Seth Rogen Confronted the Guy Who Canceled Freaks and Geeks
From October 2014
http://time.com/3510124/freaks-and-geeks-seth-rogen-canceled/
Raj, there's no place for truth on the Internet.
'Yes, I went to private school (Lawrenceville), but my parents were not rich (very supportive, but not rich), and finally - THIS IS TV! The ultimate realm of wish-fulfillment!'
That... is why you fail.
The irony is of course that both the freaks & the geeks in the show did prevail often enough... only they as most of us in our teens were too focused on the 'popular/cool' kids to realize.
Bill knows this, he even tells them they're cool even as they don't believe him.
Exactly- there were a number of 'wins'.
The Geeks in the fight with Alan, Sam getting his dream girl, Nick getting support and encouragement from Mr. Weir, the hospital bedside apology to Bill from Alan, even Kim managing to keep her Gremlin (it's my car, my car)is a win of sorts. These are realistic 'wins', the small victories in the everyday lives of teens.
I was pleasantly surprised that Mr. Rogen was still so passionate about the cancellation.
Raj, there's no place for truth on the Internet.
A lot of people didn't like the show. If all the people who watched the first episode hung around to watch the others that followed, it would have been in a better position to come back for a second season.
I don't blame him for cancelling it. It was at the bottom of the ratings every night it ran. What I do blame him for is not doing more to promote the show.
Good observations. You're making me want to watch the show all over again!
shareFirst of all, I was also pleasantly surprised Mr Rogen was still so passionate about the cancellation. Must be because it ended Ken Miller's relationship with Amy, and he was the only one in a relationship, lol.
Okay, there were a number of wins, but by cancelling it I think they made Episode 18 the worst series finale ever (and that includes Dallas). Of the eight stars (including Kim Kelly), only one was in a relationship. Look at 3 of the stars:
Yes, Daniel stopped smoking weed after learning its downside, but he was hanging out with the geek clique and wasn't dating anyone. That should've been temporary; I don't believe in cliques, but it was out of character.
Kim was especially mean and difficult at the beginning and seemed to mellow a bit as she went to Lindsay for advice and Lindsay went to her for advice. But 2 months in a VW bus with Kim following Grateful Dead concerts? Is Lindsay crazy?!? In addition to being mean and loud and difficult, she said she had zero money, so 2 months of her expenses would probably come out of Lindsay's bank account. And what if she didn't stop smoking weed when the boys did?
Lindsay apparently kissed Nick twice and ended it , then kissed Barry Schweiber once and ended it. It would have been nice to see her with a guy for a minimum 3-4 months.
Anyways, that's my spiel. Now IMDB is saying I should watch "Undeclared." Does anyone reading this know if it ended as abruptly as F & G?
Wait - who were these "cool kids" they were losing to? True the geeks could never get the girls and they got beat up regularly but the only cool kids were jocks in the background who didn't matter much in the series. The freaks weren't losing to anyone, they didn't care enough to be. And yes they all had some "winning" moments - Bill's lecture to the gym teacher about picking sports teams was epic. But mostly the kids were interacting with each other and working through things (both geeks and freaks) and it wasn't about winning or losing. They were all surviving, and actually generally very supportive of each other, which is what made it a great show. The whole idea that somehow some "wins" would have saved the show shows how little the producer understood what made it a great show.
shareWell put! You're a genius...I totally agree.
shareI believe the guy that the show couldn't be saved due to low ratings, but he really looks like a d-bag here.
"Under strengths... You just put 'Accounts.' That's just your job." ~David Brent, The Office
But man this show was great. And even back then, you could tell that the show would have kept building a following because all anyone ever talked about was this show and how amazing it was. And it appealed to a very wide audience. Did NBC do anything to promote the show? I doubt it. It's possibly the best TV show ever made and it seems like they knew it. And it was somehow much better than the similarly-premised and excellent "Wonder Years." In the era of DVRs, had this series come out today, it (and its spiritual sequel series, the Apatow-created and similarly-shortlived "Undeclared") would have immediately received the commercial success they deserved. Has Apatow considered rebooting this series? This "Apatow wouldn't take my assuredly stupid notes" nonsense from Ancier (the hack who canned the show) sounds suspiciously like an arrogant and foolish executive putting his ego first. And the "geeks" did win every once in a while, so that's a big steaming pile of bullsh!t.
"Ass to ass. Ha ha ha ha. ASS TO ASS!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa5z77EI8y0