18 February 2009
Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000)
It’s kind of a shame that more often than not a show this good languishes in obscurity until its inevitable cancelation. But saying that is an easy thing, looking back. I’m not sure I’ve ever been invested in a TV show on the brink and been forced to reconcile that disappointment with what’s-not-coming.
Here, we’re forced to ask: really, that’s it? How could they have possibly stopped making this? It’s like a neurotic, real Saved by the Bell. Sometimes a little OTN or OTT, but what can you expect? The Apatow model in gestation: real characters that have space to breathe and the occasional overbearing morality lesson (though most often, it manages to resist the truly excessive).
Of course, that’s inevitable with a show that has its shelf-life written into it.