This was a great special that aired last night on A&E. I remember when the show was on NBC and I had to work on Saturdays so I didn't get to see it until they started shuffling the schedule (which is always going to doom your show). A friend of mine got me excited about it by telling me that both Joel & Trace from MST had roles in it. But the only episode I saw while it was on the air was the Halloween episode, I think. When ABC Family syndicated it, I got to see the pilot and maybe one other episode...but it wasn't until I got the DVD set in 2003 that i really finally got the full experience of the show.

I still think it's the greatest show to tackle high school. a lot of people rave about "My So-Called Life", but even that strayed into fantasy sometimes. This was a total cold shower, hard to watch at times, and sometimes downright painfully awkward. but that's what high school was.

Apatow got to have complete revenge on the industry by turning almost every one of those kids into stars. But it wasn't just "Freaks & Geeks"; his "Ben Stiller Show" was canceled after one year, and so was "Undeclared". I at least go to watch both of those while they were on the air.

The documentary tells a good tale of how television worked back then, and reminded me how horrendous some of the programming was. The late 90's were really a mess when it came to TV. Every show was trying to be "Friends" or "Seinfeld".

I like that they include the execs who axed it in the doc. I think that's fair. They don't come off as total douchebags but you can tell they just didn't get it; and they had to deal with the reality of how TV shows had to be. at least, to audiences.

I'm glad this show has gained the reputation it has always deserved. It was way ahead of its time.

I loved this show...this was must watch before we headed out on Saturday nights back then.

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Read Desperate Networks if you have a chance. NBC, which lost Seinfeld and the NFL in one fell swoop, handled the turn of the millennium the worst of any of the networks.


Apatow was involved with The Larry Sanders Show, too. Why were his TV shows so good but his movies so insufferable?

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Yeah this was a great great show. Plus Linda Cardellini. Win.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

I forgot about The Ben Stiller TV show. I loved that, I'm gonna have to look on some of my vhs mixtapes, pretty sure there's some BSS on one of them.

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Just chillin' like Garret Quillin.

They played Rush, so obviously I approve.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

Hey guys, non NERD here, is the show just for losers or will those of us who had friends in high school enjoy the show, too?

Didnt like Knocked up or This is 40?

yeah i would say Apatow at least had a good run of damn good comedies in the mid-2000's.

i don't think you have to be a "geek" or "freak" to enjoy the show. you really get a glimpse of reality of high school. it takes place in 1980, so as said above...there's some great soundtrack choices, and some good references to the era.

i love neil's "invasion of the body snatchers" impression.

Yea, This is 40 was weird, I think I liked it, but it was pretty depressing.


Knocked Up is on the Dunkirk level of Greatness.