For one brief season from 1999 to 2000, the world was given a very special gift: Freaks and Geeks, the most clear-eyed, pitch-perfect show about adolescence ever made.
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DeadwoodSet in 1980, it followed straight arrow and erstwhile mathlete Lindsay Weir (Linda Cardellini) as she drifted towards the "freak" clique at her Michigan high school and her younger brother Sam (John Francis Daley) circulated among the geeks. Not only did it capture the clothes and music of the era with an attention to detail that rivals Mad Men, it evoked the searing awkwardness of growing up and figuring out where you belong in a way that resonates with former teenagers of any era. It's rare to describe a show as both deeply empathetic and ruthless, but Freaks and Geeks fits the bill.
Created by Paul Feig (and executive produced by Judd Apatow), it dared to cast age-appropriate (and sometimes unconventionally attractive) young actors, as well as a slew of familiar pretty faces: Jason Segel, James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Linda Cardellini. But like most things too beautiful for this world, alas, it could not last; Freaks and Geeks was cancelled after only 18 episodes. But it still remains a single, almost flawless pearl of a show that deserves every bit of the worship it receives atop its cult-favorite pedestal.
Therein lies the great challenge of creating a binge-watching guide for this show: Are there really any episodes you shouldn't watch? Not really, but let's break this thing down anyway.
Number of Seasons: 1 (18 episodes)
Time Requirements: It's one season. You can knock this out in a week.
Where to Get Your Fix: It's not currently streaming anywhere, so you gotta shell out for the DVD or Blu-Ray. Hey, there's only one, and it's worth it.
Best Character to Follow: While everyone has the character they relate to the most (mine's Lindsay) there's something pretty special about "nerd" Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr). From his passionate fandom for the television show Dallas to his unexpected desire to play sports, Bill has always gone his own way. And as much as it sounds like something the "hip" guidance counselor Jeff Rosso (Dave Allen) would say, it really did make him one of the coolest characters on the show. The arc of his relationship with Coach Fredricks (Thomas F. Wilson) is a particular pleasure, and while we never got to what it was Feig imagined for Bill in Season 2, you can read more about it here—and fill yourself with the wistful longing that haunts nearly every fan of this show.
Seasons/Episodes You Can Skip: This is a tough one, because again, there isn't a strictly bad episode of Freaks and Geeks. But if for some reason you find that you really need to shave off an hour here or there, these are the dimmer lights of the series.
Season 1: Episode 4, "Kim Kelly Is My Friend" This is as close to a sitcom caricature that the show gets. Lindsay's parents ban her from spending time with (actual) bad influence Kim Kelly (Busy Philipps) and the situation is resolved by a deus ex machina that involves Lindsay's parents having sex. Spoiler alert: It is turns out Kim Kelly is her friend. Move along.
Season 1: Episode 7, "Carded and Discarded" An ostensible "second pilot" after the show moved to a new timeslot, this episode involves the geeks spending time with a new girl who shares many of their nerdy interests but is so pretty they fear she'll be snapped up by the popular crowd. Meanwhile, the freaks get fake IDs and sneak into a bar in a way that ends with predictable embarrassment. It's an episode that can be dimmed only with faint praise: It's just OK.
Seasons/Episodes You Can't Skip:
Season 1: Episode 1, "Pilot" The show opens strong as we find Lindsay Weir feeling increasingly dissatisfied with her good girl image and starting to shift towards the "freak" faction at her school. While their class-cutting apathy doesn't seem like a perfect match either, it's a change she's willing to try on for size.
Season 1: Episode 6, "I'm With the Band" It's difficult to pick the most awkward moment on Freaks and Geeks; it's a show that often devotes itself to recapturing the humiliations of youth in lavish and precise detail. But few can top the time Nick (Jason Segel) auditioned to be a local band's new drummer—a move that becomes an object lesson in how following your dreams isn't actually a good idea if you happen to be terrible at what you love. (Another musical moment from Nick—his unfortunate Lindsay-inspired love song "Lady L" —is another strong contender.)
Season 1: Episode 8, "Boyfriends and Girlfriends" The well-meaning awkwardness of Nick reaches a poignant crescendo in a scene likely to make every viewer feel as though they, too, are trapped alongside the ambivalent Lindsay in a basement with a suitor she aptly describes as "too intense."
Season 1: Episode 10, "The Diary" The divide between the kids and adults on the show seems starker than ever as Lindsay's parents go snooping in her diary for dirt and find a devastating indictment of themselves instead. Also, a frustrated Bill starts prank calling Coach Fredricks at his home (oh, those halcyon days before caller ID...). Although the coach starts out as a stereotypical jock antagonist, this is the episode where he starts to become something more, and lays the groundwork for his strange, kinda touching relationship with Bill.
Season 1: Episode 11, "Looks and Books" Nothing is ever going to be sadder than the moment Sam's soaring confidence in his powder blue leisure suit slowly turns to embarrassment and horror when he walks into school. Behold, the worst nightmare of everyone who every tragically misjudged a new "look."
Season 1: Episode 12, "The Garage Door" Neal (Samm Levine) has to deal with issues that go much deeper than high school drama after he uncovers a family secret that he isn't quite prepared to know. Parents: They're people too, and sometimes they, too, are terrible. Neal decides to deal with his sense of betrayal in the only way he knows how: tearful ventriloquism.
Season 1: Episode 18, "Discos and Dragons" The final episode sees various freaks and geeks finally starting to push the boundaries of their cliques and identities in unexpected ways, from Nick embracing disco to Daniel (James Franco) discovering a love of Dungeons & Dragons that gives him and the geeks some unexpected common ground. It's fitting that the greatest show about high school ends by hinting at what happens after you leave it behind, and which clique you belonged to slowly becomes a lot less important than who you are—or want to be.
Why You Should Binge:
Freak and Geeks will pierce your heart and make you laugh and squirm and, above all, relate to that very special time in your life when the pressures about how to look and act and behave were equaled only by your insecurity and inexperience. Oh, and the soundtrack is fantastic, a musical encapsulation of the era that was so good that acquiring the rights cost the show a significant chunk of its budget and initially proved a challenge to the show's release on DVD. Worth it!
Best Scene—"Let Me Tell You Something About the Jocks":
It's not the show's most dramatic moment, but this big picture speech to the geeks from a sympathetic teacher is perhaps the best encapsulation of the spirit (and message) of Freaks and Geeks.
The Takeaway:
It isn't always easy to remember high school in all its intensity, especially the piercing moments of embarrassment that often still lurk in the crevices of our mind decades later, like chain-chomps ready to strike. Freaks and Geeks reminds us that we're not alone now; we weren't alone then; and with a little bit of empathy and distance, we might just find a way to laugh about it in the end.
If You Liked Freaks and Geeks You'll Love:
After the cancellation of Freaks and Geeks, Judd Apatow created a collegiate comedy called Undeclared, and brought stars Seth Rogen and Jason Segel with him. While the show retains some of the charm (and discomfort) of F&G, it feels far more like a network sitcom, but still might help stave off the "how can there only be one season?" post-Freaks and Geeks blues.
The equally short-lived and beloved teen drama My So-Called Life may also scratch an itch for some viewers, but fair warning: Watch the 1990s Claire Danes angst-a-thon after Freaks and Geeks, and you may find that it doesn't quite measure up to your nostalgia.
