Freaks And Geeks Torrent Season
Brooke Fuerst
The script for the pilot episode of Freaks and Geeks was written by Paul Feig as a spec script.[10] 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.[10] 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).[10]
In a 2012 interview with Vanity Fair, Paul Feig detailed what would have happened to the characters if the show had continued: Lindsay 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.[26]
NBC and the creative directors of Freaks and Geeks did not have the same vision for the series. After the network picked up the pilot, Garth Ancier replaced Scott Sassa as president of NBC Entertainment. Ancier "didn't understand public school life" and its relevance because he went to a boarding school and then on to Princeton. Creator Paul Feig expressed the "irony of the situation", as everyone involved wanted Freaks and Geeks to be a success, but the network didn't understand the concept of realistically showcasing life as ordinary teenagers. Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow had multiple arguments with the network concerning "lack of victories" in the script and that the characters needed to be "cool." The writers wanted to produce something that would represent the average high school experience, but the network wanted to produce something that would make high school seem cool. Because the network did not think the series would be a success, they let the writers add things to the script that they "wouldn't have if they thought the show would resurface the next season", like the use of the phrase, "ambiguous genitalia".[49][50] Apatow said in 2014 that "Everything I've done, in a way, is revenge for the people who cancelled Freaks and Geeks."[51]
In 2001, several of the actors featured in Freaks and Geeks appeared in a new Judd Apatow college half-hour comedy Undeclared, which aired on Fox Network. Apatow fought with the network to include Freaks and Geeks actors, but the network only picked up Seth Rogen (who was already committed to the show as a writer) as a regular cast member. However, Jason Segel became a recurring character, and Samm Levine, Busy Philipps and Natasha Melnick guest-starred in multi-episode arcs, as did prominent Freaks and Geeks guest stars Steve Bannos (who played McKinley High math teacher Mr. Frank Kowchevski) and David Krumholtz (who played Neal's older brother, Barry Schweiber). Martin Starr was prominent in another episode, and a scene with Sarah Hagan was shot, although it was cut for television broadcast. The show was also canceled during its first season.
Another great post, Alan. Lots of fun reading these...
In a second season I'd just love to see the characters change. So often in television the way a character acts in episode 1 is exactly how the character acts in episode 190. Freaks and Geeks seems to be a show that is more than willing to lets its characters personalities and identities change just as they would if they were actual teenagers. I've always thought of high school as being a time in one's life where you go from being the person you were to the person you are. Being able to chart this development on screen would have been remarkable. (Not that I'm complaining... it's far more fun to speculate on this than to have to worry about the network getting in the way and mucking it all up)
Alan, I also want to add my voice of commendation. You did a great job of cracking this show's nut, and enhanced the already considerable pleasure I got from watching the show in the first place. You really can't ask much more of a critic than that. First rate work, all around.
Unfortunately, my nomination (Spaced, the Simon Pegg/Nick Frost, Edward Wright/Julia Deakin TV series) despite having nearly the perfect number of episodes (14 over two seasons) for such a summer recap, is not so readily available in DVD unless you can play region 2 discs. A shame, really, cuz the series is hilarious, and gives us a pretty clear indication of where these cats will be going in the not-so-distant future (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz).
Alan,
Thanks so much for doing these. they have been amazing and I have watched along with you. I don't know if this has been suggested for next year, but maybe Sports Night? It had more that one season, but they're a half hour, so the two season (season and a half?) can equal one whole season of an hour long drama. Though, I don't know if you want to go down Sorkin-land next year. It can be a doozy sometimes.
Re: American Beauty album, love that album dearly. Always have. When I initially watch, Rosso had that line on how he always puts it on and I do the same, so it felt like a little shout-out. Ripple and Box of Rain are two of my favorite Dead songs and them being singled out and featured here, was great.
as much as i would have loved another season, this was a pretty much perfect ending. the reveal of kim waiting at the bus stop was a true surprise to me, and my sky high admiration for lindsay went even higher. no other show has ever had me so concerned over the fate of fictional characters.
thanks for the recaps; and hallelujah for dvds
While watching this wonderful series finale last week so I can read your recap, I caught an amusing blooper that's not mentioned in the audio commentary or in the goofs section of Freaks and Geeks' IMDb page. It's surprising to see in a show known for its music geekery. During the rock-vs.-disco debate with Ken, Joel Hodgson's DJ brings up the Stones' "new song" "Miss You," which came out in 1978. "Discos and Dragons" is set in spring 1981. Or this could be a deliberate error by the writers: the "new song" flub could be perceived as showing how hilariously out-of-touch the DJ is. But because this ep was rushed into production and there are quite a few other bloopers too (dig the present-day van that passes by the Deadheads' Microbus in the final shot), I take it to be a genuine flub.
Thanks for unpeeling the many layers of each ep in these great extended recaps. They made me go dust off my copy of the Freaks and Geeks Yearbook Edition and revisit my favorite eps (like "Girlfriends and Boyfriends"), as well as watch for the very first time eps I had never seen before ("Noshing and Moshing"). I mentioned in my blog ( ) that maybe you should compile these recaps into a book, like that Neptune Noir book of essays about Veronica Mars.
The recaps also made me revisit past articles I've collected about the show, like an interview in which Paul Feig indicated that had Freaks and Geeks been allowed to continue for a few more years, he would have added new characters to the main cast after the freaks had graduated--or dropped out ("I had always from day one conceived of it not as a high school show, but a show about a town. People would graduate, and you'd see who left town, who didn't leave the town."). The writing on this show was so strong during the single season that I wouldn't be surprised if the show still had legs after say, Franco or Cardellini left. Or it could have turned into Freaks and Geeks: The Jenny Piccolo Years. We'll never know.
Ideas for next summer's recap series: since you don't want to recap a straight comedy, then the only readily available shows I can think of that meet your criteria are Twin Peaks (which will now be complete on DVD with the long-awaited Region 1 release of the pilot) and The Prisoner. But those shows have been dissected enough.
Thanks for this Alan. They've been a highlight and something I really look forward to reading (please keep up the MAD MEN commentary!). They really enhanced my understanding and thinking about this show. I desperately wish more critics had such a deep and abiding love for TV like you do. Too often it's viewed as disposable, even by those who cover it.
Count me in the TWIN PEAKS crowd, since it fits most of your criteria. Although personally, I'd love to see it done for EVERWOOD because a) I feel it's criminally underrated b) there's still only ONE season out on DVD (despite everything else being out on DVD) c) It's interesting to see the themes that creator Greg Berlanti is drawn to, especially in light of his becoming a TV producing superpower (with Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Brothers & Sisters in production currently). I desperately wish JACK AND BOBBY was on DVD. That would fit your criteria.
Also, as mentioned above would be cool to see the original OFFICE or SPACED done, though I understand why not for SPACED, since it's only available as an import right now. Hopefully with Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's success, that will change and they can sort out the music rights that have made it so hard.
Excellent job on the recaps. I tried to catch this show when it first aired, but instead of seeing the Weir family on my screen I would be looking at Stone Phillips. Then this past April ordered the first disc on Netflix, and twenty minutes in I turned off the DVD player so I could buy the box set. Best purchase I've made all year.
The thought of Bill playing on the basketball team was interesting, because to make the team he'd have to display more athletic ability than he showed in the first season. Was the proposed plot point a way to unleash Bill's untapped athleticism, or subject him to torment at the hands of his stepfather? I'd like to have thought it was the former, because I've read that Martin Starr is actually a pretty good athlete. I also would have liked to have seen was the newly sober Nick try to get back on the basketball team. I also wondered what Coach Fredricks' reaction would be to the Pistons drafting that young buck Isiah Thomas from Indiana.
Once again, great job.