Freaks and Geeks

I recently discovered, thanks to my brother, this terrific show from 1999-2000. It only ran for one season, and even that was truncated. According to Wikipedia, 18 episodes were shot, but only 12 aired.

Independent Film Channel has been rerunning this series on Friday, Sunday, and Monday nights and I can't believe I missed it the first time around.

It's set in a suburb of Detroit, circa 1980 and centers on the Weir family. Lindsay (Linda Cardellini) and Sam (John Francis Daley) are in high school. She's a former Mathlete who now hangs out with her friend Kim (Busy Phillips), Daniel (James Franco), Nick (Jason Segel) and Ken (Seth Rogen) - who are the Freaks. They skip class, smoke pot, are generally the antithesis of what Lindsay used to be.

Sam is a Geek. He hangs out with Bill (Martin Starr), Neil (Samm Levine) and Gordon Crisp (Jerry Messing) who are nerds. Sam has a crush on Cindy Sanders, but she sees him as only a friend.

Not only does this show give one of the more accurate depictions of the high school years (at least, how I remember them), but it is laugh-out-loud funny at times.The writing, the dialogue, is excellent, the characters are real people with real flaws - and they deal with real problems that aren't necessarily resolved by the end of the show.

So if you haven't seen it, check it out on IFC. You'll thank me. Seriously.