GRWeston Review of Freaks and Geeks

Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000)

The entire high school experience in eighteen episodes

[10/10 · 30 December 2013]

When I was in high school, the most popular TV show about people my age was Dawson's Creek. As someone who was on the outside looking in to the kind of teenagers this series featured, I avoided it because I thought it would be as incomprehensible as some of the lectures on C-SPAN. Before Freaks and Geeks, the supposed antithesis to shows like Dawson's Creek, came along, my first thought was that with a title like that and a tag line of "what high school was like for the rest of us," it would be along the lines of the typical '80s teensploitation movie. Instead, we got a show that is intelligent, heartfelt, genuinely funny and - best of all - real. Instead of stereotypes, Freaks and Geeks gives us characters who seem so authentic that it is easy to mistake their names for the names of similar people we grew up with. I knew at least one dismissive, sarcastic man of few words like Ken, a constantly fighting couple like Daniel and Kim and was, ahem, knew an awkward, all-around geek like Bill. Despite focusing on the titular cliques, the show covers facets of high school life both in and out of the classroom that all students regardless of social standing encounter. These include romantic relationships that end before they begin, initial exposures to sex, drugs and alcohol and what could be the overarching theme of the series: how difficult it can be to discover who you are and where you belong. My favorite episode and the one where I feel the series hit its stride is "Carded and Discarded," particularly for how it reveals the unfortunate fact that some high school friendships are merely confidence-building stepping stones to bigger and better things. Freaks and Geeks only lasted one season, but since its portrait of the high school experience is so complete, this is hardly a drawback. For this reason and for the show's hilarity, authenticity and that it never hits a false note, Freaks and Geeks deserves to be on a list of the best TV shows of all time.