Freaks and Geeks

Starring: Linda Cardellini (18 episodes), John Francis Daley (18 episodes), James Franco (18 episodes), Samm Levine (18 episodes), Seth Rogen (18 episodes), Jason Segel (18 episodes), Martin Starr (18 episodes), Becky Ann Baker (18 episodes), Joe Flaherty (18 episodes), Busy Phillips (18 episodes), Steve Bannos (12 episodes), Dave Allen (11 episodes), Sarah Hagan (11 episodes), Jerry Messing (11 episodes), Natasha Melnick (10 episodes), Stephen Lea Sheppard (10 episodes), Chauncey Leopardi (8 episodes), Thomas F. Wilson (6 episodes), Trace Beaulieu (6 episodes), JoAnna Garcia Swisher (5 episodes), Shaun Weiss (5 episodes), Jason Lansing (5 episodes), Lizzy Caplan (4 episodes), Ann Dowd (2 episodes), Ben Foster (2 episodes), Kevin Tighe (2 episodes), Leslie Mann (1 episode), Kevin Corrigan (1 episode), David Krumholtz (1 episode), Rashida Jones (1 episode), Jason Schwartzman (1 episode), Shia LaBeouf (1 episode), Jonathan Kasdan (1 episode), David Koechner (1 episode), Ben Stiller (1 episode)
Directed by: Jake Kasdan (5 episodes), Judd Apatow (3 episodes), Bryan Gordon (2 episodes), Ken Kwapis (2 episodes), Paul Feig (1 episode)
Rating: TV-14
Genre: Comedy, Drama
1999-2000

Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A group of burnouts and a group of nerds interact in a Detroit high school in 1980.

Review:
Tim: Two decades after its initial release, I finally sat down to watch Freaks and Geeks. It's certainly achieved cult status at this point, most notably for the absurdly talented cast and directors. So many big names appeared on this show, it's hard to believe. It's especially intriguing because the series only lasted for one season. Watching this many years later, I loved getting to see these early television performances of so many big name stars. The series itself was fine. I certainly enjoyed aspects of it, but I also have to admit it was a bit of a relief that there was only one season to watch.

The best part of this show is certainly getting to see all these talented actors and actresses interacting together in this early-career series. Linda Cardellini isn't the biggest name in the cast, but she gives the best performance. I've always been so impressed with her ability to step into a series of different roles. I've definitely been a fan of hers and this role only further cements that belief. Cardellini is the heart of the series, giving an authentic performance- she teeters between seeming wise beyond her years and surprisingly lost and uncertain. She does a terrific job of capturing the challenges of a high schooler's life, when you're trying to figure out who you are, stepping away from who you used to be, yet not fully clear on who you will be as an adult. Cardellini captures all this in a consistently terrific performance.

I really loved John Francis Daley's performance, too. It's funny that he and Cardellini got top billing, but both of their careers have been eclipsed by other cast members. Daley is perfectly authentic and believable as one of the titular geeks. His performance had such an innocent and vulnerability to it. It's hard not to care about Sam Weir. He got so many moments throughout the series to shine and he capitalizes on all of them. He was terrific here. It was fun seeing James Franco here. He is a talented actor and while he deservedly is getting a lot of criticism for his actions right now, I like him as an actor and it was fun seeing him cut his teeth in this role. His performances later in his career never strayed too far from what he does here. Seth Rogen was interesting because his character here was so different to the lovable goofball he'd play for decades. I enjoyed seeing a different side to Rogen. He does a good job, but never quite feels comfortable among the cast. Maybe that was because he was playing most against type. Jason Segel is perhaps my favorite actor from the cast and he's mostly good. He would follow a similar approach to characters later in his career, but his character had some interested edges and flaws to him. It's certainly a performance that makes you think. I wasn't always sure about how I felt about his character, Nick. Samm Levine also gave such a believable performance. I never quite loved his character, but he acted very well. Martin Starr surprisingly emerged as one of the highlights of the cast as well. He made Bill such a goofy, incredible character.

I'm not a big Busy Phillips fan and I didn't really like her performance here. I've known people like her character, though, so he did well bringing her to life. Dave Allen had more than a few terrific moments throughout the series. Stephen Lea Sheppard added in an effective supporting performance, too. Although less noteworthy for their performances, I liked seeing Lizzy Caplan, Ben Foster, and Rashida Jones in smaller roles. As a whole, the cast was exceptional. It's easily the primary reason to watch this series. I do think that with all the big names here, it was unexpected that I'd love Cardellini, Daley, and Starr the best.

The series is also noteworthy for the involvement of Jake Kasdan, Paul Feig, and Judd Apatow. I thought they did a good job of creating memorable characters. The story never quite lived up to the characters, though. I was not continuously entertained throughout the 18 episodes. I didn't laugh all that much, which is fairly surprising given the comedic talent involved. I liked the characters due to the performances of the characters more than the writing or dialogue. By the end of the season, I was ready to say goodbye to these characters. I'm not sure there was a compelling enough reason to continue their story. It felt like many of the same themes kept coming up, giving some of the episodes a redundant quality. I know many people were upset when the series was canceled, but not me. As I mentioned before, I enjoyed watching it, but it was also a relief when it ended.

So, Freaks and Geeks is a bit hard for me to summarize. I absolutely loved seeing this talented cast bring these characters to life. There were definitely great moments sprinkled throughout the series. However, it wasn't consistently strong. A few of the episodes really dragged. In the end, it was a perfectly fine series but I'd never include this anywhere near my top tier television series. When you consider the talent involved, that's a bit disappointing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



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