So I decided tonight to watch the pilot and the final episode of "Freaks & Geeks," one of my favorite shows ever, as evidenced by the fact that we own the special yearbook version of the DVD set. Fuck, what an incredible show this was.
I had planned to watch "Purple Rain" again tonight. But then, I decided on "Freaks & Geeks."
It wasn't really such a whim—it was in part because I'd watched the first episode of Kitchen Confidential tonight, in which John Frances Daley co-stars, and which I feel kind of ambivalent about. I really liked Anthony Bourdain's book, and overall I didn't dislike the show—it didn't completely blow me away, but it had its moments, and I'll watch it again.
But so the other reason why I got into the "Freaks & Geeks" mood was because a couple of weeks ago, we bought the "Undeclared" Season 1 (and only) DVD set at Amoeba. We were really into "Undeclared" while it was actually on TV, but I don't think they ever aired the final 3 episodes (or, probably quite a few others). So as part of buying the DVD set, we got to finally see the last 3 episodes of the show, which were amazing, particularly the last episode, with Ben Stiller. I honestly don't know why this show wasn't more popular. I guess for partly the same reason as "Freaks and Geeks."
I think "Undeclared" suffered from not being able to find the right demographic—i.e. there's a demographic that likes high school shows, & a different demographic that likes, um, old people shows. And the college students, or people who'd appreciate a fucking awesome show about college freshmen, just spend the whole 4+ years getting drunk & watching unfunny SNL episodes. Or maybe that's just bitterness about my college experience. [1]
But back to "Freaks & Geeks," which was one of the great tragedies of modern television programming. It first aired on a Saturday night, spent about 6 weeks there or so, then moved to (I think) Monday night? I don't even remember. Then it was off for about 3 weeks, while the NFL playoffs, or the stupid March Madness tournament, took over the television. And then finally, it underwent the mercy killing that we all knew it would endure from the beginning—better to burn out, etc.
I really remember watching the pilot, on some Saturday night in 1999, and just being completely blown away. And frankly, I still am. Mena & I loved "Freaks & Geeks" so much that we flew down to LA for the Museum of Television and Radio interview with the cast, along with the showing of one of the episodes that never aired. In some sense it was one of the weirder things we've done—as much as I love TV, I honestly can't imagine taking a plane flight just to see an episode & an interview with the cast and the creators.
But that was the thing about Freaks & Geeks—it put the fanatic in fan, for people who liked it. Or the other way round, maybe.
I realize I've said actually nothing about the show itself, but that's because you just have to see it. The incredible cast; the romantically nostalgic & realistic look at high school life; and the absolutely most perfect use of music ever in a TV series. [2] I'm sorry, I just can't do it justice.
I think the greatest testament for this show is that the pilot, in its final scene, made me a lifelong fan of Styx's "Come Sail Away," and it takes a pretty fucking amazing show to do that.
[1] But so then there are people like me, who will watch almost any reality show on television. No judgment!
[2] According to Paul Feig & Judd Apatow, the creators, they originally imagined a show that was completely filled with music the entire time. That proved difficult for licensing reasons, but even so, this show uses music better than any other I've ever seen, and better than most movies I've seen.
