If you haven’t heard of Freaks and Geeks, people would assume you were born yesterday. Even though it only ran for one season in 1999, Freaks and Geeks has become and remained a cult classic. Freaks and Geeks became a platform for teenagers to get out their grievances, but also was one of the first times they actually saw themselves onscreen. Despite this resonating with audiences, the show was not renewed after the first season, but its dedicated audience remained.

The show has recently become a big hit with younger audiences since it was added to Hulu with the full original soundtrack about a year ago. Most GenZers were not even born when the show premiered, but it has become a cult classic for the generation, the same audience which has flocked to similar themed shows as Euphoria. This is because the themes and topics of the show are pertinent to teenagers of all different generations. Despite the show only having 18 episodes, its legacy lives on with GenZ.

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Realistic Characters

     Dreamworks SKG

One of the biggest wins for Freaks and Geeks was its characters. Most teen shows have insanely unrealistic teenagers. Not only are they older than normal teenagers, but they also never act like actual teenagers. The characters of Freaks and Geeks were real teenagers, with real teenager problems. Many teen shows have super outlandish problems that almost no actual teenagers can relate to. Freaks and Geeks did the polar opposite of every other teen show. They created characters who emulated actual teenagers to a tee. The problems characters faced in the show were accurate to actual life, and the cliques which form in school.

The title characters, freaks and geeks, make up two main cliques at the high school and our main characters. Most viewers can relate to having been in one of those cliques or knowing someone in them. It makes the show more interesting for viewers as they see themselves in the characters and the story as a whole. When viewers can see themselves in a show and storyline, it makes it more appealing and continually watchable. The best part of the characters in Freaks and Geeks is that they are relatable to teens today. Every school has cliques (even 20 years after the show was written) and every school has freaks and geeks.

Plus, these ‘freaks and geeks’ turned into some of the best names in Hollywood, and the show introduced them to the world. Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini, James Franco, Martin Starr, Lizzy Caplan, and Busy Philipps all starred in Freaks and Geeks, which would change their lives forever.

Important Themes

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As mentioned previously, the themes of many teen shows don’t emulate the lives of actual teens. Every part of Freaks and Geeks was accurate to actual teen life. Not only did it honestly discuss drinking, sex, and drugs without glorifying anything (again, long before Euphoria), but the show did it in a way which was relatable to its target demographic. The show was made for teens (obviously) and not their parents or Hollywood execs. While this did contribute to the show’s untimely ending, it also contributed to its ability to still be so monumental for teens today. Most teen shows don’t speak on topics that actually affect teens.

Freaks and Geeks focused on the small victories that get most teen through the day, such as passing your math test, or your crush suddenly looking at you. While these things may not be monumental, they are monumental for teens struggling to make it through the school day. Execs in Hollywood may have preferred for the show to have more big victories for characters, but this is not how actual teenagers live. The most important part of the show was for it to be applicable and relatable for teens. This is why teenagers today still love Freaks and Geeks and have allowed its current, renewed success on Hulu.

A Perfect Soundtrack

Freaks and Geeks aired with a near-perfect soundtrack, but that doesn’t always make it to streaming. Due to copyright laws and other legal issues, many shows do not go to streaming with their original soundtrack; this is what has kept Northern Exposure from streaming. This is problematic, because most shows have a very curated soundtrack that was decided upon when the show aired. When this doesn’t come to streaming, it doesn’t allow new viewers to see the show in the same light as it was originally meant.

However, Freaks and Geeks withheld itself from streaming until they were able to have the original soundtrack in full. Many shows are unable to do this, but Freaks and Geeks did (in another ‘small victory’), allowing new viewers to see the show the way it was originally meant to be seen. This attracted new viewers, because seeing the show as it was originally meant to be seen is much more appealing to viewers who may have not been alive when the show first aired, and don’t want to see a hacked-up show with its original content gutted for legal reasons. Since the show is now exactly how it was when it aired, it can also be seen as a sort of time capsule for its original viewers. Freaks and Geeks still having its original soundtrack allows the show to be just as perfect for new viewers as it was for original viewers. Now, just like its rock and roll, Freaks and Geeks will never die.