Freaks and Geeks

I never watched the show while it was aired and for some reason avoided it when it was first released on DVD but Freaks and Geeks has now become one of my all-time favorites.

The writing, the ensemble cast, the music... all of it created an absolute perfect picture of high school, puberty, the early 80s, parents and children, and of middle America... F&G was on for only one season. Whatever the reasons were for not extending the run, it actually ended just when it needed to.

I love subtleties. I need it to be present in things like music, art, design, literature. I have come to expect it in performances in theater and film but I have no expectations of subtlety when it comes to TV. That's why F&G is so mindblowingly good! There is an absolute balance between humor and drama in this show and the shifts between the two are so deft! Perhaps the setting of high school allows for this to occur. There is always the humor of someone who takes themselves too seriously and what teenager doesn't take themselves seriously? Or for that matter, how buffonish the rest of the world appears to them?

I don't even know if I have a favorite episode. Last night, I watched the episode where Neil's dad (a dentist) is having an affair as part of his mid-life crisis. He's a clown with his red sports car and gold-digging blonde but the scene where he tries to explain his philandering actions to Sam (Neil's good friend) is heartbreaking. And it takes place while Neil's dad is cleaning Sam's teeth with Sam's mouth propped open with a mouth guard! How this scene works on all of these level is beyond me.