Critic Reviews

We've all been there. Which is why Freaks and Geeks works so well. Cloaked in grunginess, it's a totally unpretentious slice of high school life, a decidedly unmelodramatic drama devoid of "Dawson's Creek"-speak and sticky self-analysis. No one is wearing designer duds and the closing scene at the high school homecoming dance reveals that not one student possesses a shred of rhythm. [25 Sept 1999, p.25]

A frisky little triumph of real spirit and a collaboration between creator-writer-supervising producer Paul Feig ("Life Sold Separately") and executive producer Judd Apatow ("The Larry Sanders Show"). You'll feel better about yourself, and television - if only you'll stay home on Saturdays to watch it. [25 Sept 1999, p.53]

The best new show of the season...It's less sentimental than "The Wonder Years" and not as concerned with its period setting. Unlike "My So-Called Life," which was real in a gloomy-doesn't-life-stink way, Freaks and Geeks finds abundant humor in the absurdity of the situations the characters face. [22 Sept 1999, p.C-1]

This quirky comedy-drama stands out as one of the real pleasures among the 35 new series...It is funny, but also tender and nostalgic. This is one homecoming dance you don't want to miss. [25 Sept 1999, p.E1]

Freaks and Geeks will certainly capture the heart of anyone who came of age in the late '70s and early '80s (it's set in 1980) and should ring true for anyone whose high school memories have not been totally sublimated...One of the few shows this season that's left me waiting anxiously for week two. [25 Sept 1999, p.1E]

The new fall season's best show...Here's how good: It will make you like a Styx song. Yes. It may even make you love it. It will definitely make you hum Come Sail Away, that awful anthem from one of corporate rock's biggest hack acts. Why? Because it is the dead solid perfect choice for the first episode's closing scene, a scene so painfully perfect you'll wish you were 16 again. [25 Sept 1999, p.1D]

Joe Flaherty, the former SCTV standout, chips in as a perfectly apt one-note pop who preaches that all of his former misbehaving classmates are now - "dead!" [25 Sept 1999, p.1C]

In addition to fresh, sharp writing, the casting in Freaks and Geeks is exceptional. [25 Sept 1999, p.E05]

Freaks and Geeks may fail because it has no hope of drawing viewers to a crummy Saturday night time slot. But don't ever suggest it lacks soul. Or heart. Or brains. Freaks and Geeks is that wonderful rarity among television series, a show that simultaneously lampoons reality and embraces it. [25 Sept 1999, p.C1]

This may be the first TV show since Pee-wee's Playhouse to treasure youth even as it embodies all of its contradictions, craziness, hopes, and fears (and I'd like to point out that Freaks is the only hour-long sitcom I've ever seen that sustains funniness for its full 60 minutes).