Freaks and Geeks

Freaks and Geeks was an American television series, created by Paul Feig and produced by Judd Apatow, that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 TV season. Although the show, considered a "dramedy," garnered much critical acclaim and a devoted cult following, repeated preemption and scheduling changes hurt its ratings. It was cancelled after only 12 episodes had aired. A fan-led campaign caused NBC to broadcast three more episodes in July 2000, but three others would not be seen until September of that year when the cable channel Fox Family aired them in syndication. It has since then garnered a cult following leading to the release of the complete series on DVD. The show centered on a teenage girl, Lindsay Weir (played by Linda Cardellini), and her brother, Sam (John Francis Daley), both attending McKinley High School during the 1980-1981 school year in the town of Chippewa, Michigan, a fictional suburb of Detroit. (The town likely got its name from Chippewa Valley High School located in Clinton Charter Township, Michigan. Paul Feig graduated from the school in 1980.) Their friends, respectively, constituted the freaks — Daniel Desario, Ken Miller, Nick Andopolis, Kim Kelly — and geeks — Neal Schweiber and Bill Haverchuck — of the title. Affluent parents Harold and Jean Weir were featured and Millie Kentner, Lindsay's geeky, highly religious former best friend, was a recurring character. The show's starting point was Lindsay's transition from her life as an academically proficient student, star mathlete, and proper young girl, with Millie as her like-minded best friend, to an Army-jacket-wearing teenager who hangs out with troubled slackers. Her relationships with her new friends, and the friction they cause with her parents and with her own self-image, form one central strand of the show; the other follows Sam and his group of geeky friends as they navigate a very different part of the social universe. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.