Superbad Freaks and Knocked Up Geeks

Published March 4, 2008

By Sally Wiebe

I have yet to meet the person who forgot to appreciate the witty humor of Knocked Up or the comical absurdity of Superbad. If someone reading this wants to argue that neither movie was funny, then I challenge them to watch the one televised season of “ Freaks and Geeks,” a talented dramatic comedy manifesting nearly every element of your high school, particularly the elements you may have wanted to put behind you.

The worst and best part about “Freaks and Geeks” is that the show only ran for one season before NBC took it off the air, but more recently it has carried a considerable cult following. I heard about the show by word-of-mouth, when a close friend of mine described it as, “The best unrecognized show that was once on TV.” When I want to get someone interested in the show I explain that it showcases everything exciting and depressing about high school — all the while making you laugh. After this summer’s two box office hits I can say that Apatow Productions is the company that produced it; the company which also produced Knocked Up and Superbad.

Created by Paul Feig, this NBC show ran from 1999 to 2000 as laughable teenage commotion at its finest. Feig perhaps is better known for his acting roles, one as part of the fantasy baseball crew from Knocked Up who, feeling betrayed by Paul Rudd’s character leaving the meeting, shouts, “Hey, don’t let the door hit you in the vagina on the way out!” Feig has directed notable shows such as “The Office,” “Weeds,” and “Arrested Development.” He is part of a group of friends and colleagues that includes Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, and Martin Starr.

Segel, Rogen, and Starr are also better known for their acting performances in not only “Freaks and Geeks” but from arguably the two funniest movies of this past summer. Segel’s character on the show, Nick Andolopolis, is best coupled with his character Jason in Knocked Up, the over-ambitious roommate Ben Stone, played by Rogen. On “Freaks and Geeks” Rogen plays Ken Miller, projecting the similarly cynical and straightforward character he played in Knocked Up and the ludicrous lines he delivered as Officer Michaels in Superbad. Starr’s awkward and monotone delivery of lines on “Freaks and Geeks” can also be heard in Knocked Up as the character Martin, or in Superbad as James Masselin, one of the stoners at the adult party.

The show follows, obviously, the group of freaks and the group of geeks. The freaks are a crowd of kids who like to stick it to the man and party, all the while dealing with the drama that ensues because of their actions. Their group includes the characters Daniel, Kim, Nick, Ken, and their newest member, the show’s protagonist, Lindsay. The geeks include Neal, Bill, and Sam.

These guys try not to care about the freaks, but they are constantly curious about the more thrilling exploits the group carries out. The third and final “group” the show follows is the dynamics within the Weir family, which includes Harold and Jean Weir and the kids Lindsay and Sam. Audiences observe the experiences the freaks and the geeks undergo, and then watch the consequences of their teenage
mischief at the Weir’s dinner table. It always proves for an amusing discussion.

It is important to consider reasons why “Freaks and Geeks” was pulled off the air after just one season. Were American audiences not ready for a spotlight on the ups and downs of high school students? Perhaps it did not appear so humorous at the turn of the 20th century. Now, however, after the passionate response to the hilarity of high school kids in Superbad, friends of “Freaks and Geeks” advocates have reacted very well to the show’s entertaining and clever depiction of the basic groups of students in every high school.

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