List of Freaks and Geeks episodes
This is a list of episodes from the NBC comedy-drama television series Freaks and Geeks. The list is ordered by the chronology of the storyline.
The script for the pilot episode of Freaks and Geeks was written by Paul Feig as a spec script.[1] Feig gave the script to Judd Apatow, who sold it to DreamWorks. That company, in turn, sold it to NBC, who quickly greenlit the script as a pilot. Before the script was shot, Feig wrote a second episode at the behest of Apatow. He showed this second script to Apatow and pilot director Jake Kasdan, and they suggested that he combine the two episodes to form a stronger pilot. Notable additions in this new draft included the introduction of the character Kim Kelly and Lindsay Weir's recollection of her grandmother's death.[1] Feig wrote a final draft after a read-through with the cast, this time incorporating into the episode a first formal meeting between Lindsay and the freaks (in previous drafts, Lindsay was already considered part of the group).[1]
A total of 18 episodes were produced which were originally broadcast in the United States on NBC from September 25, 1999 to July 8, 2000. Three of the episodes – "Kim Kelly Is My Friend", "Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers" and "Noshing and Moshing" were not aired during the initial NBC broadcast, but were later aired on Fox Family.
Episodes
| # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | Jake Kasdan | Paul Feig | September 25, 1999 | 100 |
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A group of high school students in 1980 faces various social struggles. Lindsay Weir rebels and begins hanging out with a crowd of burnouts, courtesy of an invitation from Daniel Desario. Her affiliation with this gang of freaks and her quitting the mathletes worries her family and her once best-friend Millie. Her depression started after her attempt to stop the teasing of a special education student goes terribly wrong and ends in him being injured. Meanwhile, freshman Sam Weir struggles to find the courage not only to confront his and his friend’s bully Alan, but to ask cheerleader Cindy Sanders to the homecoming dance. | |||||
| 2 | "Beers and Weirs" | Jake Kasdan | J. Elvis Weinstein & Judd Apatow | October 2, 1999 | 101 |
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When the Weir parents go out of town for the weekend, Lindsay's new friends suggest she throw a party. Lindsay hesitantly agrees in the hopes of impressing Daniel, who has broken up with Kim. She asks Sam not to tell their parents and he agrees, though the thought of serving beer at a party worries him after going to a school assembly focusing on alcohol-related deaths. When Sam discusses the matter with his friends Neal and Bill, Bill suggests that they switch the real beer with non-alcoholic beer. Despite the fake beer, the rowdy teenagers begin to think they are drunk and Lindsay soon finds herself having a terrible time. | |||||
| 3 | "Tricks and Treats" | Bryan Gordon | Paul Feig | October 25, 1999 | 102 |
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Halloween soon approaches and Sam convinces his friends to go trick-or-treating with him. The neighborhood reacts awkwardly to the freshmen trick-or-treaters and matters only become worse when Alan picks a fight with the gang. Lindsay agrees to stay home and hand out candy with her mom on Halloween night. However, when she gets an invite to go cruise around town with Nick, Daniel, and Kim, she ditches her mom to hang out with them. Lindsay enjoys her first taste of vandalism with the Freak gang until she accidentally takes things too far. | |||||
| 4 | "Kim Kelly Is My Friend" | Lesli Linka Glatter | Mike White | September 5, 2000* | 103 |
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Kim’s friend, Karen (Rashida Jones) bullies Sam, writing "Pygmy Geek" on his locker. Sam doesn't take to the label kindly and finds himself in an argument with Neal over who is geekier. Kim invites Lindsay to dinner, explaining that she needs to introduce a nice friend to her parents so they will stop hassling her to sell her car. After Lindsay realizes what an abusive home Kim is living in, the two flee the scene in Kim's car. When Lindsay suggests that Kim lie low at the Weir house, the Weirs find themselves in for a long night. | |||||
| 5 | "Tests and Breasts" | Ken Kwapis | Bob Nickman | November 6, 1999 | 104 |
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When Mr. Kowchevski threatens to force Daniel to repeat algebra for another year if he doesn't pass an upcoming test, Lindsay offers to help him study for it. Instead, Lindsay finds herself helping Daniel to cheat after Daniel manages to steal a test from the teacher's office and he asks Lindsay to help him fill in the answers. Mr. Kowchevski, suspicious of Daniel's surprisingly high grade, accuses the duo of cheating. When Lindsay becomes unsure of what to do, Daniel tells her they should deny everything. Sam begins sex education class and Daniel tries to help Sam with questions he has by giving him a pornographic film. After viewing it, he is even more confused. | |||||
| 6 | "I'm with the Band" | Judd Apatow | Gabe Sachs & Jeff Judah | November 13, 1999 | 105 |
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Nick realizes if he doesn't make a career out of being a drummer, his father is going to make him join the army. Lindsay attempts to remedy this first by pressuring the band to practice more, which results in the band breaking up when Nick thinks he is better than them. Lindsay then gets Nick for an audition for the band Dimension. Unfortunately, the audition goes miserably and Nick comes to terms with the fact that his drumming isn't going to save him from joining the army. Lindsay tries to comfort Nick. Meanwhile, when the physical education department at McKinley mandates that all students must shower after class, Sam avoids the shower at all costs, afraid to be naked in front of his peers. | |||||
| 7 | "Carded and Discarded" | Judd Apatow | Judd Apatow & Paul Feig | January 10, 2000 | 110 |
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Sam, Neal and Bill befriend Maureen (Kayla Ewell), a very pretty and friendly new transfer student at McKinley. When the popular crowd shows interest in her, the geeks take Maureen out on a night of all-you-can-eat dining in an attempt to keep from losing her. Lindsay and the freaks try to buy fake IDs to see the band Feedback perform at a local bar. However, after they go through the trouble of getting their IDs and going into the bar, the group is stunned to find out who the hot local band's lead singer is. | |||||
| 8 | "Girlfriends and Boyfriends" | Lesli Linka Glatter | Patty Lin & Paul Feig | January 17, 2000 | 106 |
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Nick begins making more aggressive advances towards Lindsay, most of which end up making her feel more disturbed than love struck. Tension is created between Sam and Bill when Bill is paired with Sam's crush, Cindy, as a science partner. | |||||
| 9 | "We've Got Spirit" | Danny Leiner | Mike White | January 24, 2000 | 107 |
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Sam becomes the McKinley basketball team's new mascot in the hopes of becoming closer to Cindy. Instead of winning her heart, however, he increasingly becomes frustrated with her apparent desire to be nothing more than friends as well as her obsessive crush over the basketball team's star athlete, Todd Schellinger (Riley Smith). He eventually becomes so fed up that he allows Neal be the mascot during a basketball game, though Neal is much more interested in getting laughs than following orders from Vicki (Joanna Garcia), the bossy head cheerleader. Lindsay tries to figure out the best way to break up with Nick. The freaks, meanwhile, have a sudden interest in sports and school spirit after they get beaten up by a gang of McKinley's rivals at Lincoln. | |||||
| 10 | "The Diary" | Ken Olin | Teleplay by: Rebecca Kirshner Story by: Judd Apatow & Rebecca Kirshner | January 31, 2000 | 108 |
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Bill is tired of being confined to deep right field during PE baseball games and always being the last one picked. He is constantly embarrassed by Coach Fredricks in front of his peers and is convinced he could be a great athlete if he was simply given a chance. Instead of confronting Coach Fredricks with this dilemma directly, Bill makes him two prank phone calls, one of which consists entirely of insults. Meanwhile, when Lindsay's parents fear that her new friends are having a negative effect on her, they forbid her from hanging out with Kim and Harold suggests that he and Jean look into her diary. When they do, what they read sends their marriage into a crisis. | |||||
| 11 | "Looks and Books" | Ken Kwapis | Paul Feig | February 7, 2000 | 109 |
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After Lindsay crashes the Weir family car while trying to help drive Daniel and his friends around, her parents indefinitely ground her and forbid her from seeing the gang of freaks ever again. Shaken up by the experience, Lindsay gladly abides and tries to reassociate herself with her old friends, including Millie. In the process, she rejoins the mathlete team and reveals her competitive side. Meanwhile, after a new hair style doesn’t impress Cindy, Sam decides to dress more attractively, buying a powder blue disco jumpsuit. The attire gives him nothing but negative attention. | |||||
| 12 | "The Garage Door" | Bryan Gordon | Gabe Sachs & Jeff Judah & Patty Lin | March 13, 2000 | 111 |
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Sam and Bill both admire Neal’s father until Sam accidentally sees Mr. Schweiber hugging a strange woman. Fearing that Mr. Schweiber may be cheating on Mrs. Schweiber, Sam tells Bill and then Neal. Soon after, Neal finds an unfamiliar garage door remote control in his father's car. The three friends start hunting around the neighborhood on their bicycles, searching for the garage door the remote control belongs to. Meanwhile, Ken reveals his first crush to be on a girl named Amy who plays the tuba in McKinley's marching band. The freaks, along with Amy, go to the local laser dome to see a Pink Floyd laser show, but mistakenly arrive on southern rock night. | |||||
| 13 | "Chokin' and Tokin'" | Miguel Arteta | Judd Apatow | March 20, 2000 | 112 |
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Lindsay smokes marijuana for the first time. Moments later, her father reminds her that she had promised to babysit for neighbors that night. Afraid to babysit by herself, she pleads Millie to babysit with her. Millie not only takes care of the child they are babysitting, but takes care of Lindsay while she anxiously deals with the effects of smoking pot. The geeks are embarrassed in front of their peers when Bill reveals their allergies and ailments to Ms. Foote (Leslie Mann). Not believing that Bill is actually deathly allergic to peanuts, Alan puts peanuts into Bill's sandwich. After eating one bite of the sandwich, Alan realizes that Bill was telling the truth and Bill is rushed to the hospital. | |||||
| 14 | "Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers"[2] | Judd Apatow | Judd Apatow & Bob Nickman | October 10, 2000* | 114 |
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Lindsay and Kim accidentally run over Millie's dog one night. Lindsay wants to come clean to Millie, but Kim threatens that if Lindsay confesses, she will react violently. Feeling guilty, Kim befriends Millie and asks her to join the freaks to witness The Who, live in concert. Meanwhile, Nick teaches himself to play guitar and writes a love ballad for Lindsay, and Bill, already having a rocky relationship with Coach Fredricks, is devastated to hear that his mother has been dating him. | |||||
| 15 | "Noshing and Moshing" | Jake Kasdan | J. Elvis Weinstein | October 17, 2000* | 115 |
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While trying to escape his problems with his parents and Kim, Daniel becomes attracted to Jenna Zank, a dropout from McKinley who is into the punk scene. To try and impress her, Daniel changes his appearance and meets her at a punk show and brings Nick and Ken along as well. Trying to cope with the knowledge that his father is unfaithful to his mom and whether or not to tell her, Neal focuses all of his energy into his new ventriloquism act, neglecting school in the process. The Weir parents become intoxicated at the Schweibers' party, while Lindsay becomes attracted to Neil's older brother Barry (David Krumholtz), who is back in town from college. Lindsay is given detention after coming to the aid of a girl being attacked by a boy. | |||||
| 16 | "Smooching and Mooching" | Jake Kasdan | Steve Bannos | July 8, 2000 | 116 |
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After Cindy breaks up with Todd, Sam finally asks Cindy out on a date after she tells Bill that she has a crush on Sam and wants Bill to convince Sam to invite her to a party. Sam, Neal, and, Bill find themselves nervously attending a make-out party. Much to Lindsay's disappointment, the Weirs allow Nick to stay the night at their house after Nick's father sells his 29-piece drum kit. | |||||
| 17 | "The Little Things" | Jake Kasdan | Teleplay by: Jon Kasdan Story by: Jon Kasdan & Judd Apatow & Mike White | July 8, 2000 | 117 |
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After Ken's girlfriend, Amy, reveals to him that she was born an intersex woman, Ken questions his sexuality and his over analysis of his relationship with her leads him to the conclusion that he has to break up with her. Sam is having a terrible time dating Cindy, who reveals herself to be shallow, rude, egotistical, and Republican. He tries to find the courage to break up with her. Lindsay struggles with asking Vice President George Bush a question during an assembly. | |||||
| 18 | "Discos and Dragons" | Paul Feig | Paul Feig | July 8, 2000 | 113 |
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By chance, Lindsay and the freaks find out that Nick has been dating Sara (Lizzy Caplan) and she has been teaching him to dance for an upcoming disco competition. Daniel, afraid of failing another test, is caught trying to pull the fire alarm. As punishment, he is forced to join the Audio/Visual club. The geeks respond to his presence coldly at first, but they later invite him to a game of Dungeons & Dragons. As a result of Lindsay's outstanding grades, she receives an invitation to an academic summit at the University of Michigan taking place for two weeks during the summer. However, she is unsure of whether or not she wants to attend. | |||||
* ^ Initial airing occurred on Fox Family.
References
- ^ a b c Andrew Jay Cohen, Paul Feig, and Judd Apatow, ed. (2004). Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Scripts Volume 1 (1st edition ed.). New York: New Market Press. ISBN 155704645X.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link) - ^ Cf. song and album "Mad Dogs and Englishmen".