Undeclared

My love for Undeclared is unconditional... There are many different kinds of funny, and Apatow aims for one of the hardest kinds -- the humor of rueful recognition. You may not laugh till it hurts, but it'll hurt a little when you laugh, because you may recall your own awkward moments of defeat, embarrassment or disillusion. Undeclared is shrewdly observant and richly detailed, and the fact that it's funny, too, is the icing on the cake. Great cake! [25 Sept 2001, p.C01]

At times "Freaks and Geeks" tried too hard to create jolts of recognition. Here the frantic characters regularly call one another idiots, yet Undeclared always seems smart and effortless.

Jay Baruchel is fabulous as the geeky Steven Karp whose dad (Wainwright) is hipper. [25 Sept 2001, p.48]

Unlike the majority of today's youth-market vehicles, Undeclared has been put together with a refreshing lack of cynicism (as well as a refreshing lack of laugh track). [25 Sept 2001, p.E1]

One of the better-assembled new series this fall. The comedy forgoes a laugh track and a studio audience in favor of a wonderfully true-to-life feel and unforced humor. [25 Sept 2001, p.E1]

Probably isn't for everyone, but surely more than a few viewers will identify with the misfits of all backgrounds and (judging from the presence of Loudon Wainwright as father to Steven Karp, the series' central character played by Jay Baruchel) ages thrown together in an anxious environment of self-discovery and perhaps too much freedom. [25 Sept 2001, p.47]

That stupid daddy thing has got to go before it ruins a good college try. [25 Sept 2001, p.6]