TV Quote of the Day (“Freaks & Geeks,” on Helpless Teen Love)

Neal Schweiber (played by Samm Levine) to best friend/fellow "geek" Sam Weir (played by John Francis Daley): “The dance is tomorrow. She's a cheerleader. You've seen Star Wars 47 times. You do the math.”—From the Pilot Episode of Freaks & Geeks, written by Paul Feig, directed by Jake Kasdan, air date September 25, 1999

Freaks & Geeks belongs with Gary David Goldberg’s 1992-93 series Brooklyn Bridge among the small group of critically acclaimed, memory-based comedy-dramas that never achieved the audiences or longevity they deserved (unlike, for instance, The Wonder Years). 

After years of clamoring from the cult audience established in its short run, executive producer Judd Apatow’s 1999-2000 series (most of which aired originally on NBC, with Fox Family Channel picking up the unaired episodes), however, now exists on DVD for you to enjoy. Let your freak flag fry.

Freaks & Geeks was set in 1980, only two years after I graduated from high school, so it was comparatively easy for me to identify with the situations in the show. 

But I suspect that, if you add cellphones and laptops, audiences covering four decades would find something in it that touches on their own experiences—whether an inane gym class, a guidance counselor with ulterior motives trying to be your friend, the school bully, or, as in the situation above, the pretty girl you don’t have a prayer of getting.

Would that Apatow had followed the funny but thoughtful tone of this dramedy instead of resorting to the tastelessness of his subsequent films (e.g., The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up). 

Nevertheless, you can still enjoy the show because of the other careers it furthered (Spider Man’s James Franco, ER’s Linda Cardellini, Knocked Up’s Seth Rogen) or simply for the quality of the writing and direction. 

(In particular, the homecoming dance sequence in this episode, in which awkward Sam finds himself face to face with his dream girl, helps make this one of the most exhilarating pilots ever filmed.)