart but they overcome it and the end of the movie has the two of them embracing one another and kissing.
I know, sounds like most teen romantic comedies. So why would I include Secret Admirer, which follows this very plot, in my hidden gems of the 80s sex comedies list? Because sometimes it's about who you take the ride with. Secret Admirer has a great cast of actors. First there is C. Thomas Howell. During the 80s you couldn't walk into a cineplex without one of his films playing. He starred in ET, The Outsiders, Red Dawn, The Hitcher , and Soul Man in consecutive years. He plays the hapless and clueless Michael who pines for Deborah, the girl everyone desires. She is played by Kelly Preston who was also making a name for herself in the 80s with such movies as Spacecamp, Mischief, and Christine. She plays the vapid Deborah to perfection. The most interesting character is Toni, the ugly duckling played by the anything but ugly Lori Laughlin who would go on to Full House and college scandal fame.
As fun as the teenagers are, their parents provide the real laughs. You see, someone has slipped a secret admirer note into Michael's locker on the last day of school. Convincing himself it could be Deborah, he writes her a letter back but it is so awful, Toni decides to rewrite it herself and tell Deborah it is from Michael. Deborah falls in love with the secret admirer a la Cyrano de Bergerac and the two begin to date.
But in a situation straight out of Three's Company, the love letters keep getting passed around and end up in the hands of Deborah's and Michael's parents. Thinking each is coming on to the other, Deborah's mother and Michael father begin fooling around with each other. Deborah's father, played by the great character actor Fred Ward, finds out and tells Michael's mother, and they begin to fool around as well. This is all to great comedic effect.
You can probably figure out how things end and you would be right. But again, it is a pleasant way to pass an hour and a half. Right now Secret Admirer is for free on Tubi. Like most teen sex comedies of the 80s, the better ones are the ones with more heart than sex and that is certainly the case with this one.