COURTESY OF SHOUT! FACTORY
Look out! Sam Weir (John Daley) is about to lose his lunch as sister Lindsay (Linda Cardellini) reacts in horror.
Thanks to the show's fans,
"Freaks and Geeks" hit
home video stores
"Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Season"
(Shout! Factory)
If there ever was a late, lamented television series that deserved the deluxe DVD treatment, this is the one. The release of the six-disc set of one of the best hour-long "dramedy" series that originally debuted on NBC in 1999 (and later reaired in its complete run on the then-ABC Family cable network) was delayed for years in order get license clearance of all of the original rock tunes used in the show.
And the wait was worth it, because the period music from such artists as Styx, Journey, Billy Joel, The Who and The Grateful Dead is absolutely crucial to the artistic success of this critically-acclaimed and short-lived TV show. The authenticity of the music matches note-for-note the emotional authenticity of the interweaving stories of two groups of high school outsiders in a Detroit-area town in 1980.
COURTESY OF SHOUT! FACTORY
Due to the show's nearly 40,000 fans who signed an online petition promising to buy the home video version, "Freaks and Geeks" creator Paul Feig and executive producer Judd Apatow pulled together a truly worthy DVD set that'll satisfy both the fans and newcomers.
The series was bookended by a pair of Emmy award-winning episodes -- the pilot (here in an expanded, director's cut version) and "Discos & Dragons" that brought "Freaks and Geeks" to a wistful close after only one season on the air.
On a whole, viewers will enjoy seeing a rare combination of actors, writers, directors and producers who genuinely loved working on such a show that was as close to their hearts as it was to its original fans.
The main cast of Linda Cardellini, John Francis Daley, James Franco, Samm Levine, Jason Segal, Martin Starr and Busy Phillips played their freak and geek roles to perfection, as well as Becky Ann Baker and Joe Flaherty as good-hearted and well-meaning parents. While Cardellini and especially Franco's star status has risen since the show, it's the actors Segal (as the sweet stoner) and Starr (the über geek) whose performances really shine in "Freaks and Geeks," making what could've been pat stereotypes into realistic kids you or I could've gone to high school with.
And even on such a consistently excellent TV series, there are two episodes in particular that rise above, both directed by Ken Kwapis, whose formidable credits include "ER," "The Larry Sanders Show," "Malcolm in the Middle" and "The Bernie Mac Show." Pay particular attention to "Tests & Breasts" (with an especially fine performance by Franco) and "Looks & Books," and you'll experience episodic television at its very best.
Add your usual behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes and outtakes and a hefty 28 audio commentaries that also include some by loyal fans, production crew members, parents of cast members and even supportive network executives at the time of the series' original run, and "Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series" becomes a truly special DVD package.
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