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. Three episodes were left unaired by NBC, and the episodes were first broadcast in September and October 2000 on Fox Family Channel. 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—stars Linda Cardellini, John Francis Daley, James Franco, Samm Levine, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Martin Starr, Busy Philipps, Becky Ann Baker, and Joe Flaherty.
The series became a cult classic, and Apatow continued the show's legacy by incorporating the actors in future productions. 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).
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
Main cast Linda Cardellini as Lindsay Weir John Francis Daley as Sam Weir James Franco as Daniel Desario Samm Levine as Neal Schweiber Seth Rogen as Ken Miller Jason Segel as Nick Andopolis Martin Starr as Bill Haverchuck Becky Ann Baker as Jean Weir Joe Flaherty as Harold Weir Busy Philipps as Kim Kelly
Recurring cast
Dave "Gruber" Allen as Jeff Rosso Steve Bannos as Frank Kowchevski Tom Wilson as Coach Ben Fredricks Natasha Melnick as Cindy Sanders Sarah Hagan as Millie Kentner Stephen Lea Sheppard as Harris Trinsky Jerry Messing as Gordon Crisp Chauncey Leopardi as Alan White JoAnna Garcia as Vicki Appleby Kayla Ewell as Maureen Sampson Riley Smith as Todd Schellinger Jessica Campbell as Amy Andrews Trace Beaulieu as Hector Lacovara Ann Dowd as Cookie Kelly Kevin Tighe as Mr. Andopolis Sam McMurray as Vic Schweiber Amy Aquino as Lydia Schweiber Claudia Christian as Gloria Haverchuck Ben Foster as Eli Lizzy Caplan as Sara Shaun Weiss as Sean Joel Hodgson as Joel, a disco clothing store manager and occasional DJ
Guest stars and cameo appearances Guest stars included: Samaire Armstrong as "Deadhead" Laurie Alexandra Breckenridge as mathlete Shelly Weaver Jack Conley as Kim Kelly's stepfather Kevin Corrigan as Millie's delinquent cousin Toby Allen Covert as a liquor store clerk Matt Czuchry as a student from rival Lincoln High Alexander Gould as Ronnie, the boy Lindsay babysits while high Steve Higgins as Mr. Fleck, the Geeks' A/V teacher Rashida Jones as Kim Kelly's friend Karen Scarfolli Bianca Kajlich as a nose piercing punk girl David Koechner as a waiter, in an uncredited role David Krumholtz as Neal's brother Barry Shia LaBeouf as Herbert, the school mascot Leslie Mann as school teacher Miss Foote Ben Stiller as a Secret Service agent Jason Schwartzman as Howie Gelfand, a disco clothing store assistant dealing in fake IDs
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; they thought such appearances would detract from the show's realism.
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".
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.
Episodes The script for the pilot episode of Freaks and Geeks was written by Paul Feig as a spec script. 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. 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).
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. The list below is ordered by the chronology of the storyline.Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series DVD Episode Booklet
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, after initial tension with her parents, 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.
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.
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.
In July 2015, Shout! Factory announced it had begun preparing for a Blu-ray release of the series. 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.
As of July 1, 2021, all U.S. DVD and Blu-ray releases have been discontinued and are out of print.
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.
Soundtrack
Freaks and Geeks 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 Geeks 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.
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.
Reception
Critical reception At Metacritic, Freaks and Geeks has a score of 88 out of 100, based on 26 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". 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."
Ratings The show averaged 6.77 million viewers and was #93 in the rankings during the only season it ran.
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.
The series appeared on Time magazine's 2007 "100 Greatest Shows of All Time" list, and placed third on the magazine's list of greatest television shows of the 2000s. In 2004 and 2007, respectively, Freaks and Geeks ranked No. 25 and No. 21 on TV Guides Top Cult Shows Ever. In 2008, Entertainment Weekly ranked it the 13th-best series of the past 25 years. The same year, AOL TV named it the Best School Show of All Time. In 2013, TV Guide included it in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time,Roush, Matt (February 25, 2013). "Showstoppers: The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time". TV Guide. pp. 16–17. and ranked it No. 1 on their list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".Roush, Matt (June 3, 2013). "Cancelled Too Soon". TV Guide. pp. 20 and 21 In 2016, it was named the 11th-greatest television series of all time by Rolling Stone.
Cancellation and legacy