ReWatchable, Hypable’s podcast that reexamines completed or cancelled series, is about to embark into the world of Freaks and Geeks. Here is what a superfan recalls about the show!
Freaks and Geeks came into existence doomed from the start. Not only was it an uphill battle to keep the show on the air, it became one of the hardest shows to watch after its brief love affair with the primetime line up. That is until Netflix plucked the show out of obscurity and made it available to stream in all its glory.
That makes the job just a tad bit easier as Hypable’s ReWatchable podcast enters the world of McKinley High circa 1980’s Michigan. ReWatchable combines a mix of newcomers (newbies) and superfans of the show as they revisit two episodes per week and discuss the plot, the characters, and any number of interesting factoids about the show.
I am joining this round of Freaks and Geeks as a superfan and that has given me the opportunity to reevaluate why I enjoyed this show. But first, a bit about how I came to know Freaks and Geeks.
Disclaimer: There may not be explicit spoilers here, but if you are joining the show as a newbie, be sure to check out newbie Danielle’s Everything I know about Freaks and Geeks I learned from Tumblr post!
A little birdie told me…
Freaks and Geeks is one of those shows that most people have heard of, but never seen. It came and went as quickly as a modern day NBC comedy. If you blinked you missed it. The circumstances behind Freaks and Geeks rise to fame, post-mortem, is what drew me to the series in the first place. Long after the series left the air, reruns were shown on random networks who were willing to air the 15 or so episodes that actually made it to television (there are 18 total). I initially caught my first taste of the series on what was then FoxFamily, currently ABCFamily. And let me tell you, I did not like it.
Perhaps I was just too young to appreciate the stories the show was setting out to tell, but I found the series boring. Almost as if The Wonder Years cast grew up to be angsty teens. (A show I would now pay good money to put into production.) I had no idea who any of the characters would grow up to be, the “Geek” portion of the show tended to gross me out more than provide any enjoyment, and I dismissed it. It was not until college that I gave the show a second chance and appreciated it more for the larger context the series found itself in.
For a more detailed, and spoilery account of Freaks and Geeks, check out Hypable’s Fandom Flashback post on the series!
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