Freaks And Geeks - General Discussion

[David T. Cole]

Your Lindsay topic!

[David T. Cole]

Your Sam topic!

[wingster55]

Hands down my favorite female character ever. I like that even though she changed, she didn't dumb herself down, didn't lose her morals etc. 

[wingster55]

Oh man...the second hand embarrassment I always feel towards him in Looks and Books. Such a cringeworthy (and great) episode. 

[DXD526]

Is it pathetic or cool that I want "Lady L" for my ipod? I'm going with cool.

[wingster55]

Is it not on Itunes? Get on that Judd Apatow.

[rujasu]

Yeah, one of the great things about the show (and possibly part of its downfall) is how well it portrays embarrassment.  There's something cringeworthy in every episode (involving Sam more often than not, but also other characters).

[el perro fumando]

Oh my god, I love Sam Weir. John Daley was so perfect, so REAL in this show. His friendship with Neal and Bill was so damn right, talking about everything from pornos (HA!) to whether it was Cindy farting or the chair. Hard to pick a fave Sam scene: dancing in the Parisian night suit? Running naked through the halls? Being terrorized by Rashida Jones? Getting attacked (finally!) by Cindy? Laughing at his dad with Lindsay? Talking to Ken about breaking up with Cindy? Hmmm. Nah, I think it's still the first episode, when he asks Cindy if he can have his dance now. "Come Sail Away" will forever conjure up his victory dance!!!

I love this show - and Sam Weir - so much!

[King of Birds]

Shout Factory is getting the film negatives, and releasing the one glorious season on Blu-Ray!

 

I never bought the DVDs - a friend loaned them to me. I wonder what type of extras they'll have.

 

[Totale]

A lot of shows from this era get in trouble on re-releases due to music licensing rights.  Since they'll have the materials to get the visuals right I hope they can afford to use all the original music.

[rujasu]

The DVD set has the original music, so I would expect the Blu-Ray to have it as well.  In the commentary, they mentioned that it was difficult to get the rights to all of it, but it was possible because there was only one season of the show.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Busy Philipps did the #Ham4All challenge!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Here is the place to discuss past and future projects of the cast and crew of Freaks & Geeks!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Paul Feig discusses his J. Crew menswear collection (!):

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Judd Apatow discusses his Netflix special The Return:

[StatisticalOutlier]

There's a documentary about Freaks and Geeks currently on the festival circuit.  It will be shown on A&E later this year.  The A&E site doesn't mention it, but I saw something that said early summer.

[Moxie Cat]

Anyone watch the F&G doc last night? I wouldn't have remembered it was on but EW had a tidbit in their latest issue. I thought it was great. All of the regulars returned for it, and many of the recurring characters.

I would like to ask them why they didn't shop the show to the WB. There was a long discussion about the state of TV shows at the time, and the popularity of Dawson's Creek was mentioned, but then they said there were only four nets they asked to pick up the pilot (the three biggies plus Fox). I always thought they might have had a better shot on the WB.

Edited July 18, 2018 by Moxie Cat
Confirmed all of regular cast's presence - finally saw Becky Ann Baker!

[msrachelj]

i agree. the show was good but too odd for network tv. these days i think i would have done well on one of the cable channels. i wish they would rerun it though , i'd love to rewatch. i surely don't remember much from 20 years ago.

[SoMuchTV]

Awwww... I missed that it was going to be on, but yay, me, I figured out how to watch it on my fire stick.  I have mixed feelings - I really liked the show, but I kind of agree with what a lot of the folks were saying at the end - what if it went on for years and got less good... this was a perfect view of a year in their lives...

So, I'll just try to look at it as a limited series that I really liked, not as a show that got cancelled before its time.  And, it does seem like most of them definitely didn't suffer any adverse career consequences!

8 hours ago, msrachelj said:

i agree. the show was good but too odd for network tv. these days i think i would have done well on one of the cable channels. i wish they would rerun it though , i'd love to rewatch. i surely don't remember much from 20 years ago.

I think it's all on Netflix now, fwiw.

[msrachelj]

1 hour ago, SoMuchTV said:

Awwww... I missed that it was going to be on, but yay, me, I figured out how to watch it on my fire stick.  I have mixed feelings - I really liked the show, but I kind of agree with what a lot of the folks were saying at the end - what if it went on for years and got less good... this was a perfect view of a year in their lives...

So, I'll just try to look at it as a limited series that I really liked, not as a show that got cancelled before its time.  And, it does seem like most of them definitely didn't suffer any adverse career consequences!

I think it's all on Netflix now, fwiw.

i can only watch what direct tv puts on. i am one of the forgotten people without unlimited broadband. 

[Babalu]

2 hours ago, msrachelj said:

i can only watch what direct tv puts on. i am one of the forgotten people without unlimited broadband. 

Do you have On Demand through DirecTV? I didn’t know the documentary was going to be on, either, so did a search and recorded it last night. 

[msrachelj]

don't know much about on demand. don't you have to use the internet for that? are you talking about just searching to see what's on?

also, direct tv did an update not too long ago that did away so it seems with a couple of very convenient features and now the font is so small i can only see a blur on information. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 7/18/2018 at 5:39 PM, msrachelj said:

i can only watch what direct tv puts on. i am one of the forgotten people without unlimited broadband. 

Me, too. 

But hey, I tried--I posted that it would probably be on in early summer.

I'd like to watch the original episodes again, but only if they have the original music.  I saw some once that had different music, and I know because the captions were the words to the original songs, which was not what was playing.  It made a big difference.

As for the documentary, I can't believe the Parisian Night Suit was based on a real incident in Paul Feig's life.  Or that he would admit it.  I was cringing so bad I almost turned inside out.

But it did make me want to be his friend.

[ganesh]

On 7/17/2018 at 6:53 PM, Moxie Cat said:

Anyone watch the F&G doc last night?

I'm watching now. I didn't catch the show till years after, so I enjoyed the social context presented here. I actually watched Undeclared first. 

Remarkable that so many of the actors, really, the entire main cast are known actors now and have been for a while. Interesting though that maybe because these young actors were exposed to such high quality at a young age that they were successful because they had expectations. 

On 7/18/2018 at 3:46 PM, SoMuchTV said:

I really liked the show, but I kind of agree with what a lot of the folks were saying at the end - what if it went on for years and got less good... this was a perfect view of a year in their lives...

I don't necessarily buy that argument in general. They might have gone 3 seasons and decided they told the stories they needed to tell. I lean more on the side of TPTBs being allowed to write their own series ending. And they basically were able to do that. 

If anything, I can respect that TPTBs wouldn't compromise their vision of what the show should be at the expense of being canceled. In that sense, I would rather have the series they aired that was true to their vision than 3 seasons of missed potential. 

On 7/18/2018 at 7:15 AM, msrachelj said:

the show was good but too odd for network tv. these days i think i would have done well on one of the cable channels.

I didn't really know that "dramedy" wasn't a thing yet back then. And they were right in saying that is most of tv now. It seemed to me that NBC just didn't know what to do with it. Especially when the network guy was saying how it was too sad. Nowadays, sure, it would be on somewhere, probably the same rating, and be a critical success. Sad would be gold. 

Also, this is kind of a show you need to watch regularly because it's not really episodic. 

Another thing I noticed when they were showing all the sitcoms was that they haven't seemed to have changed much. 

You know, a lot of this reminds me of My So Called Life too.

Edited July 26, 2018 by ganesh

[Moxie Cat]

On July 25, 2018 at 9:33 PM, ganesh said:

I didn't really know that "dramedy" wasn't a thing yet back then.

I thought that was a little incorrect for 1999. I clearly remember when Doogie Howser and Wonder Years began, and can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that both were called dramedies. (Yeah, I loved me some TV Guide back then.) That was a decade prior. I loved F&G but it certainly was not the first teen show to combine comedy and drama. 

On a related note, I had to laugh at the chart showing all the roles that the F&G alums achieved afterwards - because Busy Philipps' 2 year regular stint on Dawson's Creek was nowhere to be seen (a part that I would suppose was largely earned by her F&G cred) but random guest parts and tiny movie roles were. I guess Dawson's doesn't rate with this crowd, lol.

I think I was most fascinated by John Francis Daley. I never watched Bones, so I was largely unfamiliar with adult Sam.

[Raja]

The first shows that I remember marketed as "dramedies" were Frank's Place and Hooperman in the late 1980s

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Busy Phillips talks about how the anecdote about James Franco being a dick to her on the set of Freaks & Geeks turned into huge issue when her book came out (even though she and James had both talked about the incident  publicly before):

[Swenson]

What do you think happened to Lindsey after she shunned the academic summit to run around with a bunch of stoned deadheads all summer?  Surely the folks were gonna check up on her right?  She's in for a great big grounding.  And no way they would allow her to run with Kim again.

[Nordly Beaumont]

On 6/16/2020 at 2:00 AM, Swenson said:

What do you think happened to Lindsey after she shunned the academic summit to run around with a bunch of stoned deadheads all summer?  Surely the folks were gonna check up on her right?  She's in for a great big grounding.  And no way they would allow her to run with Kim again.

Oh, that ending broke my heart. Mainly because of how it would effect her relationship with her parents (and Sam). But Lindsay was always just trying to figure herself out, so maybe she'd do well running with the deadheads (who would let her be herself without placing expectations or demands on her). But she loved her parents and they loved her and I think it would be a very long time before they could repair that relationship, since they would never trust Lindsay again.

I've read that if they got a second season, they were going to write that Lindsay would come back a drug addict. I really don't know how I feel about that. It could have been interesting, and I think the writers could have done it well, but I think it's a little simple and cliche. I would rather have seen her come back with a new sense of self and watch her blossom (and everyone else deal with it).

[Swenson]

I wouldn't have wanted her to come back an addict, I mean look at how she handled it during her paranoid pot induced babysitting episode when her "real" best friend Millie came to save her.  I mean she freaked out over the dog waking up because she really believed they were all just the dogs dream.  I can accept that she ran off to find herself....people do that when they feel trapped by their lives.  It would just be so hard to make the dad understand.  You had the feeling she didn't really want to go to the summit anyway.  She felt she HAD to.   And poor Ken, he lost both his friends,  Nick to disco, and Daniel to D&D.  Must've been a lonely summer for him.

[Kel Varnsen]

Rewatching the series on DVD because there is not much else on to watch. It still holds up really well even though I have not seen it in years. I have gotten through the first disc and I love how just sort of average the endings are (not in a bad way). In the first episode the geeks get in a fight and neither win nor lose but just sort of realize that they won't get killed. In the second the party just ends, the house doesn't get destroyed and there is no mad rush to clean up before the parent get home. 

But man I really need to get to the episode where Lindsay and Kim become friends, because I just want Lindsay to call her out on her bitchy comments and behavior. Or punch her in the face.

Also that opening scene of the pilot with the cheerleader and her boyfriend that then panned down to the freaks and Running with the Devil and then to the geeks doing Bill Murray impressions was possibly the best opening scene to any series ever.

[Kel Varnsen]

About half way through the series. Last time I watched it was probably about 10 years or more ago and I think at the time my favourite episode was Beers and Weird but now I think this time my favourite is probably Looks and Books. Mostly because Lindsay goes through so much and Linda Cardellini does a great job with all of it. I love how her freak friends support her at the mathlete competition and everyone just sort of gets over their shit. Plus the use of Long Way Home by Supertramp is amazing.

Although tonight I watched The Garage door and  it is kind of weird. They keep talking about how Nick is supposed to be giving the cold shoulder to Lindsay to get her back and she is supposed to be bitchy to him to tell him she isn't interested. But you never really see that happen. I was expecting it to maybe happen in deleted scenes but their aren't any with the two of them.

[Kel Varnsen]

Finished my rewatch last week. It is funny, I always knew the show was good, but I never appreciated how good it was. I imagine it is in part because of the massive amount of tv I have watched since the last time I watched these dvds. But everything from the acting, writing directing and music is as good as anything on tv now or better.

I know there was no chance of season 2 but it is too bad they couldn't have at least gotten 22 episodes for season 1. I would have loved to see what kind of fall out there would have been from Sam dumping Cindy. Would it have made him more popular with other girls?

Looks and Books is still my favourite but I also really like Smooching and Mooching (mostly because of Nick and Lindsay's dad) and the Little things (because of how Sam realizes that Cindy is a crappy girlfriend and they should break up, and how Mr. Rosso helps Lindsay).

 

[purist]

@Kel Varnsen, I rewatched the series a couple of months ago and was struck anew by what a great show it was. I went back and read the original TWoP recaps, which was very enjoyable. (Ignore the ratings on the episodes - they seem to be completely flawed, for whatever reason.)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Freaks and Geeks will be available on Hulu next week

And with the original soundtrack!

[Iseut]

On 10/7/2020 at 10:16 PM, purist said:

@Kel Varnsen, I rewatched the series a couple of months ago and was struck anew by what a great show it was. I went back and read the original TWoP recaps, which was very enjoyable. (Ignore the ratings on the episodes - they seem to be completely flawed, for whatever reason.)

Aww, Purist! ❤️ I hadn't seen those old TWoP recaps forEVER and didn't really know where to find them. I'm rewatching F&G on Hulu now and it's so fun to have these recaps to go along with them. Also watching some old Amazing Race seasons, which were always my favorite recaps, so it's fun to read along with those too. What a treat! 

Also on F&G, I was curious and looked up the ages of the cast. I didn't realize how much older Linda Cardellini was than the rest of the cast...she was 25 during filming, almost 10 years older than John Francis Daley/Sam. Most of the others were between 17-21. It's interesting that most of the Freaks were a little bit older than the Geeks. They were supposed to be a couple years older than the freshmen geeks, I guess, but I also think they had to have sort of a "lived experience" look that really worked for their characters. 

Edited April 7, 2021 by Iseut

[SoMuchTV]

I’ve been rewatching occasionally on Hulu, and I just started The Garage Door. What can you say about a show that was made 20+ years ago, set 40+ years ago, and they can lead with a joke about how SNL isn’t what it used to be!

Do I feel old? No of course not! Why do you ask?

Edited July 31, 2021 by SoMuchTV

[SoMuchTV]

I just finished rewatching on Hulu, and while I’m sorry it was cancelled after one season, I continue to be impressed with how everything was wrapped up as if they knew it was a one season show. I mean, I’m sure there would be repercussions for Lindsey’s little road trip, but basically everyone’s finding their path.  

I still cut a little slack to any of the actors even when I’m not totally impressed with them in the present day. 

And as I type this I’m listening to American Beauty. 

[kassandra8286]

I've been watching CNN's History of the Sitcom. The latest episode was about freaks, nerds, outsiders, etc in sitcoms. I was excited to see F&G included, kind of unexpected since it wasn't a traditional 30 minute sitcom but more of a dramedy. 

I'm rewatching the series again on Hulu, it's been a good long while since I last saw it. I just finished episode 2, Beers and Weirs, one of my favorites. Loved everyone at the party getting drunk on fake beer, lol. Also loved Millie's piano rendition of Jesus is Just Alright with Me with Nick enthusiastically joining in. LC played a convincing drunk teenage girl, even though it was all placebo effect. Bill in the back room drinking the real beer while watching Dallas 😂.

Ugh, everything about Cindy is insufferable, even in the early episodes where she doesn't do much except strut around annoyingly.

On 8/10/2021 at 7:08 PM, SoMuchTV said:

I just finished rewatching on Hulu, and while I’m sorry it was cancelled after one season, I continue to be impressed with how everything was wrapped up as if they knew it was a one season show.

I know right? A commentator on the CNN show mentioned how it's remained a timeless and perfect show perhaps because it was cut short before it had a chance to get stale. In retrospect I'm kind of glad it ended when it did although I was super mad at the time.  Plus, with most streaming series nowadays being only 8-10 episodes, at 16 episodes F&G is like a two season series. Lots happened and the characters grew a bunch in just one season.

Edited August 22, 2021 by kassandra8286

[Fool to cry]

 

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Wow I thought that was just a funny bit, because until just now I had no idea that John Francis Daly directed the Dungeons and Dragons movie.