Freaks and Geeks, anyone?

[SBaholic]

This is a little gem that I've discovered thanks to my boyfriend's naughty habit of downloading, although where he originally heard about it I don't know.

It never aired in the UK, and was cancelled after about ten eps in USA, which is what seems to happen these days when a show is put on the wrong channel and then not nurtured properly. It's from Judd Apatow, who's recently done Knocked Up, Superbad, etc - with a lot of the actors he works with in this (Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, etc) and it basically follows the high school teen drama format, but follows a group of geeks, and a group of freaks.

It really is surprisingly brilliant - the humour isn't as juvenile as Apatow's films, more akin to Mean Girls actually - and the storylines are a bit cliche (parents go away and kid throws a huge party, someone cheats in an exam and feels guilty afterwards and so on) but the execution of them is a lot more true to life and touching than the glossy stuff. The characters are really hilarious too - the dad's reactions to everything are priceless, and I love the nerds' take on life. There's some great cameos too - Jason Schwarzman as a shop assistant, and I've been told (I'm just over halfway through) Ben Stiller turns up soon as a security guard.

I'm not sure if the boxset is available in the UK (probably wouldn't get many sales as it's fairly anonymous here) but it's definitely worth checking out if you like your 80/90s high school dramas with a bit of a "loser kid" approach. So gutted they cancelled this and it never got the recognition it deserved!

[jode*]

I only discovered this a couple of years ago on the now defunct tv-links.co.uk.

Very entertaining. James Franco is very cheesy, and Linda Cardellini way too pretty, but it is a lot better than all of the other teen comedies. I think it had the benefit of arriving a bit later (1999?).

[audrey notwhatsheusedtobe]

I'm stunned we haven't talked about this before on here, but I've had a quick search and it appears not.

I LOVE Freaks and Geeks. It's amazing. To me it was a bit "Wonder Years meets My So Called Life" (which is a good thing). I do have the box set and bought it a while ago, it might be the American version but if you have a multiregion player that's fine. Apparently it took ages to come out and cost the producers loads as they wanted to have all the original music.

It's ages since I last watched it so I'm a bit hazy, but the light blue jumpsuit was great. My favourite was Nick - his disco reinvention was hilarious.

Surely it'll get a re-run seeing as how immensely famous almost all of the actors became? I think I first saw it on Trouble about 6 years ago.

[mcqueen]

I found this on Irish TV in the middle of the night about a year after it was cancelled- it actually made me really angry that something as good as this didnt get a chance to grow.

Anyway, I wholerheartedly recommend it.

[SBaholic]

I'm so glad there are some fans! I have about five episodes to go, and it's quite sad there won't be any more after that. There is Undeclared which is also from Apatow and has some of the same actors but as different characters and it's set in college, but apparently it isn't as good or as funny.

Jul 9, 2008 11:00:16 GMT audrey notwhatsheusedtobe said:

Surely it'll get a re-run seeing as how immensely famous almost all of the actors became? I think I first saw it on Trouble about 6 years ago.

Wikipedia has just told me that the little boy who wears the viking school mascot with the giant head (that thing was so creepy!) before Sam gets the role was Shia LeBouef! Best random yet.

[Chris]

I've never seen Freaks & Geeks, but Undeclared is well worth a watch. Maybe it was just lowered expectations given where I stumbled upon it (late night ITV) but I thought it was really good.

Also - only half decent acting Charlie Hunnam's ever done.

[SBaholic]

Really? A friend who'd seen it said it was boys gross out comedy at college, and I don't think I'd really want to watch that, especially as is Seth Rogen the main character? He grates me.

[Chris]

It is a little bit, but it's genuinely sweet, and the POV of the female characters is fairly well represented as well. And this is coming from someone who thinks all of Apatow's films are a load of tut. (And Seth Rogan's more a supporting character, and is a LOT more subdued than usual)

[SBaholic]

Just finished the series yesterday. A little disappointed by the ending -

SPOILER: Click to show

I guess it fitted in with Lindsay's theme of rebellion and finding out who she is, but I LOVE her parents so much, and for her to deceive them at the end is quite sad. I think I would have preferred her doing something naff such as get on the bus to go to Michigan, and they wave her off... and then the bus stops and she comes running back to them saying "I want to spend my summer with you guys!" cough cough.

but the last few episodes were great. Apart from the parents, I guess the obvious favourite character has to be Bill, he's just so, so funny and lovable. I don't get the Nick love - the singing and the poems and declerations of love on the first date would have sent me running for the hills.

Ooooooh - and Janis Ian as Sara the disco girl was genius and so unexpected!

[skillex]

I've never seen this but genuinely heard NOTHING but good about it. I'm due to be in the States next Easter so should really invest in a multi-region DVD player before then so I can pick up a big shopping list of stuff including this.