08. Freaks and Geeks

FREAKS AND GEEKS is a US television comedy-drama  made in 1999-2000 and set in 1980-81.  It ran for 18 episodes originally on the NBC network.  It was aimed at a teen audience and usually this kind of material from 20 years ago would be largely forgotten. However, although this series was cancelled before the end of its first season, it was was almost immediately rediscovered when it was repeated. Dedicated fans fought for the show to be preserved on a DVD box set, the producers fought to preserve as much of the licensed music as possible for the box set.  Unusually,  the fandom and the show's creators were very much in agreement that what had been created was special and they weren't prepared to let it go quietly.

Creator Paul Feig and Executive Producer Judd Apatow assembled a brilliant cast : James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Busy Philipps, John Francis Daley, Martin Starr, Samm Levine, and Linda Cardellini. They gave us stories that delved into areas not usual for a teen-centred show and the writing team mined their lives for some of the most excruciatingly honest stories of adolescent life. The result was both wonderfully specific to the era it was set in (1980-81) and amazingly universal in reminding us what it's like to be a teenager learning how the world works. 

Andy, Mike and Phil explore past and present pop culture while wearing beards in Perth, Western Australia.