A fan-led campaign caused NBC to broadcast the remaining three episodes in July 2000; three earlier, unaired episodes would not be seen until September of that year, when the cable network Fox Family Channel aired them in syndication. The complete series was later released on DVD.
Despite a quick cancellation and only one season with 18 episodes, Freaks and Geeks developed a devoted cult following. The series appeared on Time magazine's 2007 "100 Greatest Shows of All Time" list, and in 2008 Entertainment Weekly ranked it the 13th-best series of the past 25 years.
Plot
The show centered on a teenage girl, Lindsay Weir (Linda Cardellini), and her brother, Sam (John Francis Daley), both attending William McKinley High School during the 1980–1981 school year in the town of Chippewa, Michigan, a fictional suburb of Detroit.
Their friends, respectively, constituted the "freaks" — Daniel Desario (James Franco), Ken Miller (Seth Rogen), Nick Andopolis (Jason Segel), Kim Kelly (Busy Philipps) — and the "geeks" — Neal Schweiber (Samm Levine) and Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr) — of the title. The Weirs' parents, Harold (Joe Flaherty) and Jean (Becky Ann Baker), were featured in every episode. Millie Kentner (Sarah Hagan), Lindsay's nerdy, highly religious former best friend, was a recurring character, as was Cindy Sanders (Natasha Melnick), the pretty, popular cheerleader on whom Sam had a crush.
The show's starting point was Lindsay's transition from her life as an academically proficient student, star mathlete, and proper young girl, with Millie as her like-minded best friend, to an Army-jacket-wearing teenager who hangs out with troubled slackers. Her relationships with her new friends, and the friction they cause with her parents and with her own self-image, form one central strand of the show; the other follows Sam and his group of geeky friends as they navigate a very different part of the social universe trying to fit in.
Cast and characters
List of Freaks and Geeks characters
Weir family
Linda Cardellini as Lindsay Weir
John Francis Daley as Sam Weir
Joe Flaherty as Harold Weir
Becky Ann Baker as Jean Weir
Geeks
Samm Levine as Neal Schweiber
Martin Starr as Bill Haverchuck
Sarah Hagan as Millie Kentner
Jerry Messing as Gordon Crisp
Stephen Lea Sheppard as Harris Trinsky
Freaks
James Franco as Daniel Desario
Busy Philipps as Kim Kelly
Jason Segel as Nick Andopolis
Seth Rogen as Ken Miller
Faculty
Dave "Gruber" Allen as Mr. Rosso
Steve Bannos as Mr. Kowchevski
Trace Beaulieu as Mr. Lacovara
Steve Higgins as Mr. Fleck
Leslie Mann as Ms. Foote
Thomas F. Wilson as Coach Fredricks
Guest stars and cameo appearances
Early on, the creators of the show were not open to the idea of having guest stars on the show. A denied suggestion from NBC was to have a pop icon like Britney Spears appear as a waitress in one episode. Many of the program's crew, including producer Judd Apatow, thought that such guest-star appearances would greatly detract from the show's quality and realism. However, lesser-known "guest stars" would make occasional unhyped appearances on the show. As the producers began to fear an imminent cancellation, Apatow's old friend Ben Stiller made an appearance as a Secret Service agent in the second-to-last episode of the program, but the appearance only aired after the series had been cancelled.
Other notable guest appearances were made by Thomas F. Wilson (in the recurring role of Coach Fredericks), Chauncey Leopardi (in the recurring role of bully Alan White), Shaun Weiss (in the recurring role of student Sean and the bass player in Nick's band), Joel Hodgson (in the recurring role of a salesman who loves disco), Joanna García (in the recurring role of head cheerleader Vicki Appleby), Kayla Ewell (in the recurring role of pretty new transfer student Maureen Sampson), David Koechner (as a waiter), Kevin Corrigan (as Millie's delinquent cousin), Jason Schwartzman (as a student dealing in fake IDs), Allen Covert (as the liquor store clerk), Matt Czuchry (as a student from rival Lincoln High), Claudia Christian (as Bill's mother), Shia LaBeouf (as the school mascot that gets hurt), Samaire Armstrong (as "Deadhead" Laurie), Ben Foster (who appeared as the mentally handicapped student Eli, and often hyped the show while promoting the film Liberty Heights), and Alexander Gould (as Ronnie, the boy Lindsay babysits while high). Veteran character actor Kevin Tighe also appeared in two episodes as Nick's father.
Many of the writers appeared on the show at one point or another. Mike White, for instance, played Kim Kelly's oft-discussed injured brother, first appearing in the fourth episode "Kim Kelly is My Friend". Paul Feig and Gabe Sachs appear uncredited as members of the fictional band "Dimension" in "I'm With the Band". Michael Andrews, the original score composer for the series, plays the role of Dimension's lead singer. Steve Bannos played the recurring role of the math teacher Mr. Kowchevski.
Other notable guest stars include David Krumholtz as Neal's brother Barry, Lizzy Caplan as Sara, and Rashida Jones as Karen Scarfoli, first appearing in the fourth episode, "Kim Kelly is My Friend".
Punk rock band Diesel Boy appears and performs in the "Noshing and Moshing" episode.
Opening sequence
The series' opening sequence depicts each of the main characters, with the exception of Kim Kelly (Busy Philipps), having their high school yearbook photo taken as the song "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts plays.
Freaks and Geeks episodes
The show ran for eighteen episodes, three of which were unaired by NBC and not seen until Fox Family began running the show in 2000, and the final three episodes were premiered at the Museum of the Moving Image prior to being broadcast on television.
Ratings
The show averaged 6.77 million viewers and was #93 in the rankings during its only season.
DVD, CD and book releases
On April 6, 2004, a six-DVD Freaks and Geeks box set was released through Shout! Factory. A limited "yearbook edition" set including two additional discs was also available through the official website for the show. Fans who had signed an online petition to get the show on DVD got priority in purchasing the special set. A CD soundtrack was released on September 14, 2004.
In November 2004, two Freaks and Geeks books were released, titled Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Scripts, Volume 1 and Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Scripts, Volume 2. Both published by Newmarket Press, each book covers nine scripts from the series as compiled by Paul Feig and Judd Apatow themselves. Extra content includes behind-the-scenes memos and notes, photos, additional plotlines and excerpts from the Freaks and Geeks series bibles.
On November 25, 2008, the deluxe "Yearbook Edition" boxed set was re-released. The set features all of the episodes, commentaries, and special features of the "Complete Series" six-DVD set, plus two extra discs and deluxe packaging. It is packaged as a 80-page color yearbook with essays, pictures, and episode synopses.
Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series
Set details Special features
Studio: Shout! Factory
18 episodes
1.33:1 aspect ratio
English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround)
Subtitles: None
29 audio commentaries by the actors, writers, directors, network executives, parents of cast members, teachers in character and dedicated fans of the show
Over 60 deleted scenes and outtakes with commentary
28-page booklet with an essay by series creator Paul Feig, and a Q&A with producer/writer Judd Apatow.
Cast auditions
Release date
North America April 6, 2004
Freaks and Geeks (soundtrack)
One of the distinguishing characteristics that separated Freaks and Geeks from similar television series at the time was its authentic soundtrack. The creators made it a priority to feature genuine, period-specific music that would help to create the tone of the show. Clearing such names as The Who, Van Halen, Rush, the Grateful Dead, The Moody Blues, and Billy Joel would prove to require much of the show's budget. Eventually, this would become an obstacle in releasing the show on DVD due to the difficulty and expense of clearing all of the music rights for the series. Many television shows (such as Dawson's Creek and WKRP in Cincinnati) had music cues changed or removed in order to facilitate relatively inexpensive DVD releases, as was done for Freaks and Geeks when it was seen in reruns on Fox Family. However, the creators chose to wait to release the DVD until they could find a company up to the challenge of gaining clearance for the music, as not to upset the fans of the show. Shout! Factory, a music and video company specializing in comprehensive reissues and compilations of classic and sometimes obscure pop culture eventually brought Freaks and Geeks to DVD with all of its music intact.
Awards
The show was nominated for two Emmy Awards in 2000: one for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (Paul Feig, "Pilot") and one for Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series (Allison Jones, Coreen Mayrs and Jill Greenberg). The show won the Emmy for Outstanding Casting.
The show was nominated for an Emmy once again in 2001 for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (Paul Feig, "Discos and Dragons").
In addition to the Emmys, the show has been nominated for and won numerous awards for writing, directing and acting.
Detroit/Michigan references
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2009)
The show is set in the fictional town of Chippewa, Michigan, although the town is unnamed until the fifteenth episode, "Noshing and Moshing". The series was partly based on creator Feig's experiences at Chippewa Valley High School – located in Clinton Township, Michigan – from which he graduated in 1980. Though the town's geography is never clearly established, in the episode "Looks and Books" Harold Weir mentions that they live near Detroit.
There are many other references to the Metro Detroit area, including mentions of institutions specific to the Detroit area, such as Faygo, Cobo Arena, Detroit Lions, Pontiac Silverdome, Detroit Tigers, Farmer Jack, party stores, General Motors, the Mile Road System, and the North American International Auto Show. Those native to the metropolitan Detroit area have noticed visual flaws in the otherwise-effective TV series related to its purported setting. At least one episode shows a large mountain in the background of a shot that is supposed to take place in the suburban Detroit area. There are no mountains within several hundred miles of Detroit.
Undeclared and beyond
In 2001, several of the actors featured in Freaks and Geeks appeared in a new Judd Apatow college half-hour comedy called Undeclared, which aired on Fox Network. Apatow fought with the network to include Freaks and Geeks actors, but only picked up Seth Rogen (who was already committed to the show as a writer) as a regular cast member. However, Jason Segel became a recurring character, and Samm Levine, Busy Philipps, and Natasha Melnick guest-starred in multi-episode arcs, as did prominent Freaks and Geeks guest stars Steve Bannos and David Krumholtz. Martin Starr was prominent in another episode, and a scene with Sarah Hagan was shot, although it was cut for television broadcast. Despite garnering a cult following, the show was also canceled abruptly during its first season.
Six years later, actors from the two shows comprised the bulk of the starring cast of Apatow's film, Knocked Up, with James Franco making a brief cameo appearance as himself. In addition, many of the extras starred as teachers and principal tertiary characters from both shows. Martin Starr, Steve Bannos, and David Krumholtz all appeared as extras in Superbad, which was produced by Apatow and co-written by Rogen (who also has a supporting role in the film). Walk Hard featured Bannos, Krumholtz and Starr in minor or cameo roles.
In 2008, Rogen and Franco co-starred in the Judd Apatow-produced comedy film Pineapple Express.
In June 2010, it was announced that IFC had acquired the rights to air both Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared which debuted in July 2010.
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(source:wikipedia)
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