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Freaks and Geeks was an American television series, created by Paul Feig and produced by Judd Apatow, that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 TV season. Although the show, considered a "dramedy," garnered much critical acclaim and a devoted cult following, repeated preemption and scheduling changes hurt the ratings. It was cancelled after only 12 episodes had aired. A fan-led campaign caused NBC to broadcast three more episodes in July 2000, but three others would not be seen until September of that year when the cable channel Fox Family aired them in syndication.

Premise

The show centered on a teenage girl, Lindsay Weir (played by Linda Cardellini), and her brother, Sam (John Francis Daley), both attending McKinley High School during the 1980-1981 school year in the town of Chippewa, Michigan. (The town likely got its name from Chippewa Valley High School located in Clinton Charter Township, Michigan. Paul Feig graduated from the school in 1980.)

Their friends, respectively, constituted the freaks — Daniel Desario, Ken Miller, Nick Andopolis, Kim Kelly — and geeks — Neal Schweiber and Bill Haverchuck — of the title. Parents Harold and Jean Weir were featured and Millie Kentner, Lindsay's geeky, highly religious best friend, was a recurring character.

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.

Freaks and Geeks was perhaps most notable for achieving an extraordinary depth and subtlety of characterization within a conventional television format. Most of the characters seem at first to be well-captured by a stereotype: Lindsay, the good girl gone bad; Mr. Weir, the comically out-of-touch dad; Sam, the science-fiction-loving nerd; Mr. Fredericks, the oafish gym teacher; Daniel, the no-account burnout; Neal, the class clown; Millie, the goodie two-shoes; and so on. The characters on Freaks and Geeks both adhered to these descriptions and tugged against them, creating a tension which gave the show its special energy.

Cast and characters

Weir Family

Geeks

Freaks

Other Students

School Staff

Other Family Members

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 along the likes of Britney Spears to 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, more unknown "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 Joel Hodgson (in the recurring role of a salesman who loves disco), David Koechner (as a waiter), Kevin Corrigan (as Millie's delinquent cousin), Jason Schwartzmann (as a student dealing in fake IDs), and Ben Foster (who appeared as the mentally handicapped student Eli, and often hyped the show while promoting the film Liberty Heights).

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. 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.

Episodes

DVD, CD and Book Releases

In early 2004, a six-DVD Freaks and Geeks box set was released through Shout! Factory. A special "deluxe edition" set including two additional discs is 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 also released in 2004.

Later in 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.

Soundtrack

For more information about the music that appeared on the show and the CD soundtrack release, see 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, the Grateful Dead, 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 considering that no publisher wanted to go through the trouble of clearing all of the music for the series. Many television shows (such as Dawson's Creek) cheaply and quickly released their respective DVDs by changing most of the music cues. The creators of Freaks and Geeks, however, chose to wait to release the DVD until they could find a publisher up to the challenge of gaining clearance for the music of the series, as not to upset the fans of the show. Shout! Factory eventually became the publisher to bring Freaks and Geeks to DVD with all of its music intact.

The opening credits of each episode were accompanied by the song "Bad Reputation" performed by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts.

Awards

The show has won numerous awards including various Emmy Awards for writing and casting.

Undeclared

In 2001, several of the actors featured in Freaks and Geeks appeared in a new Judd Apatow college "dramedy" called Undeclared, airing on the FOX Network. Despite garnering a cult following, that show was also canceled abruptly during its first season.

External links

Comedy-drama television series | NBC network shows | Period piece TV series | CBS Paramount Television shows | Teen dramas | Television shows set in Michigan

Freaks and Geeks | Nollor och nördar

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Freaks and Geeks".

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