Sunday, January 6, 2013

Freaks and Geeks

If any of you out there are Freaks and Geeks freaks like yours truly, the latest issue of Vanity Fair has an interesting though brief piece on the evolution of the show with a fun "you knew them when" look at its creators and stars.

My Bham friend Paula gave me a prescription of VF for Christmas. Good mag, great gift, appropriate prescription.

It was one of those shows that was so good and ahead of its time that of course it was cancelled after one season. (Available at The Netflix.) But you knew these folks were neither defeated nor finished.

For those of you not familiar with the show, let me hit you with some knowledge!

Judd Apatow
Linda Cardellini
Seth Rogan
Something Kasdan?
James Franco
Paul Feig
Busy Phillips
Jason Segal
Martin Starr
&c.

For those of you who don't recognize any of those names, never mind.

21 comments:

Keifus said...

Now it's a good 14 years since that show was (almost) popular, which makes it about the perfect time for me to discover. (Up next: Harry Potter.) I sure hope they have it on the streaming version of Netflix though.

(Okay, I did watch half an episode once. In all honesty, I wish I had known about it 1999, when I was still young, but old enough so that the nostalgia was just starting to hit. It would have got me pretty well back then.)

David Marlow said...

I didn't notice if it was stream-able. Also, this particular VF issue as a whole is very much worth the 21£ magazine stand price. (£?)

Would you care for my thoughts on the Jerry Potterman franchise movies? If you would, I think it would only be fair if bright were around for rebuttal. I suspect whether or not she and I agree on the movies' relative merits, her critiques would be far more measured.

Michael said...

As soon as I read VF's 2 Good 2 B 4gotten, I went out and found a website that has all 18 episodes. I'd never even heard of the show until then. I watched all 18 eps in 3 days, then went back and watched them again.

Hard pressed to say which is my favorite,although some of Martin's solo scenes had me damned near choking with laughter. Watching TV while eating grilled cheese, dressing up as the Bionic Woman...just brilliant stuff.

It was a smart, sweet, funny show with great writing and fantastic acting. 2 Good 2 B on TV actually.

Not sure if you saw the online additional content, so HERE

Michael said...

BTW- Best musical choices in TV history. The pilot episode, right after the fight, when Sam dances with Cindy, and Lindsey goes over and takes Eli out onto the floor, I gotta tell ya, I thought that was one of the nicest little high school dance scenes ever. Just as Sam and Cindy get ready to dance, the fast part of Sail Away kicks in. Hilarious, and perfect.

And how wonderful was Joe Flaherty?

"Dad, did any of your friends live?"

Michael said...

PS- Roll Tide

Michael said...

Keifus- If Netflix isn't streaming it still, here's free. Don't bother with the download crap, just click on the episode and hit play.

Freaks and Geeks

Michael said...

David-

Here's a really nice interview with Paul Feig

AV Club

David Marlow said...

Not much of a game, huh? I actually gave the edge to Notre Dame, thinking Bama was overrated this season, quarterback not quite as poised as we all thought. But good grief. Oh how I like football on the radio though.
Pretty sure I've seen Starr around the sitcoms, most notably as a college professor on New Girl. I think.
Very much appreciate the links. Hope Keif sees the episodes.
I don't know if Charlie Rose shows up on podcasts, but recently he had Jud, Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann on. Much worth a look.

Michael said...

I'm loving every minute of this epic beating the Tide is laying on ND. The number of insufferable ND alums around this city is huge, and I would not have wanted to listen to them for an entire year.

Lindsey the Mathlete. What a wonderful turn of a phrase.

Oops. Looks like the Tide just rolled it up to 35-0....he said grinning like an idiot.

David Marlow said...

I wanna say Freaks coined "mathlete", at least in a pop cultural way? I also wanna say Flaherty was a charter member of SCTV?
I've been re-watching Band of Brothers, and I can't believe how much I missed the first time.

Michael said...

Yeah, Flaherty was an SCTV original. In that AV Club link I sent you, Feig talks about Joe being a good sport when the time came to dress him up as Count Floyd in the Halloween episode.

I love Band of Brothers so much that I can't ever watch Office Space again.

bright said...

I'm reading Rowling's The Casual Vacancy. It's terrible for many, many reasons.

We are taking brightling to Harry Potter World for her 11th birthday this spring. SSSHHH! don't tell.

Keifus said...

Streaming it now, as the football game records. God I love these modern tools.

It's worse than I thought, swit. I mean, I think they do a brilliant job of timing the bad information, the connects and disconnects you get at that age, and I like how they cut in the 70s rock into the soundtrack and all, but Jebus...

Look, if you even have to guess, I was the 4-foot-tall, animated, pudgy-faced, curly-haired kid, if you can imagine an Irishish version. Right down to the terminal geekiness, the gullibility, and the being really, painfully in love with the Linda Cardellini type. Okay, and if you'll excuse me, I think I might have something in my eye.

[I know Ms. Cardellini mostly from the really, really terrible live-action Scooby Doo movies that my kids watched. And growing up, I'd already had a thing for Velma...]

Yeah, and I actually was thinking I'd finally get around to reading Jerry Potterman. I want your take anyway.

Keifus said...

Of course, it's what they worked with before they found Jonah Hill and Michael Cera. I cried at Superbad too.

Keifus said...

Wow, and you know what goes by really fast when you can skip the dead time? Football.

I like Atlanta a lot this year, but I gotta root for Seattle in this one. And they're taking every opportunity to choke.

David Marlow said...

Gotta hand it to Seattle. Though Atlanta did everything within their power to sabotage their own victory, it was a great game.

Having read exactly 0 of J.K.R. Tolkland's books, I would feel uncomfortable commenting on them. I would feel more comfortable commenting on all of the Gerald Potterfield movies, having seen about 80% of half of them.

rundeep said...

Okay. Call it guys. I think it looks like Mr. Brady and the Pats, again. Atlanta finally plays as it can, but there's still something so .... dysfunctional about that crowd. We'll see, but I think it's Tom B winning it all in New Orleans.

David Marlow said...

Ah. When Tom is on, they look impossible to beat. When Matt is on, they look for the most creative and painful ways to lose.

Keifus said...

I dunno, they always seem to play less well against Baltimore. I'd have been much more comfortable seeing them up against a Peyton Manning team.

Keifus said...

Hey you cut enough wood up there or what, switters? (Or are you just as depressed about the game as I am?) The nooze keeps telling me that it's as cold over there as it is over here, which is, you know, really fucking cold.

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