The first episode of “Freaks and Geeks” was a wonderfully disorienting experience. Here was a teen TV show with the cuteness rubbed away, with the sex comedy reduced to a hazy afterthought, with the socially awkward desire to fit in foregrounded. The series, which lasted one glorious season from 1999 to 2000, derived its humor from the shock of recognition and the jolt of memory. Yes, somewhere in these freaks and geeks and their miscellaneous cohorts was us.
Created by Paul Feig, with a major assist from executive producer and writer Judd Apatow, “Freaks and Geeks” places us in a suburban Detroit high school at the dawn of the 1980s. Teen life here isn’t catastrophic, or in-your-face nihilistic; this is hardly “Kids”-like exploitation fare (that would be hard to pull off on network TV ). The show can actually be sweet-natured in its gimlet-eyed take on the daily humiliations of teen life, when every mishap or social slight feels like a catastrophe.
There was no way to know it at the time, but “Freaks and Geeks” was also a showcase for a crop of TV talent making waves as you read this. Seth Rogen, who played the caustic stoner Ken, is the engine behind the Emmy juggernaut “The Studio.” Linda Cardellini, whose Lindsay is sort of stuck between identities as a brainiac and a freak, just finished lighting up “DTF St. Louis.” Jason Segel, the wannabe drum god Nick, is the star and co-creator of “Shrinking.” James Franco, who played spacy-cool freak Daniel, was deservedly drummed out of the industry on a wave of #MeToo allegations. OK, so they didn’t all turn out to be winners.
The untitled pilot episode sets the table and identifies which characters fit which category. Nick, Daniel, and Ken are the primary freaks, the pot-smoking class-cutters that your parents warned you to avoid. Sam (John Francis Daley), Neal (Samm Levine), and Bill (Martin Starr) represent the geeks. There are also, of course, bullies, namely Busy Philipps’s Kim (a quasi-freak) and Chauncey Leopardi’s Alan. Lindsay, Sam’s older sister, is the great outlier who floats between groups; her unique status makes her a good surrogate for the viewer. “SCTV” great Joe Flaherty is a scene-stealer as Sam and Lindsay’s genially anxious father.
I can relate to both the freaks and the geeks, although we generally called them burnouts (a word also used in the series) and gumps. I started as a gump — I was tall and gangly, like Bill — then became a burnout. I received the slings and arrows aimed at both groups. Suffice it to say I was really happy when high school ended. But I was bummed when NBC dumped “Freaks and Geeks” after its first season. It did get a sort of unofficial college sequel series, “Undeclared,” created by Apatow. It, too, lasted but one season. Some things are just too good to last.
Chris Vognar can be reached at chris.vognar@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram at @chrisvognar and on Bluesky at chrisvognar.bsky.social.