In case I haven’t mentioned it enough, Joey is a huge TV watcher and for years, he’s been burning through entire series of shows.  I tend to think the ones he picks are… um, questionable — MacGyver?  The Andy Griffith Show?  24? — but occasionally he’ll pick one that I don’t mind sitting in on a few episodes of.  Or, in the case of Freaks and Geeks, one that I don’t mind joining him to watch in its entirety.

This weekend, we finished watching the one and only season that the show made it through and while it’s been off the air for almost 15 years and maybe isn’t the most relevant thing for me to be talking about (though it’s gained popularity in more recent years), I still wanted to give my two cents.  If you know nothing about the show, the gist of it is two groups of high schoolers — freaks and geeks — and the two main characters/siblings — Lindsay and Sam — who belong to those groups respectively.  It’s the 80’s, it’s dorky dads, it’s high school relationships, it’s reputations and it’s James Franco.  Enough said.

I wasn’t hanging on the end of every episode and it wasn’t my favorite show ever, but now that we’re through all 18 one-hour episodes, I’m sad it’s over.  It’s amazing to me that they were able to go into such depth with all the characters in just one season.  They seemed like real people with real emotions and real problems.  In the end, I felt like I really knew every main character (and there were a lot of them!), from their hobbies and passions to their home life and everything in between.  And storylines were always followed up on.  No small feat, if you ask me.

I’ve spent a lot of time wondering what Season 2 might’ve been (especially with the way Season 1 ended!), but maybe it’s better off having ended with one good season.  It obviously didn’t hurt any careers (cough James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segal) and makes for a quick TV-show binge.

Favorite Character:  Lindsay — I know, how boring, but to me, she was the most relatable and endearing character.  But I also really loved Bill (3 episodes in, he turns out to be hilarious!), Nick (is Jason Segal ever not lovable?) and Mr. Weir.

Favorite Moments: Ugh so many!  Sam’s accidental streaking, Neal insulting his dad via ventriloquism, Bill getting drunk, Sam’s jumpsuit, Nick’s disco dance, Daniel spiking his hair, Mr. Weir saying or doing anything.

Favorite Line: “You know, there was a girl in our school, she had premarital sex. You know what she did on graduation day? Died! Of an overdose. Heroin.”