TV - Freaks and Geeks

With all of my mentions of how Freaks and Geeks was an amazing show that everyone should see I thought I ought to actually write a formal post about it.

The basic plot outline for the show, stolen directly from imdb.com: "It's the 1980s and at McKinley High, there's two different groups of teenagers, the Freaks with cool and charismatic Daniel DeSario (James Franco) and tomboy Lindsay Weir (Linda Cardellini) and the Geeks with Lindsay's shy younger brother Sam (John Francis Daley), gentle Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr), and self-proclaimed ladies' man Neal Schweiber (Samm Levine). The show chronicles the normal teen/adolescence problems any teenager goes through including acceptance, drugs, drinking, and bullying."

This is a very basic outline, and on the surface, it sounds kinda boring, but this show is one of the most true to life shows about high school that I have ever seen. The kids look like kids. They don't speak like well educated Harvard students, but just like you and me. Sex is dealt with, but as far as I remember, there wasn't a lot of it going on. Like my high school experience, you knew some people were involved, but it wasn't everywhere, in your face, and it wasn't talked about much like on most TV shows about high school. The parents acted like parents and were involved in their kids lives on a daily basis. All of these things rang true to my high school experience.

Again, the above all sounds boring. Who wants to watch a show that is almost exactly like high school was? It may make you nostalgic in an odd way if you were a freak (aka a burnout, stoner, slacker, etc) or a geek (you know, me, and probably most bloggers), but the nostalgia is always about those odd, awkward, or uncomfortable situations that we all had in high school. The show is filled with humor and fun, while at the same time, heart. It truly portrays how hard high school is for all of us who were not popular.

It is so real that we can't help but care about the characters. We can't help but want them to succeed in life and to get everything that they hope for, even when it is a stupid dream (like Nick and his huge drum kit). These characters are our friends and ourselves, and that is why it is so much fun.

The actors in this show were so great, that many of them are pretty famous now. Let's see what they have done since the show:

Linda Cardellini - Lindsey Weir
She is now a regular on ER.

John Francis Daley - Sam Weir
Has been on numerous TV shows like Kitchen Confidential and Bones.

James Franco - Daniel Desario
Freaking Harry Osborn right here folks. Plus, he will be in Judd Apatow's Pineapple Express.

Samm Levine - Neal Schweiber
Well, according to imdb.com it's Samm's birthday today. Happy Birthday! It looks like Samm has had a guest appearance in just about every show made since 2000. I remember him most recently from How I Met Your Mother and Entourage.

Jason Segel - Nick Andopolis
He was on Undeclared (the next great Apatow show) right after Freaks and Geeks. He is currently on How I Met Your Mother and will be in the next big Apatow movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. He was also in one of the best scenes in the show EVER (watch it to the end for full effect):


Pure Awesome!

Martin Starr - Bill Haverchuck
Also showed up on How I Met Your Mother, but his most memorable roll since Freaks and Geeks is as Martin, the pink-eyed, long-haired dude on Knocked Up.

Seth Rogen - Ken Miller
Seth has probably gained the most noteriety since the show. He has been in Anchorman, 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, and many other movies. Plus, he will be in Pineapple Express.

Busy Philipps - Kim Kelly
She was on Dawson's Creek, Love Inc, and ER. She also made a How I Met Your Mother cameo.

And now you can see why every TV show and movie that is great can somehow tie back in to Freaks and Geeks. I'm not quite ready to call it the best show of all time, but it certainly is fantastic. Get your own copy on the Amazon.com side bar over there or check it out on Netflix. Come on people, you owe it to yourselves.

Tomorrow: Books - The Road