Welcome all to my sci-fi nerd blog. I hope you will all find my posts to be even more precious then gold-pressed latnum.
For my first post, I've decided to write about the excellent, but short lived TV series, Freaks and Geeks. The show aired in the '99 fall season on NBC, but soon received the axe. Thanks to Blockbuster Online, my female and I recently viewed the whole series. The shows creators/directors/writers were Paul Feig (Arrested Development, The Office ) and Judd Apatow (Anchorman, Talladega Nights).
The show takes place in a small town of Michigan in the early '80s and is about two different groups of kids, the Freaks and the Geeks. The shows focus is on the Wier family whose daughter is a Freak and whose son, is a Geek. The Freaks are a bunch of burnouts who ditch class and listen to Pink Floyd and The Who. The geeks, of course are the nerds who love D&D, Star Wars, and shoot off model rockets. Some of my favorite episodes were about showering after gym class, forming a band, and playing Dungeons and Dragons, but perhaps one of the funniest episodes involved Ken, one of the freaks, and his girlfriend. In this episode, the girlfriend tells Ken that she was born with both male and female parts, but that her parents and the doctor quickly made a decision to "take care" of this situation, leaving her 100% female. Ken quickly and honestly lets her know that he doesn't care. In fact, he is so surprised about not caring that she used to be a "dude," that later in the episode, he starts to question is own sexuality and acutely goes to the guidance councilor to let him know that he might be gay.
All of the characters are funny, but my favorite is Bill Havechuck, seen on the left. Bill loves TV; his favorite shows are Dallas, Charlie's Angels, and Dukes of Hazard. His D&D characher is Gorthank the Destroyer.The most recognizable face on the show is Daniel Desario, played by James Franco who has since gone on to star in all three Spider-Man movies and of course, Tristan and Isolde. His character is 18 and this is his third year as a seni
or. He is sort of the leader of the Freaks.Freaks and Geeks has definitely found a place in my heart, right in between Dawson's Creek season 3 and The OC season 1.
19 comments:
Say no more! I have added it to my queue on Blockbuster Online.
It had been a while since we laughed out loud as much as while watching this show! I agree with all of my husbands points about Freaks and Geeks. Although, he did fail to mention my favorite characters, the parents and teachers. The supporting cast was super funny too, including Biff from BTTF series (he plays the gym teacher).
Mr. Darth
Thank you for your informational posting regarding the Freaks and the Geeks, and not the other way around. Lets say that I found it more interesting than the Ferengie home world and more intriguing than the discovery of kobol.
Personally, I am sad that the Geeks did not know anything about Battlestar Gallactica. Otherwise they might have been a more lively group after seeing the hip and female-fluent Dr. Baltar. The Freaks also would have benefited. I especially think that Daniel Desario ,or Harry Osbourn, would have enjoyed the wild and poignant prescence of Starbuck.
Thats very kind of you Otis, but there is little that is more important than the discovery of Kobol. Without Kobol, how else will the scatered 12 colonies make it home to earth?
I will have my secretary look into it. If the show is so good why are we still waiting for Season Two? Maybe next year.
My nerdom has failed to appreciate Freeks and Geeks. Does this show include space travel? What about intergalactic battle? Perhaps bio-genetic engineering or the collaberation of planets?
Apparently not. This show should be posted on the blog for nerds, not the blog for science fiction.
I'll check back when some real sci-fi shows up.
The early cancellation of series is much due in part to poor advertising dollars spent. networks choose to puch one series over another. And unfortunately too many freakin idiots eat up crap like Everybody loves Raymond. Another sacrificial lamb was My So Called Life.
I'm not sure if I'm more persuaded by The Rumbler's keen points or by the fact that Camille compared this show to "My So Called Life." Either way, the show does not look promising. Still, based on the credibility of Darth Spencer, I will have to follow his advice, just like a good young paduan.
I am glad you have finally decided to enter the blogosphere, and with a great science fiction blog no less. I often say to Katie: "I bet you never dreamed you would have a husband who has been to a Star Trek convention" or "I bet you never thought you would have a Christmas tree filled with Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, and Harry Potter ornaments" or "I bet you never thought your husband would be able to list all of the names of Aragorn, son of Arathron, along with all the names for his sword." Now, I say to Allison, I bet you never dreamed you would have a husband who had a blog dedicated to sci fi and who writes under the nom de plum Darth Spencer. You never dreamed you would be so lucky.
Ian I did not compare Freaks and Geeks to MSCL. I merely pointed out that they were both axed due to poor promotion. Along with Firefly. Oh and congrats on baby Ian.
Oops! I'm still a bit new to the blogasphere. Ian is looking over my shoulder. He is ashamed I called it the "blogasphere" instead of blogosphere. Allison and I are very lucky to have Davis boys. The LOTR, Aragon the Dragon, Harry Potter, Star Trek and Star Wars are just an added bonus! I must say the Star Trek was the biggest surprise. Spencer, we happily welcome you to the blogosphere. Congrats! Post lots of pictures of Owen Stronghammer too. He is so cute!
Thanks, Camille. I was just kidding about the MSCL comparison. One shortcoming of the internet (is it heresy to say that the internet has a shortcoming on this blog?) is that it doesn't always communicate sarcasm very well.
Spencer I have a picture to dedicate your blog opening. It felt fitting.
Check out
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6607/4074/1600/daced4.jpg
What is Sarcasm?
First of all, Mr. Rumble, take a look at my URL. It is scifinerdblog.blogspot.com and therefore, I am entitled to write about all things nerd. You are correct, this show does not include time travel or intergallactic politics. It does however, explain how to play Dungeons and Dragons. It also gives a great perspective of high school from a nerds point of view.
Do not fear, Mr. Rumble, we shall examine time travel in the near future, or perhaps in the past.
Camille, that link did not work. It is unfortunate that this show got the axe. From what I've read, a lot of it had to do with the fact that NBC started it on Saturday night. Another is the fact that they aired the shows two, sometimes three weeks apart from eachother, making it hard to follow. The last thing that really killed it was that after it was dropped, mid-season, ABC Family picked it up, making it even harder for fans to follow along.
Katie, thanks for welcoming me with such open arms into the blogosphere. Its great to be here. Ian, you are right, My So Called Life has nothing in common with F&G. I must however admit, that it does have its shining moments. I particularly enjoyed the episodes "The Zit" and "Why Jordan Can't Read."
Darth Spencer try this one,
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6607/4074/1600/daced4.jpg
Also this was humorous
http://www.jihadwatch.org/darthfagget6hysm.jpg
Hope they work.
I apologize blogger does not like the length of this url.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6607/4074/1600/daced4.jpg
final part is daced4.jpg
There's only ONE reason I went out and bought the entire F&G series on DVD - DESARIO!!!
But I'm sure he's the main reason most females loved the show!
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b188/DTrent/James%20Franco/Freaks%20and%20Geeks%20TV%20Show/e1_025.jpg
- Dianna
Oh, I like some sci-fi, too!
The ORIGINAL Star Trek with my favorite Vulcan, Mr.Spock!
Alien Nation was a good movie & a good show, too!
Spence --
People love your blog, and you are obviously waay more popular than me . .. but I love this post, and my husband's favourite character is Bill too. I told Cic she HAS to watch it!!!
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