If you're a television nerd, you should probably think of booking a trip to Los Angeles next March to witness PaleyFest. Held at the Paley Center for Media, the week-long festival features panel discussions with the casts and crews of some of your favorite television shows, both new and old. This year, that meant not only were Amy Poehler, Adam Scott and the cast of Parks and Recreation on hand to discuss their beloved sitcom, but so too were the now-super-famous kids from Freaks and Geeks.
The late '90s gem introduced many of today's biggest comedy titans to mainstream audiences -- James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, plus creator Judd Apatow -- although mainstream audiences weren't that happy to meet them at the time. Freaks and Geeks lasted just one season, and was canceled after being one of NBC's lowest rated series. Though, as producer/director Paul Feig told the audience at the PaleyFest over the weekend, about 7 million people tuned in to see Freaks and Geeks, which would now qualify as a mini-hit.
Of course, "What might have been?" has become a rallying cry for Freaks and Geeks. Was it ahead of its time? If it did succeed, would we have movies like Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, or would the cast and crew be too busy to really branch out? What would have happened with the characters in future seasons? About that last one, Apatow revealed plans for season two of Freaks and Geeks, and they sound particularly shocking.
Nerdy Bill (played by Martin Starr) was going to become a jock; Kim Kelly (Busy Philipps) was going to do a school play while pregnant and Lindsay (Linda Cardinelli), who left town at the end of season one to see the Grateful Dead, would begin season two by being carried out of said Dead show on a stretcher, following a bad acid trip. Sounds about right. Also, awesome. Any chance these guys can get together to make a Freaks and Geeks reunion episode?
