{"id":591717,"date":"2026-04-18T12:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T12:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/591717\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T12:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T12:33:08","slug":"freaks-and-geeks-was-too-good-to-last-chris-vognar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/591717\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Freaks and Geeks\u2019 was too good to last: Chris Vognar"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first episode of \u201cFreaks and Geeks\u201d<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Created by Paul Feig, with a major assist from executive producer and writer Judd Apatow, \u201cFreaks and Geeks\u201d places us in a suburban Detroit high school at the dawn of the 1980s. Teen life here isn\u2019t catastrophic, or in-your-face nihilistic; this is hardly \u201cKids\u201d<\/a>-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. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

There was no way to know it at the time, but \u201cFreaks and Geeks\u201d 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 \u201cThe Studio.\u201d Linda Cardellini, whose Lindsay is sort of stuck between identities as a brainiac and a freak, just finished lighting up \u201cDTF St. Louis.\u201d Jason Segel, the wannabe drum god Nick, is the star and co-creator of \u201cShrinking.\u201d<\/a> 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\u2019t all turn out to be winners.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Kim (a quasi-freak) and Chauncey Leopardi\u2019s Alan. Lindsay, Sam\u2019s older sister, is the great outlier who floats between groups; her unique status makes her a good surrogate for the viewer. \u201cSCTV\u201d great Joe Flaherty is a scene-stealer as Sam and Lindsay\u2019s genially anxious father.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 I was tall and gangly, like Bill \u2014 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 \u201cFreaks and Geeks\u201d after its first season. It did get a sort of unofficial college sequel series, \u201cUndeclared,\u201d created by Apatow. It, too, lasted but one season. Some things are just too good to last. <\/p>\n

Chris Vognar can be reached at chris.vognar@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him on Instagram at @chrisvognar<\/a> and on Bluesky at chrisvognar.bsky.social.<\/p>\n