Why That 70's Show Beat Freaks and Geeks

Freaks and Geeks is a comedy/drama from 1999-2000 that takes a look at the lives of an “average” family in 1980.

Starring Linda Cardellini and John Francis Daley, Freaks and Geeks has a cast of secondary characters that would go on to become some of the biggest names in television in movies. The crew of “Freaks”, the high school kids who party and break all the rules, features James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Jason Segel.

While 1999 may have been before these big name actors really broke out, it’s surprising that the show only aired one season and did not get picked up for another. The main reason for this was probably the show’s competition with That 70’s Show, which started around the same time. The two shows are very similar; both show a group of high school kids that are a mix between news and rule breakers. Both shows featured high school aged kids smoking weed, and both shows had characters who would freak out over all the developments in the “nerd community”.

 While Freaks and Geeks had many characters who would go on to be well known actors, they didn’t gain any advantage over That 70’s Show because of this. That 70’s Show featured Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and many more successful actors.

Probably the biggest reason That 70’s Show was picked up for 8 seasons and Freaks and Geeks only got 1 was because of the length of the shows. That 70’s Show consisted of quick, 22 minutes episodes full of cheap laughs and minimal overarching storylines. Freaks and Geeks, however, took more of the “dramedy” route, requiring viewers to watch each episode in order to really understand what’s going on. Following a series of hour long episodes before the era of online streaming was difficult, and thus it was easier for That 70’s Show’s viewers to follow along. Even still, Freaks and Geeks is an entertaining show with likable characters that deserved more than the one season it got.

Freaks and Geeks: The Best Cancelled Television Show in History

Freaks and Geeks is probably one of the best, well scripted television shows that our generation has had the pleasure to see. It was THE show that launched a lot of their cast into fame: James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, John Daley, Linda Cardellini, and Martin Starr, just to name a few. And if the cast wasn't enough to prove why this show was great, here's just some other reasons.

1. You can relate to it and it's realistic. 

One of the reasons why the show got cancelled was because Garth Ancier (former NBC executive who cancelled the show) thought that the problem with the show was that neither the freaks or geeks win. But that's what made the show amazing. The freaks are the outcast in the schools, the nobodies, the kids who probably won't go to college. The geeks were the kids that got bullied, all the girls were at least a foot taller than them, and they sometimes tried to hard to fit in. The issues that the show dealt with were issues that everyone could relate to, or know someone that went through that experience: being picked last for a team in gym, crushes, puberty questions, cheating on a test, and even being too old to go trick or treating on Halloween.

The dialogue in the show is another reason why it's so good. Everyone that was in the show were teenagers to begin with, and they spoke like actual teenagers. None of the lines ever felt forced. And all the characters have flaws, like REAL flaws. And they deal with those flaws realistically, which means sometimes you can't have what you want. There weren't any miracles in the show to save them, and that's why I think as an audience, we were okay that the freaks and geeks didn't win.

2. The cast & cameo appearances are great.

You can't really have a better cast than the ones that are already in the show. And it's no surprise, almost everyone in the show has gone off to do big things in the film industry. The actors all fit their characters spot on, and they're all unique in their own way. Linda Cardellini plays the sweetheart, stuck between the freaks and geeks Lindsay Weir. She struggles in high school with not knowing what she wants to do, balancing life between being smarter than everyone else but choosing to be friends with the kids who struggle themselves with grades. Her dorky brother Sam Weir played by John Francis Daley is the subject of bullying in high school and gets asked a lot, "Are you a middle schooler?" James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, and Busy Philipps are considered the 'freaks' in the high school, and even though they may look like they don't care about their grades, they still have real feelings and emotions we can relate to. There's even some pretty cool cameo appearances like Ben Stiller who plays Agent Meara, Shia LaBeouf who plays Herbert or the high school's mascot, and Jason Shwartzman. 

3. It's hilarious.

With witty lines and character flaws, the show is guaranteed laughs. If you don't believe me, just take a look at this clip:

 

Horrible Bosses

The movie Horrible Bosses is about three friends Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman) Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) who try to work hard, be respected and move ahead in each of their jobs, but they each have a big problem in attaining this goal: they have a terrible boss and a job that is difficult to leave without starting somewhere else at the bottom of the ladder. At the financial firm where he works, Nick's mean spirited boss, Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey), has always given Nick the impression that he is next in line for a senior vice-president position. This however is the farthest thing from Dave's mind. Kurt, who works for chemical company, used to have a great boss, Jack Pellitt (Donald Sutherland) until he died, which meant that the company was passed on to his drug addicted son, Bobby Pellitt (Colin Farrell). He has no work ethic, hates Kurt and does not really care about the family business. As a dental hygienist Dale is constantly sexually harassed by his boss, Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston). What makes things even worse is the fact that Julia keeps threatening to tell Dale's fiancée that they did sleep together if he does not sleep with her. Because of an innocent accident when he was younger, he had been put on the sexual predator list, so he knows that it would be impossible to get another job. The three men joke about killing their bosses in order to make their lives easier and that is when the craziness really begins. Dale is the first to say that he really wants to do it, and after some coaxing the others agree. Since they are just ordinary men they do not have any idea about how to hire a hit-man. Between a hit-man they meet in the bad side of town, played by Jamie Foxx, and what they have learned on television crime shows they set out to follow through with their murder plot without getting caught. However the way they try to carry out their plan puts the police right on their trail.

The direction, by Seth Gordon and the writing by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein, plus the comedic talents of the cast, created comedy at its best. I laughed throughout the entire movie. I could tell that some of the script had to have been ad-libbed, which made the scenes especially funny. Even though the critics did not like this film, I guess because it was not sophisticated and I am sure they thought that the plot was predictable, I found it to be a fun film to watch. I would highly recommend it as a rental, or on demand, to be watched with friends for an entertaining evening in.