You need to watch Freaks and Geeks

Thursday June 30, 2005 at 12:22 am | Filed under Entertainment

Freaksandgeeks
Monique and have been watching this show called “Freaks and Geeks” that was a short-lived sitcom series on NBC back in 1999. This show is truly marvelous. The show follows a sister and brother who attend a high school in Michigan in 1980. It does a great job of depicting the different cliques that form at a high school, namely the Freaks (burn-outs, losers, druggies, pot-heads, etc) and the Geeks (nerds, dorks, brains, and also losers). The sister in the show, Lindsay (played by Linda Cardellini, who you may know from the most recent years of ER) is trying to make the transfer to Freaks from Geeks, while her little brother Sam and his two geek buddies just long to be one of the cool kids.

The acting is great, but it starts with the casting. The actors were perfectly cast and they fit into their roles of Freaks or Geeks like they were born to play them. I mean look at this guy in this photo. This is Harris. Harris is a geek that some of the other younger geeks look up to, and therefore they go to him for advice.you kind of just have to witness Harris’ delivery. He’s definitely a highlight of the show, and he’s not even one of the main characters! After watching the first 3 episodes (there are 3 on each DVD) I was amazed at how great the casting/acting was for the Geeks. They’re really great. Now as we’ve just finished episode #11 I’ve realized that the Freaks are much more interesting than I thought. They too are perfectly cast!

Each episode follows both the Freaks and the Geeks separately, then usually ties them together somehow via the relationship between Lindsay and Sam. This is done by covering the home life of their family. Joe Flaherty plays the dad in this family, and that’s pretty entertaining right there. Freaks and Geeks includes an amazing music selection — tons of great rock hits of the late 70s/early 80s are in there. I’m sure they spent a bundle on music licenses.

This is easily one of the best shows I’ve ever seen on network TV and the fact that it only ran 18 episodes before it was canceled is baffling. But as I’ve read a bunch of reviews of this show, all rating it really high, they all carry the same frustration with it being canned. One even calling the show “Perfect Television (only a network executive couldn’t love it).”

Put this in your Netflix queue, or buy it today for someone who loves great shows!!

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13 Responses to “You need to watch Freaks and Geeks”

  1. Scott Says:
    June 30th, 2005 at 7:53 am

    This was a great show and unfortunately got caught in the middle of the “reality” show nonsense/overkill and got booted from the air :(

    One more reason for me to dislike “reality” TV.

    Do the DVDs have a lot of extras on it? Like interviews and commentaries with the cast.

  2. Joe Says:
    June 30th, 2005 at 9:30 am

    Yeah, they do. They have commentaries on pretty much every episode. Then they have deleted scenes, original cast auditions, and some bloopers.

    I can’t say I hate reality TV… in fact I really like it. But jsut like non-reality TV, there are some real stinkers. It is pretty sad that a crappy reality show probably replaced a great show lik Freaks and Geeks, though.

  3. Monique Says:
    June 30th, 2005 at 9:32 am

    They do, actually. Each DVD has deleted scenes as well as behind the scenes footage. They also have auditions for some of the main characters (one on each DVD). Worthwhile.

  4. Rich Says:
    July 2nd, 2005 at 10:38 pm

    Loved this show, to the point where I signed up on one of those “Save Freaks & Geeks” petition thingies. In fact, I just realized something: I don’t think I’ve regularily watched a single show on NBC since the show got cancelled. Subliminal boycott? Perhaps. Joe’s right about the music rights. They spent a ton of cash money locking up the rights to the music, which is a good thing, since it’s practically a character on the show.

    If you guys like “Freaks & Geeks,” you may want to keep your eyes peeled for “Undeclared” if it ever comes out on DVD. The show, about the lives and times of a group of college kids, was produced by the same guy, featured a few of the F&G cast members, and was called by many critics to be the best new show of the season upon its arrival. So naturally it got the axe after the first season (Thanks, FOX! But at least you let “Dark Angel” hang on for three miserable seasons). If you see it, Netflix it post haste. You can thank me later.

    Interesting side note: Judd Apatow, the producer behind both of these great shows, finally got the hit he deserved, as he was one of the producers of the movie “Anchorman.”

  5. Dan Says:
    July 3rd, 2005 at 11:14 am

    Just in case you all didn’t know, Judd Apatow also had a show on Fox about college kids called Undeclared which was also brilliant.

    Later on this summer he has his first feature film called “40 year Old Virgin” which looks really funny. Steve Carrell (Daily Show, the Office) stars.

  6. Joe Says:
    July 3rd, 2005 at 8:09 pm

    Thanks for the info, Almaniac. I am axiously awaiting Undeclared on DVD!

    I have also heard that Paul Feig (creator of Freaks) has a book out that is a good read.

    I also will add Anchorman to the Netflix as I haven’t seen that one yet.

  7. Scott Says:
    July 3rd, 2005 at 8:55 pm

    I’ve also heard wonderful things about Wonderfalls but haven’t watched the DVD yet. I’ll check it out soon and report on it when I do, but right now I’m working my way through Buffy Season 2. I just finished Season 1 and the it was great so I’m expecting the second season will be just as good if not better. I highly recommend the Buffy DVDs too in case that wasn’t obvious. :)

  8. Rich Says:
    July 3rd, 2005 at 10:52 pm

    Did the F&G guys have a hand in Wonder Falls? I heard that was a great show, developed an instant cult following after just one episode, and got thrown under the bus by FOX after only three episodes aired. Lots of people were ticked.

  9. Dan Says:
    July 5th, 2005 at 4:39 pm

    The couple of episodes of Wonderfalls that I saw were really cool, it got screwed by Fox on air times so it was kinda hard to keep up with. Wonderfalls was Exec Produced by by Tim Minear who partnered with Joss Whedon on the last couple seasons of Angel (which were real good) and Firefly (the best show to be screwed by Fox). If you dig that stuff he (and a couple of old Buffy/Angel/Firefly writers) are now doing the Fox show The Inside (check it out, I have Lee hooked on it until at least Veronica Mars comes back).

    To answer Rich’s question…diferent group but just as talented

  10. Weenis Says:
    August 28th, 2005 at 5:14 pm

    It’s hilarious and it stinks that it was canceled.

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    July 16th, 2009 at 4:24 pm

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