Even though it was canceled during its first season, “Freaks and Geeks” still lives on 25 years later, much to the amazement of Royal Oak native and show creator Paul Feig. “I think it’s honest. It’s not about a time; it’s not about any specific cultural things.
It’s really about growing up and the awkwardness of that, which are very universal themes,” explained Feig. “I think with all the amazing people involved, we just captured that and it seems to just keep appealing to people. It’s great because you always want it to live beyond when it was on, especially for a TV show that got canceled after 18 episodes.
I’m still amazed that we’re still out there.” Debuting on NBC in 1999, “Freaks and Geeks” is set in the fictional metropolitan Detroit suburb of Chippewa (named after Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Township, from where Feig graduated) circa 1980-81. It centered around siblings Lindsay (Linda Cardellini) and Sam (John Francis Daley) during their high school years.
Lindsay attempts to transform herself from star student to rebellious teenager by joining a group of outcasts — the titular “Freaks” — Daniel (James Franco), Ken (Seth Rogen), Nick (Jason Segel) and Kim (Busy Phillips). Meanwhile, Sam, Bill (Martin Starr) and Neal (Samm Levine) occupy the opposite end of the social spectrum as the titular “Geeks.” In fact, this show launched the careers of the above-mentioned actors.
“I suppose a lot of the appeal is the chara.