I remember when I first saw Freaks and Geeks; it was, in fact, six months ago. I caught the end of the pilot episode on the Sundance Channel and was instantly drawn in. I then found out that my co-worker Paul had the entire series on DVD, so I asked if I could borrow it and he, thankfully, agreed. I then spent my day off watching the entire series from beginning to end, I was addicted. So addicted, that I spent the next few days watching it over again and listening to the commentaries by the cast and crew. What was the appeal? It was the most accurate depiction of high school that I had ever seen on television. Freak and Geeks is the kind of show that you can watch and say, “Hey, something similar happened to me in high school,” or, “Hey! I know someone like that!”
There’s an episode in particular, Girlfriends and Boyfriends, which has a special place in my heart, because it has a moment that is taken directly from my high school experience. In it, our protagonist Sam Weir has a crush on the pretty, popular cheerleader Cindy Saunders. At the advice of a fellow geek, Gordon Crisp, Sam decides to join an extracurricular activity that she’s a part of (the year book club) so he can get to know her better. It appears to pay off, when after having bonded over going store to store to sell ad space in the year book, Cindy asks Sam if he would like to go with her to Stackies, a fast food restaurant, after school. Sam, naturally, says yes and it appears that their first date is well on its way. Everything appears to be going smoothly at Stackies, until star basketball player Todd walks by and Cindy starts to blush. She then asks Sam, “Do you know Todd Schellinger?” And then Sam, knowing where this is headed, hesitantly replies, “Yeah…well, not personally. But, why?”
And then this following exchange occurs:
And then this following exchange occurs:
Cindy: I don’t know! He’s kind of cute. Don’t you think?
Sam: I guess.
Cindy: Okay, I’ve never told anyone this before, but I have like the hugest crush on him. At last week’s game he asked my friend Jo for my phone number. Do you think that means he likes me?
Sam: He asked for your phone number?
Cindy: Well yeah, but he never called. And every time I see him he acts like he doesn’t even know I exist.
Sam: Well maybe, he’s just shy.
Cindy: Do you think? (pauses) I don’t know. It’s like I’m always so nervous around him, I never know what to say. It’s not like with you. You’re so easy to talk to. (And to add insult to injury) You’re just like my sister!
Sam: Thanks!
Yes! This very scene actually did happen to me. I was once having lunch with this extremely attractive girl (who shall remain nameless) and then she proceeded to talk all about this guy she had a crush. Thankfully, she did not compare me to being like her sister. This is the appealing aspect of Freaks and Geeks, is that it often takes very painful moments from our high school years and makes us laugh at them. This scene at Stackies is painful, but Sam’s reactions to Cindy’s questions are often hilarious. He’s completely flabbergasted and at one points does a spit take when Cindy says, “It’s not like with you.”
Freaks and Geeks often subverts high school stereotypes as well, take Todd for example. In most high school shows, he would probably be a dumb meathead who bullies everyone smaller than him. In the next episode, We’ve Got Spirit, Cindy and Todd start to date and this infuriates Sam. When Cindy tells Sam her and Todd are dating, he replies by telling her that Todd is a jerk, she chalks up to Sam being nervous about the game (he’s signed up to be the school mascot, after the old one got injured) and proceeds to walk away. Sam’s suspicions about Todd are proven false when it is revealed that Todd is actually a NICE GUY! Sam sees Todd barfing in the men’s locker room and naturally thinks the worst; however, Todd confides in Sam that he gets nervous before each basketball game. The two then have a nice, small exchange and Todd is on his way. Sam realizes that he completely misjudged Todd and after the game apologizes to Cindy.
Another moment that I can relate to is the opening scene of the pilot, when Sam and his Geek friends are quoting Caddyshack, when the local bully Alan White starts to pick on Sam. His friends (Bill and Neal) bail on Sam, leaving to feel the wrath of Alan. But before Alan can act, Sam’s sister Lindsay appears and scares off Alan and his cronies by acting all drugged out. This again is a moment straight out of my freshman year at high school. A certain jock kept picking on me in Study Hall, when my sister found out; she confronted him and essentially scared him into leaving alone. Like Sam, I was slightly embarrassed that my petite sister fought my battle for me.
The dynamic of Sam and Lindsay is probably my favorite part of the show; it’s the kind of relationship you find amongst most siblings, they tend to get on one another’s nerves, but underneath the constant squabbling there is genuine affection. At the end of Girlfriends and Boyfriends, there is a nice scene in which the two of them cheer one another up after the rough day they had (Lindsay’s awkward first date with Nick, Sam’s disastrous “date” with Cindy). It’s a nicely understated scene, there’s not much dialogue between the two of them, but a few small gestures: Lindsay asks Sam for one of his Ding Dongs and he pushes it her way. When Cindy calls Sam to talk about Todd, he wraps the telephone cord around his neck and pretends to strangle himself, which gets a laugh from Lindsay. Lindsay then stands next to Sam, listens in on the conversation and makes a few funny faces, which in turns gets a laugh out of Sam. It’s a rather moving scene and certainly far more genuine than most heart to heart moments you get in sitcoms.
The most interesting thing about Sam and Lindsay is that it is implied that the two of them could easily fit in with the popular crowd if they chose to do so. In fact, on the commentary, creator Paul Feig said that had there been a season two, one of the main storyline would have been whether or not Sam remained a Geek. He's picked on heavily in the first half of the season, but as the show progresses, Sam seems to grow weary of being a geek, and manages to befriend a few people in the popular crowd. In The Little Things, Sam is sitting on the popular table with Cindy, when Todd says something rather discouraging about her. She in turn, tries to bait Sam into picking a fight with Todd, but Todd calls her out. He says he doesn't want to fight Sam and that he likes Sam. In Looks and Books, Lindsay gets fed up with the Freaks and tries to reconnect with her older friends, rejoining the Mathletes in the process.
Freaks and Geeks has developed a cult following through the years, but only lasted one season due to poor ratings. It’s often baffled critics how such a well written and genuinely touching show could only last one season, while half assed sitcoms (Full House, Family Matters) can run for nearly a decade. I have developed a few theories as to why the show never really caught on with the public.
1) Minor Victories
The characters in Freaks and Geeks have minor victories, meaning whatever victory they achieve is usually short lived and another problem rears its ugly head. In the pilot episode the Geeks are getting bombarded in a game of dodge ball, until Sam is the only one left standing. Alan picks up a ball and relishes the thought of being able to knock Sam out of the game, but in a surprise turn of events, Sam catches the ball, thus forcing Alan out of the game. The rest of the Geeks give out a huge cheer, until the other jocks gang up on Sam and bombard him with dodge balls.
In The Diary, Bill finally persuades the gym teacher to let him and the geeks choose the softball teams, because he’s tired of not being able to play. The coach agrees and the Geeks get to choose the teams this one time. Later on in the game, one of the jocks pops the ball out and Bill catches the ball. Sam, Bill, and Neal are extremely ecstatic over Bill’s moment of triumph, but their celebration is a bit premature as the other team’s players tag up and proceed to run home.
In Tricks and Treats, Lindsay goes cruising with the Freaks (Daniel, Kim, Nick, and Ken) and is initially awkward around them, despite Nick’s best attempts to make her feel welcomed. But as the days wears on, she begins to loosen up, to the point where she even commits acts of vandalism (smashing jack o lanterns, batting mailboxes.) The Freaks then persuade her to throw eggs at some random bystanders; Lindsay grabs an egg from the cartoon and throws…only to find to her utter horror that she just egged her own brother. She then demands that Daniel back up so she can apologize to Sam and at least give him a ride home. Daniel is reluctant after first, but eventually gives in, much to dismay of his girlfriend Kim Kelly. Lindsay tries to apologizes, but Sam won’t listen and runs off. Lindsay then demands that Daniel take her home. Nick tries to talk her out of it, but Kim Kelly interjects, “Just take her home I told you she would be a drag.”
I always found this overall scene fairly interesting, because if this was a typical sitcom, when Lindsay says, “We just egged my little brother,” it would probably have been accompanied by a laugh track. The idea of a sister accidentally egging her brother is kind of funny in many ways and most sitcoms would probably have played it for full comedy. Then by episodes end there would be an apology, followed by a huge hugging session. In Freaks and Geeks, this scene goes from comedic to tragic in the blink of an eye. When Lindsay learns she just egged Sam, her reaction is pretty funny as is her delivery of the line, “We just egged my little brother.” But the absolute shock on Sam’s face, when he learns that his own sister just egged him is genuinely heart breaking. He’s in a complete state of disbelief and almost on the verge of tears. The only closure we get is when Sam and Lindsay’s parents ask him who egged him, he responds, “Some freaks.” He’s still angry at Lindsay, but he doesn’t rat her out.
There is no hugging session at the episode’s end, a few minutes later Lindsay once again tries to apologize to Sam and he coldly responds with, “Nobody thinks you’re cool, you know.”
In one of the more bittersweet episodes Carded and Discarded, the Geeks befriend a beautiful transfer student, Maureen, and know that it’s only a matter of time before they lose her to the more popular crowd, especially after seeing her in the hallway talking to the head cheerleader. At first, the geeks try to delay the inevitable, but eventually they come to accept it and decide to make the most of the time they have left with Maureen. On their last night together, they take her to an all you can eat buffet. At the episode’s end, she asks them if it’s okay if she sits at the cheerleader’s lunch table, the Geeks reluctantly agree and then give her a few parting words of advice, knowing she probably won’t ever speak to them again. Though, Maureen does pop up two more times in the series, so she hasn’t completely forgotten about the Geeks.
2) Awkward Teenage Romances
Freaks and Geeks has one of the most awkward teenage romances in this history of television; the coupling of Nick and Linsday. This is a story arc that spanned four episodes and ended in the most bitter of ways. It’s not even so much as a romance, as it is an act of charity on Lindsay’s part. It begins in I’m With the Band, Nick is adamant about starting a rock band, but the rest of the freaks are more interesting in clowning around, than being serious musicians. This infuriates Nick who demands they practice harder, the Freaks tire of this and walk out on Nick, leaving him in a state of absolute depression. Lindsay cheers him up by telling him that the local band, Dimension, is having auditions for a new drummer. Nick is overjoyed and proceeds to hug Lindsay, however his happiness is short lived when he shows up for the audition and completely bombs it. The drums are Nick’s passion (he often drums along to Rush albums), but he is absolutely dreadful.
Lindsay makes a face which seems to say, “What am I getting myself into?” The next night Lindsay meets Nick in his basement and he tells her no words can truly express his feelings towards her, so instead, he plays the song “Lady” by STYX and proceeds to sing along with it. At first Lindsay, is charmed and laughs at the gesture, but it proceeds to go and on, until her smile fades into confusion, then into discomfort, and finally into look of complete disturbance.
Finally, just to shut Nick up, she asks, “Do you want to make out or something?” But Nick tells her he just wants to lie down next to her. By the next episode, We’ve Got Spirit, Lindsay has already tired of Nick and wants to break up with him, but to dismay of the other Freaks, who fear what Nick might do after hearing the news. Lindsay confides in her mom about Nick and her mom tells her to break up with Nick the next time she sees him. She doesn’t, as Nick explains to her what happened in his last relationship and why he acts essentially the way he does. Lindsay can’t bring herself to break up with Nick, quite yet. However, Nick runs into Lindsay’s mom at a high school basket and she proceeds to tell Nick how sorry she is that things couldn’t work out between her and Lindsay, in essence she just broke up Lindsay’s relationship with Nick. Nick, is bitter at first, but the two of them remain friends by the series end, though Nick never really quite gets over Lindsay.
Let’s compare this romance with another popular 90s show Saved By the Bell. Whereas Freaks and Geeks is set in Michigan in the early 80s, Saved By the Bell seems to take place in another universe altogether. The show, like most sitcoms of the time, utilized a laugh track, so whenever a character did something “funny” it would be greeted with laughter from the “audience.” Another thing that was common was to utilize catcalls as well, so when two characters would kiss, we would hear the following from the fake audience “WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” The romance that dominated Saved By the Bell and Saved By the Bell: The College Years was between Zack and Kelly. The major bump that the couple encountered was when Kelly fell for a college student and broke up with Zack. This was short lived as it was later revealed that the college student was a complete tool. The two inevitably got back together and got married (Hawaiian style). Their romance has also inspired a lot of fan made Youtube videos, like this one:
There’s a lot of differences between the Zack/Kelly and the Nick/Lindsay storylines.
· Zack was the main character in Saved By the Bell and essentially ran the school, to the point where he had the principal Mr. Belding wrapped around his finger. Nick is an outsider that is content with being an underachiever. He also looks like an average high school student, while Zack looked like someone you might find in the Sears catalog. Kelly is a popular, well liked student at Bayside high school, while Lindsay is trying to find her place in the world, not necessarily caring about what people think about her.
· In Saved By the Bell, Zack and Kelly were destined to be together from the get go. The first few series revolved around Zack’s attempts at trying to land a date with her and finally getting rewarded for his hard work. The two of them were completely compatible with one another and were able to overcome any hardships that came their way. Nick and Lindsay were brought together by mere happenstance and their relationship didn’t stand a chance, as they had very little in common. Lindsay liked Nick, but only as a friend.
· In Saved by the Bell, you rarely saw the characters home lives, every once in a while there might be an episode in which Zack’s dad made an appearance, but for the most part the show revolved around the characters time at the school. There were no episodes (that I recall) where Zack had to meet the approval of Kelly’s father, or Kelly’s mother nosing into her affairs. The closest thing to family intervention came when Kelly’s younger sister developed a crush on Zack and he had to let her down easily. Of course, in Saved by the Bell, nothing is ever simple, so rather than just tell Kelly’s younger sister that he’s not interested, he tried to repulse her away by dressing and acting like a complete slob, which had the opposite effect. Finally, Zack breaks down and tells the younger sister that he is only interested in Kelly. And she replies, “Why didn’t you just say so in the first place?” In Freaks and Geeks, the family plays a huge role in the series and when Lindsay’s dad finds out she is dating Nick, he naturally disapproves, afraid that he might get her pregnant, or catch some venereal disease. He then tells her the disturbing story about how he lost his virginity (to a prostitute in Korea, “the worst five dollars I’ve ever spent.”) And then her mother chimes in, “Your virginity is a gift.” Sex never seemed to on the mind of the Saved By the Bell kids, just innocent, puppy dog love.
At the end of the series (when the producers knew it was going to be cancelled) Sam got his wish and was given a chance to date Cindy. In Smooching and Mooching, Sam finds out that Cindy has broken up with Todd and then, much to his surprise, she asks him if he would like to come to a party. It turns out to be a Spin the Bottle party and Neal is adamant that Sam bring him and Bill along. Sam acquiesces and the three of them go to the party, not knowing what to expect. The only one that doesn’t see any action is Neal. Cindy takes Sam into a bedroom and the two of them stare at each other for a while, Sam is not certain what he is supposed to do, and then he finally asks Cindy if he can kiss her. She then essentially forces herself on Sam, to the point of near molestation. The two of them start to date, but the happiness is short lived, when Sam realizes that him and Cindy have little in common, and on top of that she is pretty boring. When Sam takes her to see The Jerk at the movie theater, she doesn’t laugh once and finds it to be stupid. There are only two things she’s interested in: talking about high school and making out. Sam now has to face the hardest challenge of his life, breaking up with the girl of his dreams. Cindy doesn't take it very well, screams at Sam, and throws the ring he gave her at him. It’s a stark contrast from the seemingly sweet girl we saw in the series pilot episode. It’s certainly no Saved By the Bell romance. Had Freaks and Geeks gone down that path, more than likely Sam and Cindy would have gotten married.
3) Not Malleable (Or Too Real For Its Own Good)
Freaks and Geeks is set in a specific place and time (Michigan, 1980) and everything about it looks authentic right down to the smallest detail; the sets, the music, and even the look of the actors seem genuine. It’s on par with looking at a time capsule from that period. The jokes and gags are often driven by the narrative and never exists for their own sake. This is Freaks and Geeks greatest strength, but is ultimately the reason why it never lasted more than a season. By setting the show in a specific time and place, and giving it more realistic narratives, it is pretty limited in the type of stories it wants to tell. For instance, there is no episode in which the gang takes an all expense trip to Hawaii, nor is there an episode in which they enter a talent show where the top cash prize is conveniently the same amount they need to save their favorite hang out from being torn down. A common trope of sitcoms is to have a day dream sequence; Saved By the Bell is filled with these, like the episode in which Screech is made the new hall monitor and then day dreams about himself being Robo-Screech. Freaks and Geeks strays away from this trope; the closest we get to a daydream sequence is when Sam is dancing in front of and talking to a mirror, imagining what he's going to say after Cindy sees him in his new jump suit.
Saved by the Bell is a truly awful show; filled with bad jokes, cheap sets, and horrible acting, but it managed to last four seasons (two spin off shows followed as well as a few rip offs) mainly because there was no attempt to ground the show in reality. In fact, the humor and characters in Saved By the Bell are so over the top, that if there was an episode in which Screech invented a rocket and flew the gang to the Moon, the audience wouldn’t bat an eye. After all, there was actually a story in which the Feds thought Screech was a Martian. However, a similar story in Freaks and Geeks universe would have the audience scratching its head. The only problems the characters in Saved By the Bell face is “What should I wear to prom?” or “What should I get Kelly for Christmas?” It’s usually a really trivial matter that gets resolved by the episode’s end. The characters never seem to worry about money and getting in trouble with their parents. If one of Zack’s plans backfires, it usually ends with him getting a detention, but he’s really no worse for wear, and comes out of it smiling. The only time Saved By the Bell is interested in the “real world” is when there is a mandatory episode dealing with the dangers of drugs and alcohol. In one of the most famous Saved by the Bell episodes, famous actor Johnny Dakota chooses Bayside to film an anti-drug commercial. The gang is ecstatic, even more so when Johnny agrees to let them appear in the PSA. He later invites him to a party, where Zack and Kelly discover much to their horror that their idol smokes marijuana on a regular basis. The next day, they refuse to shoot the PSA and Johnny storms off the set. All is not lost, however, as it is revealed that their principal Mr.Belding CONVENIENTLY knows the president of NBC, who agrees to let them shoot their own anti-drug PSA. Of course, only Zack and his pals are allowed to represent Bayside, because all the other students are unimportant to the proceedings.
Freaks and Geeks strays away from this kind of sermonizing, and in fact pokes fun at it, like in Beers and Weirs, when the students are forced to attend an anti-alcohol assembly and have to watch as a group of students perform a skit all about the dangers of alcohol. Naturally, the students laugh at the overall ridiculousness of the skit.
Saved By the Bell often has characters inexplicably picking up skills that they never seem display beforehand; in the last season Zack took the SAT and was revealed to be A GENIUS! How much of genius? Well, he scored higher than straight A student and absolute perfectionist Jessie Spano. Up until then Zack was a huge underachiever (academically) who put girls before grades, but because he’s the equivalent of Jesus in the Saved By Bell universe, it’s only natural that he would be a genius as well.
In Freaks and Geeks there is an episode Breasts and Tests that is set up in almost similar fashion; Daniel, essentially the leader of the Freaks, is struggling in algebra and Lindsay offers to tutor him. Daniel, however, can’t quite grasp it. The next day, Daniel asks Lindsay to help him cheat on the test. Lindsay is reluctant at first, but after hearing Daniel’s teacher say awful things about him, she whole heartedly agrees. Daniel steals a copy of the test and then has Lindsay do all the work. He then copies the work on the actual test and gets a good grade. However, the algebra teacher is suspicious and knows that Lindsay helped Daniel cheat on the test. He can’t prove it, but he is determined to have Daniel suspended. At the episode’s climax, Daniel and Lindsay talk to the guidance counselor Mr. Rosso and swear that they didn’t cheat it; he, in his naiveté, believes them. Lindsays parents show up to back her up, but the algebra teacher is still not swayed and says the only way he’ll believe Daniel is if Daniel retakes the test right there in front of all them to see. Daniel is reluctant, but after a few urgings from Mr.Rosso agrees to take the test. In the Saved by the Bell universe, Daniel would discover, much to his surprise, that he knows everything on the test and would proceed to ace it. Of course, there’s no way Saved By the Bell would allow Daniel to get away with cheating, so he would naturally confess his crime and everyone in the room would forgive him in a teary eyed finale. In Freaks and Geeks, Daniel screws over himself and Lindsay, when instead of filling out the test, he writes ZEPPELIN ROCKS! He doesn’t even attempt to solve any of the problems. He is about to get yelled at, when he gives a teary eyed story about how in the sixth grade he was told he would never amount to anything, and this in turn silences everyone in the room, except Lindsay, who bursts out laughing, because this is the same cock and bull story he told her earlier on in the episode. She starts laughing so hard that tears start streaming out of her eyes. Daniel looks at her and whispers for her to be cool.
The characters in Saved By the Bell genuinely enjoy highschool, where as the characters in Freaks and Geeks are trying to survive it. Saved By the Bell is about the joys of youth (with an occasional bump in the road), while Freaks and Geeks is about the pains of youth (with an occasional ray of light to brighten up the day). That maybe the "problem" with Freaks and Geeks, when people go home and watch television they want to watch something that will help them forget their problems, rather than something that will open old wounds. Hence, shows like Saved By the Bell are allowed to have a long shelf life, they're mindlessly stupid, but no one will ever mistake them for reality. However, Paul Feig and company got the last laugh, the cast and crew of Freaks and Geeks are still enjoying rather successful careers, while the people associated with Saved By the Bell have faded into obscurity. Well, except Mario Lopez, someone's got to host Access Hollywood! Or whatever gossip show he does.
Series cast: Linda Cardellini (Lindsay Weir), John Francis Daley (Sam Weir), James Franco (Daniel Desario), Jason Segal (Nick Andopolis), Samm Levine (Neal Schweiber), Martin Starr (Bill Haverchuck), Busy Phillips (Kim Kelly), Seth Roger (Ken Miller), Joe Flaherty (Harold Weir), Becky Ann Baker (Jean Weir).
Series creator: Paul Feig
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