PDA

View Full Version : Freaks and Geeks



dreamdead
09-29-2009, 04:37 PM
thefourthwall and I just started watching this series yesterday, finishing up Disc 1. I'd seen several eps back in 1999 when it first aired, but I'm surprised by the way in which it's held up and sustained both its drama and dry humor. It's a good take on the cliquey nature of high school, and on the pangs of growing up. And for being far more "cinematic" in its camera exploration than any of Apatow's films.

It's interesting to look at this cast and consider just how much they've all used this show to springboard their careers. Franco is typically solid here, though I might be the lone individual who finds that Seth Rogan worked best in these small doses, rather than being a centered performer.

Do we have fans here of the show?

Ezee E
09-29-2009, 04:43 PM
I think it's one of the more appreciated shows around here.

I just wish Cardellini would finally breakout. Although I guess ER is still pretty good for her.

number8
09-29-2009, 04:46 PM
It'd be faster to ask if we have anyone here who are not fans.

EyesWideOpen
09-29-2009, 04:53 PM
It'd be faster to ask if we have anyone here who are not fans.

Exactly. I don't know anyone whose watched it that didn't like it.

Sycophant
09-29-2009, 04:59 PM
Was this missing from my recent top 15? If so, I'm an idiot. This is top tier material.

I've found it kind of odd that F&G is typically referred to as an Apatow show these days. Admittedly, Apatow's been a breakout success and his contribution to the show shouldn't be dismissed, but this particular show always struck me more as Paul Feig's baby. Undeclared, from a couple years later covering largely similar territory, feels more like Apatow's brainchild. Pity that Paul Feig has receded from the spotlight almost entirely, though apparently contirbuting meaningfully to The Office and a number of other shows. Also a pity that I have no real desire to watch either of his directorial films.

Sycophant
09-29-2009, 05:00 PM
I have a friend who found this show too painful to watch, though he recognized it was quality. This kid hated (and still hates) high school more than probably anyone I know.

Adam
09-29-2009, 05:06 PM
Yep, add me to the list of lovers for Freaks and Geeks and, yes, it was totally Paul Feig's baby. I don't really know what he's been up to in the ten years since, but he did get off maybe the best line in Knocked Up - "Don't let the door hit you in your vagina on the way out"

number8
09-29-2009, 05:11 PM
He's been directing television on high-profile shows. Arrested Development, 30 Rock, The Office, Weeds, even Mad Men.

number8
09-29-2009, 05:13 PM
Also, the reason that Freaks & Geeks is known as an Apatow show, I think has more to do with the actors than Apatow's own popularity.

Sycophant
09-29-2009, 05:24 PM
Oh, man. It kinda reads like I'm Apatow-backlashin'. Nothing further from the truth. <3 Apatow.

Kurosawa Fan
09-29-2009, 05:47 PM
LOVE this show. Easily one of the ten best shows I've ever seen. It's a shame Apatow hasn't made a film with this kind of resonance.

Ezee E
09-29-2009, 05:52 PM
Who is listed as the actual creator of this?

Sycophant
09-29-2009, 05:54 PM
Who is listed as the actual creator of this?

Feig.

Ezee E
09-29-2009, 05:57 PM
Feig.
Ah. I always thought of it as an Apatow creation as well. Oh well. It is great.

Anybody else from this show going to break out you think? I only see Cardellini or Busy Phillips having a chance. The others will just be supporting roles forever. Although I guess I would never have pictured Rogen as a leading actor.

Adam
09-29-2009, 06:02 PM
Maybe Martin Starr could get a Forgetting Sarah Marshall-like starring vehicle if Party Down takes off or something

Ezee E
09-29-2009, 06:03 PM
I haven't seen Party Down, but I hope Starr gets away from his whiny-wimp character. He did the same thing in Adventureland, and while he was good there, it only works in small bits. He was in the bottom tier of characters in Freaks & Geeks for me.

number8
09-29-2009, 06:03 PM
Anybody else from this show going to break out you think? I only see Cardellini or Busy Phillips having a chance.

Fun fact: both of them were leads on ER.

Adam
09-29-2009, 06:08 PM
You should check out Party Down, Ezee. Martin Starr does not play a variation on the Bill Haverchuck character and the whole show really just got better and better as its first season went along. And, if nothing else, it will make you fall in love with Lizzy Caplan

http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss47/adamstone20/party_down_episode_107_2009_68 5x-1.jpg
Just call me Mrs Butterworth, bitch

number8
09-29-2009, 06:20 PM
Yeah, his character on Party Down is borderline sociopath—and he's really good at it.

Ivan Drago
09-29-2009, 06:52 PM
It'd be faster to ask if we have anyone here who are not fans.

Haven't seen the show. I'm sure if I watched it, I would like it but I just don't have the time.

Sycophant
09-29-2009, 07:06 PM
I just don't have the time.

You can't say this in the F&G thread and then go say that you caught the premiere of The Cleveland Show in the TVDT and pretend there isn't a problem.

number8
09-29-2009, 09:20 PM
You can't say this in the F&G thread and then go say that you caught the premiere of The Cleveland Show in the TVDT and pretend there isn't a problem.

BAM.

Ivan Drago
09-29-2009, 09:26 PM
You can't say this in the F&G thread and then go say that you caught the premiere of The Cleveland Show in the TVDT and pretend there isn't a problem.

:hangs head in shame:

Sycophant
09-29-2009, 09:26 PM
This is what I'm here for.

Acapelli
09-29-2009, 11:30 PM
Ah. I always thought of it as an Apatow creation as well. Oh well. It is great.

Anybody else from this show going to break out you think? I only see Cardellini or Busy Phillips having a chance. The others will just be supporting roles forever. Although I guess I would never have pictured Rogen as a leading actor.
i guess you're already counting james franco and jason segel's relatively successful careers?

Acapelli
09-29-2009, 11:31 PM
and i found unaccompanied minors pretty enjoyable for a kids christmas film

dreamdead
11-05-2009, 01:35 PM
We finished up this series and have moved onto Deadwood. There's a sense that the series finale throws way too many new ideas at the characters and leaves everything in an odd state of flux, with Nick proving not to be a match for Lindsay and Daniel being adopted by the geeks as a figurehead of what coolness could be, but there's also a strange sense of closure in that experiment as well. Surely such a move was done because Feig that they might get one more season and was laying out the plotlines for another season, but it works surprisingly well.

It's interesting that neither Lindsay nor Sam ends with a significant other in the series and that both nonetheless appear contented. It's a good signification about self-identity and authorship over needing a relationship to possess meaning. Of course, Sam still seems likely to go through a whole set of other relational issues, since so much of his identity is rooted in desiring a girlfriend. And yeah, Bill Haverchuck might be the coolest creation in the whole show... deadpan played right.

Good show.

DavidSeven
10-10-2012, 04:38 AM
Watched the series for the very first time (via Netflix). Great stuff. Kind of sad I didn't make greater effort to see it when I was younger. Probably would have hit even harder a decade ago. I'm sure I'm repeating what's already been written millions of times, but this really is a rare show in that it found its footing immediately and basically didn't falter for the rest of its run. There isn't a bad episode in the bunch. I'm sad that I don't get to watch more of this, but at the same time, I feel these 18 episodes still make for a wholly satisfying experience on their own. It's sort of perfect as it is.

Pretty easy to see why Franco was the first to break out. Others in the cast were varying degrees of raw, but Franco came across as pretty damn polished for a new and young actor. The guy was in a league of his own among this cast. Really impressed with Starr, too. My primary experience with him was Party Down, so it was pretty shocking to see him pull this off. Cardellini was a great choice for the lead.

Pop Trash
10-10-2012, 06:07 AM
My second favorite show of all time.

Skitch
10-10-2012, 11:59 AM
I just started watching this show. Thumbs up here!

Ezee E
10-10-2012, 12:32 PM
Cardellini needs a better agent. The work she's been offered since this show is hugely disappointing.

Skitch
10-11-2012, 11:50 AM
Grandma's Boy was awesome!

number8
10-16-2012, 03:37 PM
Pretty easy to see why Franco was the first to break out. Others in the cast were varying degrees of raw, but Franco came across as pretty damn polished for a new and young actor. The guy was in a league of his own among this cast. Really impressed with Starr, too. My primary experience with him was Party Down, so it was pretty shocking to see him pull this off. Cardellini was a great choice for the lead.

Interesting. I always thought Segel was the most full and convincing performance of the "freaks" and Franco was still in his "I'm just gonna act like James Dean" phase which carried him through the mid 2000s.

Starr is definitely fantastic in this. I find it boggling that he is now cast as the same thing over and over, but none of them are anything like this breakout role. His performance in the Go Kart City episode, to me, is the acting highlight of the entire series, even among the adult cast. My favorite scene of the whole series:

cmCpmEQD0L4

number8
10-16-2012, 03:38 PM
Let me also say that having this finally up on Netflix is an absolute treasure. The ability to just put on a random episode at any time without digging up the DVD and just watch several episodes in a row during a lazy day is such a gift.

number8
10-16-2012, 03:58 PM
About Starr again... According to Paul Feig, most of the kids were cast because they had the right look and personality, and then the writers wrote to their strengths. Franco and Cardellini were exactly how Feig pictured the characters in his head, and he changed Nick's character when they cast Segel, but Starr was the only one who is playing a different type than who he is.


When Martin Starr came in, I knew it was him. That was another epiphany moment. And he was so funny, with that weird energy. That’s not who he really is, but he puts it on so well. Normally I don’t like people playing characters, but when they do it and they make it so real, you’re just like, “Cool.” I had no idea if that was what he was like or not. And then you get to know him later and you go, “Oh, that’s not exactly who he is. He’s much more together than that.”