How Freaks and Geeks Got Geek Culture AND Freak Culture

[TMC]

Freaks and Geeks launched the careers of huge stars like Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, James Franco, Linda Cardellini, and Busy Phillips. It also established executive-producer Judd Apatow as a major Hollywood force, and became a calling card for writer and creator Paul Feig. But what is it about this show that makes it a classic? The story about geek-turned-freak Lindsay Weir and her just-plain-geek younger brother Sam, along with their very different cliques of friends, takes a clear-eyed specific look at geek culture before it took over the mainstream – as well as freak culture, which at that time had very rarely been explored onscreen.

• 00:00 What made Freaks and Geeks so enduring?
• 01:32 A look at 80s and 90s Geek Culture
• 04:50 MUBI
• 05:25 How Freaks were portrayed onscreen
• 10:16 Freaks and Geeks nailed realism and nostalgia
• 13:15 Todays hits are influenced by Freaks and Geeks