Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald) wakes up on her 16th birthday to find that her entire family has forgetten it, in the mayhem of her older sister's (Blanche Barker) wedding plans. Deciding that they...

Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald) wakes up on her 16th birthday to find that her entire family has forgetten it, in the mayhem of her older sister's (Blanche Barker) wedding plans. Deciding that they will remember on their own later, Samantha heads to school, riding the school bus with her best friend...and the nerds. Farmer Ted (Anthony Michael Hall) is the self-described "head nerd," and hits on Samantha all the way to school. Though ignores him, Farmer Ted is not easily discouraged, and plans on catching up later, at the school dance. Samantha is secretly in love with the most popular guy in school, Jake Ryan (Michael Shoeffling), who is dating the most popular girl, a stuck-up social climber, who dates Jake solely for his status. Back at home, the house fills with out-of-town family, all piling in to stay over for the wedding, and with a set of grandparents, comes a foreign exchange student, Long Duk Dong (Gedde Watanabe). Samantha may get out of the house to go to the school dance if she brings along "The Donger". Will Sam's parents remember her birthday? Will she find true love with Jake? Will Farmer Ted fulfill his bet with the fellow "nerd herd" and produce a pair of Samantha's underwear? It all comes together in a hilarious ride through the halls of high school, a great love story.