Today, September 25th, NBC premiered the most important high school TV show of our time. In this video essay, we leaf through our old yearbook and remember the spot-on pop culture references, honestly and cringe-worthy adolescent embarrassment, and upwardly mobile cast and crew. For a transcript, see here.
Pure brilliance. Thanks for that eloquent reminder of why I loved Freaks and Geeks so much. Now I miss it more than ever. I guess it’s time to dig out those DVDs again.
Brilliant look back at a brilliant show that got its due too late.
has this been released on VHS?
It’s on DVD, in a box set.
I’m not aware that it was available on VHS at any point — not for sale, at least. I got tapes back in the day, but I was a critic and they were screeners. If anybody out there knows different, please chime in.
On what channel was this video shown?
This show is 100% brilliant. I have the DVDs and I never get tired of them. My favorite supporting character is the hippy guidance counselor. Anyone else?
adnoxious.blogspot.com
Taking aim at lousy advertising
Sexzguy: It was originally shown on NBC in the US.
Thank you for your labor of love. I adored this show and always will….
I caught up with F&G only recently. Watching the first few episodes, I wondered what all the fuss (well, the excitement in the cult comedy community) had been about. Seemed pretty standard fare, even if it was wrapped in the nostalgic wood-panelled suburban rooms of my childhood. It wasn’t until episodes 5 and 6 that something kicked in, and I really enjoyed the show. It felt as though the writers suddenly got smarter and provided more nuanced characterizations and surprises. These episodes feature Daniel’s teary-eyed speech about being a track three kid, and Nick’s drumming try-out for a local band. After those stories, I was hooked… Matt makes a nice point about Bill having the geekiest physical appearance, while also being comfortable in his own skin. He easily makes off with the very best comedic lines. (Check out “Party Down” for Martin Starr’s darker take a nerd gone to the dark side.) Anyway a warm, appealing show. Good to see the cast finding success elsewhere.
truly moving.
Thanks for this; a great summary, and I appreciate your noticing how non-ironic and sweet it was and how those actually worked. I can’t find confirmation of this at IMDB, but the girl in the rocket scenes looks a lot like Dianna Agron, who plays Quinn on Glee.