Freaks and Geeks

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Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox television Freaks and Geeks is an American teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC from September 25, 1999, to July 8, 2000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Three episodes were left unaired by NBC, and the episodes were first broadcast in September and October 2000 on Fox Family Channel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The show is set in a suburban high school near Detroit during 1980–81. The theme of Freaks and Geeks reflects "the sad, hilarious unfairness of teen life". With little success when it first aired, because of an erratic episode schedule and conflicts between the creators and NBC, the series was canceled after airing 15 out of the 18 episodes. The series–which launched most of its young actors' careers–starred Linda Cardellini, John Francis Daley, James Franco, Samm Levine, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Martin Starr, Busy Philipps, Becky Ann Baker, and Joe Flaherty.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

The series became a cult classic, and Apatow continued the show's legacy by incorporating the actors in future productions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It appeared in numerous lists of the greatest television shows of all time, including lists by Time, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, Rolling Stone and Variety.

Plot

Teenager Lindsay Weir and her younger brother, Sam, attend William McKinley High School during the 1980–81 school year. The show is set in the town of Chippewa, Michigan, a fictional suburb of Detroit (named after Chippewa Valley High School, which series creator Paul Feig attended).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Lindsay joins a group of friends who are referred to as the "freaks" — Daniel Desario, Ken Miller, Nick Andopolis, and Kim Kelly — while Sam's friends, Neal Schweiber and Bill Haverchuck, constitute the "geeks." The Weir parents, Harold and Jean, are featured in every episode, and Millie Kentner, Lindsay's nerdy and highly religious former best friend, is a recurring character, as well as Cindy Sanders, the popular cheerleader on whom Sam has a crush.

Lindsay finds herself attempting to transform her life as an academically proficient student, star "mathlete" into a rebellious teenager who hangs out with troubled slackers. Her relationships with her new friends and the friction they cause with her parents and her self-image form one central strand of the show. The other follows Sam and his group of geeky friends as they navigate a different part of the social universe and try to fit in.

Cast and characters

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Main cast

Recurring cast

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Guest stars and cameo appearances

Guest stars included:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The show's producers were resistant to stunt casting. For example, they resisted the network's suggestion that they have Britney Spears appear as a waitress in one episode;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> they thought such appearances would detract from the show's realism.<ref>Template:Cite video</ref>

Several of the screenwriters appeared on the show. Mike White played Kim Kelly's oft-discussed injured brother, and first appeared in episode 4, "Kim Kelly is My Friend". Paul Feig, Gabe Sachs and series composer Michael Andrews appear uncredited as members of the fictional band Dimension in "I'm With the Band".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Numerous actors who starred on Freaks and Geeks would appear on Judd Apatow's later TV series Undeclared, including Rogen, Segel, Levine, Starr, Phillips and Melnick, among several others.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Episodes

The script for the pilot episode of Freaks and Geeks was written by Paul Feig as a spec script.<ref name="Freaks scripts vol. 1">Template:Cite book</ref> Feig gave the script to producer Judd Apatow, who sold it to DreamWorks, where Apatow was under an overall deal. DreamWorks sold it to NBC, who greenlit a pilot. Before the script was shot, Feig wrote a second episode at the behest of Apatow. He showed this second script to Apatow and pilot director Jake Kasdan, and they suggested that he combine the two episodes to form a stronger pilot. Notable additions include the introduction of Kim Kelly and Lindsay's recollection of her grandmother's death.<ref name="Freaks scripts vol. 1" /> Feig wrote a final draft after a read-through with the cast, this time incorporating a first meeting between Lindsay and the freaks (in previous drafts, Lindsay was already part of the group).<ref name="Freaks scripts vol. 1" />

The show ran for 18 episodes, three of which — "Kim Kelly Is My Friend", "Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers" and "Noshing and Moshing" — were unaired by NBC and not seen until Fox Family ran the show in 2000. The final three episodes premiered at the Museum of Television and Radio prior to being broadcast on television.<ref name="Koski">Template:Cite web</ref> The list below is ordered by the chronology of the storyline.<ref>Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series DVD Episode Booklet</ref>

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Planned storylines

In a 2012 interview with Vanity Fair, Paul Feig detailed what would have happened to the characters if the show had continued: Lindsay would become a human rights lawyer, years after following the Grateful Dead. Sam would have joined the drama club. Neal would cope with his parents' divorce by joining a swing choir in school. Bill would join the basketball team, becoming a jock and leading to tension with the geeks. Daniel would end up in jail. Kim would become pregnant on tour while following the Grateful Dead. Nick would be pressured by his strict father to join the Army.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Media releases

DVD and Blu-ray

On April 6, 2004, a six-DVD Freaks and Geeks box set was released through Shout! Factory and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. 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.<ref name="dvd"/>

On November 25, 2008, the deluxe "Yearbook Edition" box set was re-released through Vivendi Entertainment. 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 an 80-page color yearbook with essays, pictures and episode synopses.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In July 2015, Shout! Factory announced it had begun preparing for a Blu-ray release of the series.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was subsequently confirmed in December 2015 that Shout! would release the complete series on Blu-ray on March 22, 2016, and the set would contain all special features from the previous releases and the episodes in both their original aspect ratio and widescreen.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

As of July 1, 2021, all U.S. DVD and Blu-ray releases have been discontinued and are out of print.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Books

In October 2004, Newmarket Press released two Freaks and Geeks books: Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Scripts, Volume 1 and Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Scripts, Volume 2. Each book covers nine scripts from the series, compiled by Paul Feig and Judd Apatow. Extra content includes behind-the-scenes memos and notes, photos, additional plot lines and excerpts from the Freaks and Geeks series bibles.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Soundtrack

Template:Main Freaks and GeeksTemplate:' creators made it a priority to feature genuine, period-specific music that would help to create the show's tone. Clearing such names as Billy Joel, Cheap Trick, the Grateful Dead, Rush, Styx, The Moody Blues, The Who and Van Halen required much of the show's budget. Eventually, this became an obstacle in releasing the show on DVD due to the difficulty and expense of clearing all of the music rights for the series. Music cues were changed or removed for Freaks and Geeks when it aired in reruns on Fox Family. However, Freaks and GeeksTemplate:' creators chose to wait to release the DVD until they could find a company willing to pay for the original music. Shout! Factory, a music and video company specializing in comprehensive reissues and compilations, eventually brought Freaks and Geeks to DVD with all of its music intact.<ref name="dvd">Template:Cite web</ref>

Appearances

In February 2000, the cast of Freaks and Geeks competed against the cast of The WB teen drama Popular for a special week of the game show Family Feud, hosted by Louie Anderson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception

Critical reception

At Metacritic, Freaks and Geeks has a score of 88 out of 100, based on 26 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On Rotten Tomatoes, the show has a score of 100% with an average rating of 9.7 out of 10, based on 34 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Freaks and Geeks lampoons real-life adolescence while affectionately embracing every growing pain along the way with refreshing honesty."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ratings

The show averaged 6.77 million viewers and was #93 in the rankings during the only season it ran.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards and nominations

The series received three Emmy Award nominations: creator Paul Feig was nominated twice for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, for the episodes "Pilot" and "Discos and Dragons", and it won for Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series (Allison Jones, Coreen Mayrs and Jill Greenberg). It was also nominated for two Television Critics Association Awards, for New Program of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Drama. For acting, the series won for Best Family TV Series – Comedy and was nominated for Best Performance in a TV Series – Young Ensemble at the Young Artist Awards. For the YoungStar Awards, John Francis Daley and Sarah Hagan were nominated for Best Young Actor/Performance in a Comedy TV Series, and the ensemble was nominated for Best Young Ensemble Cast – Television. The series also received several other nominations in other categories.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The series appeared on Time magazine's 2007 "100 Greatest Shows of All Time" list,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and placed third on the magazine's list of greatest television shows of the 2000s.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2004 and 2007, respectively, Freaks and Geeks ranked No. 25 and No. 21 on TV GuideTemplate:'s Top Cult Shows Ever.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2008, Entertainment Weekly ranked it the 13th-best series of the past 25 years.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The same year, AOL TV named it the Best School Show of All Time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2013, TV Guide included it in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time,<ref>Roush, Matt (February 25, 2013). "Showstoppers: The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time". TV Guide. pp. 16–17.</ref> and ranked it No. 1 on their list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".<ref>Roush, Matt (June 3, 2013). "Cancelled Too Soon". TV Guide. pp. 20 and 21</ref> In 2016, it was named the 11th-greatest television series of all time by Rolling Stone.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Cancellation and legacy

One of the cited reasons for its early cancellation was its inability to gain an audience due to its "erratic scheduling" and poor time slots, competing with the high-rated Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The producers created a website for the series, but NBC would not share its URL because "they didn't want people to know the Internet existed; they were worried about losing viewers to it", as explained by Judd Apatow. Freaks and Geeks was only averaging under 7 million viewers, while other NBC series such as Frasier and Friends were averaging over 14 million viewers each.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

NBC and the creative directors of Freaks and Geeks did not have the same vision for the series. After the network picked up the pilot, Garth Ancier replaced Scott Sassa as president of NBC Entertainment. Ancier "didn't understand public school life" and its relevance because he went to a boarding school and then on to Princeton. Creator Paul Feig expressed the "irony of the situation", as everyone involved wanted Freaks and Geeks to be a success, but the network didn't understand the concept of realistically showcasing life as ordinary teenagers. Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow had multiple arguments with the network concerning "lack of victories" in the script and that the characters needed to be "cool." The writers wanted to produce something that would represent the average high school experience, but the network wanted to produce something that would make high school seem cool. Because the network did not think the series would be a success, they let the writers add things to the script that they "wouldn't have if they thought the show would resurface the next season", like the use of the phrase, "ambiguous genitalia".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Apatow said in 2014 that "Everything I've done, in a way, is revenge for the people who cancelled Freaks and Geeks."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Syndication

Cast of Freaks and Geeks at PaleyFest 2011

At the beginning of February 2006, the show's underlying ownership shifted from DreamWorks to Viacom (now known as Paramount Skydance). That month, they acquired the rights to Freaks and Geeks and all other television shows and live-action movies DreamWorks produced since their inception, following their $1.6 billion dollar purchase of the company's live-action film and television assets.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Copyright notice in the credits for Freaks and Geeks, 1999.</ref> The show has since been distributed by Paramount Pictures and its related television divisions.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> In June 2010, it was announced that IFC had acquired the rights to air both Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, another DreamWorks-produced show which was later acquired by Viacom/Paramount.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Freaks and GeeksTemplate:'s 18-episode run on IFC finished with all episodes having aired as of October 29, 2010. UndeclaredTemplate:'s IFC run began on November 5, 2010. Both shows also joined the Viacom-owned TeenNick's lineup on June 13, 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cast reunions

A reunion of several cast members and producers of both shows took place at the Paley Center for Media's PaleyFest on March 12, 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Documentary

A documentary directed by Brent Hodge chronicling the history and production of Freaks and Geeks and featuring interviews with the cast and crew, Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary, debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 21, 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The documentary had its television debut on July 16, 2018, on A&E.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

References

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Further reading

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