Freaks and Geeks
In 2013, I watched a show filmed in 1999 about the early 1980’s. Yes, I’m a Time Traveler, because that’s over 3 decades of history being covered. Not only that, but this time travel allows you to see many stars when they were young, such as Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jason Segel, and my favorite John Francis Daley (Dr. Lance Sweets from Bones). The best episodes of the show were written by Judd Apatow, who has written many great comedies since then, including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”
The show focuses on the Weirs, Lindsay and Sam. Lindsay is a junior in high school, while Sam is her younger brother as a Freshman. After a hinted at traumatic event, Lindsay starts burning out from school and hanging out with the “Freaks” of the school. Sam himself is a geek, and is just trying to get used to school. While there were some anachronisms, the show seemed to be pretty true for an era that I held in high regard despite not being in High School at the time.
The show starts off as if its a bunch of after school specials. Episodes about premarital sex, drugs, skipping classes, and all those evil things high school students say. Everything is given the hype that was instilled in the age, such as the father repeatedly saying “I know someone who did X, and you know where they are now? Dead!” Most episodes has Sam having to live in the fear of whatever X is, and freaking out, while Lindsay is being forced to deal with it. As Lindsay is one of the main character, she rarely directly does any of the bad things, but has to deal with her friends and their actions and how they reflect on her.
Its cute and fun...for awhile. Unfortunately, mid-season, I started getting bored. The shows, while not formulaic, were predictable. Lindsay’s friends are going to do something stupid, Lindsay is going to get dragged into it, and Sam is going to deal with a related problem. The after-school specialness drug on, and I almost left the show.
I stuck with it though, and the let set of episodes is worth it. Judd Apatow takes over the writing, and it dramatically gets better. The issues are no longer just “don’t do drugs,” but actual real issues, such as finding out your best friends father is cheating on your best friends mom, and how to deal with that. Sam and Lindsay’s plot lines are no longer parallel, and the side characters begin to learn and change. The show also stops being so episodic, and more serial.
The show was cancelled after only 19 episodes. I understand why it was; it simply got boring in the middle. It was in competition with That 70’s Show at the time, which while much more silly, was also much more consistently entertaining. At the same time, I find it unfortunate that Freaks and Geeks did get cancelled. Middle of the show I was ready to quit, but that final episode made me want so much more. I wanted to know where the characters were going. The issues they started to deal with were real and not just a bunch of silly stoners. Under Apatow, I could see the show having been as good as The Wonder Years. But, it didn’t learn to fly until it was too late.
My recommendation level for this show: If you’re bored, or really want to see a young Dr. Lance Sweets. It was entertaining, it was cute, and it had potential to be super cute and emotional... but it never got the chance to develop that way. It could have been a show that would get me to cry, like The Wonder Years or Scrubs’ finale... but it wasn’t. So it ends with cute, it ended up being worth my time to watch. I also understand why it got cancelled.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
New Years Resolutions for 2013
New Years Resolutions:
On-going Resolutions:
1. Physical health. Basically, I want to see myself push myself harder. I want to do more races, and see myself further improve. Also, I want to do more upper body, and I hope signing up for obstacle course races will help me build up for that. I felt great about my progress last year, and hope to see equally impressive growth this year.
2.Continue growing my comic book. Obviously, I want to keep putting out pages. In the month of December I had around 150 visitors to my comic book with minor to no advertising... I’d like to add at least a 0 to that number by the end of the year, if not more. I don’t think this is the year to plan to go to a comic-con, but maybe bring my comic to a smaller Portland based comic-convention.
3. Read more. It might be harder for me this year to read more than last year, as a lot of my “readings” were audio books, and I’m making less long drives and have less access to audio books. Still, I’d like to at least read the same amount of books a I did last year.
4. Write more. I started this strong last year, but it kind of dwindled at the end of the year. I’d like to try to do more with my collection of short stories, to try to write / finish some old scripts, and prepare more for Dameon Strykes. Hell, if I just have to blog more, that’ll work. Writing is my art, and I really need to put more effort into it than I was at the end of the year.
5. Continue being awesome. This means I want to continue to be an amazing friend, a great son, a hard worker, someone who is over-all happy with life, and most importantly, someone who I am proud to be. It’s worked well for me so far, so lets just keep it up.
Failed Resolutions I’d like to try for again:
6. Video editing. As has been my continuing resolution since I graduated, I’d like to get a paid editing gig. I don’t care if its temporary or not, I’d like to finally get paid for my work that has received acclaim in the past. This might be the last year I try for this before I just realize its not meant to be.
7. Find a job I am happy with. I’m not sure if I count this “Failed” last year as I was pretty okay with my job last year until the dramatic changes occurred. Still, I’d like to have a job / career that I am happy with. I’d like to mention that this doesn’t necessarily mean getting a new job, but could entail changing my mindset about my current job and focus on the positives of it.
New Resolutions:
8. Go on an adventure. Last year I went to Las Vegas and Asheville. This year I already have plans to go to New Orleans. I’d like to try to get another big vacation / adventure in this year where I do something new. Maybe this will be the year I finally do a road trip (although, a road trip really needs friends willing to participate). Still, I’ll think of something new to do.
9. More tattoos. Already scheduled for one, and I think I want to get the Norse one before the year is up. This is one of those “Gimme” resolutions so that I can end the year without failing all of them.
10. Geek out more. I think this should be the year of the geek for me. I am a nerd, and a geek at heart, and I really should let that out more.
11. Get good at something new. This is an “Eh” resolution, but I would like to see myself get “Good” at something new. I’m mediocre at bowling, I’m mediocre at playing pool, I’m mediocre at fencing, I’m mediocre at comedy. I’m mediocre at a lot of things, and I’d like to be good at one of them. I’d also accept me joining a team sport kind of thing, like baseball.
12. Family. Last few years I tried to fix, repair, or salvage my old definition of family. I don’t think I have enough duct tape to make the shattered remnants of my family look like how it used to. So as opposed to trying to “fix” my family, I believe I’m going to have to redefine my perception of family. I should reach out to my extended family more that lives in the Portland area. I also want to make sure that my friend is still included in my definition of family.
13. Help my friend graduate from graduate school. It’s been a long time coming, and I’ve been beside her through the whole process, but this year my best friend is graduating, and one of my personal goals is to make sure she gets there, sane, and with a damn amazing thesis.
On-going Resolutions:
1. Physical health. Basically, I want to see myself push myself harder. I want to do more races, and see myself further improve. Also, I want to do more upper body, and I hope signing up for obstacle course races will help me build up for that. I felt great about my progress last year, and hope to see equally impressive growth this year.
2.Continue growing my comic book. Obviously, I want to keep putting out pages. In the month of December I had around 150 visitors to my comic book with minor to no advertising... I’d like to add at least a 0 to that number by the end of the year, if not more. I don’t think this is the year to plan to go to a comic-con, but maybe bring my comic to a smaller Portland based comic-convention.
3. Read more. It might be harder for me this year to read more than last year, as a lot of my “readings” were audio books, and I’m making less long drives and have less access to audio books. Still, I’d like to at least read the same amount of books a I did last year.
4. Write more. I started this strong last year, but it kind of dwindled at the end of the year. I’d like to try to do more with my collection of short stories, to try to write / finish some old scripts, and prepare more for Dameon Strykes. Hell, if I just have to blog more, that’ll work. Writing is my art, and I really need to put more effort into it than I was at the end of the year.
5. Continue being awesome. This means I want to continue to be an amazing friend, a great son, a hard worker, someone who is over-all happy with life, and most importantly, someone who I am proud to be. It’s worked well for me so far, so lets just keep it up.
Failed Resolutions I’d like to try for again:
6. Video editing. As has been my continuing resolution since I graduated, I’d like to get a paid editing gig. I don’t care if its temporary or not, I’d like to finally get paid for my work that has received acclaim in the past. This might be the last year I try for this before I just realize its not meant to be.
7. Find a job I am happy with. I’m not sure if I count this “Failed” last year as I was pretty okay with my job last year until the dramatic changes occurred. Still, I’d like to have a job / career that I am happy with. I’d like to mention that this doesn’t necessarily mean getting a new job, but could entail changing my mindset about my current job and focus on the positives of it.
New Resolutions:
8. Go on an adventure. Last year I went to Las Vegas and Asheville. This year I already have plans to go to New Orleans. I’d like to try to get another big vacation / adventure in this year where I do something new. Maybe this will be the year I finally do a road trip (although, a road trip really needs friends willing to participate). Still, I’ll think of something new to do.
9. More tattoos. Already scheduled for one, and I think I want to get the Norse one before the year is up. This is one of those “Gimme” resolutions so that I can end the year without failing all of them.
10. Geek out more. I think this should be the year of the geek for me. I am a nerd, and a geek at heart, and I really should let that out more.
11. Get good at something new. This is an “Eh” resolution, but I would like to see myself get “Good” at something new. I’m mediocre at bowling, I’m mediocre at playing pool, I’m mediocre at fencing, I’m mediocre at comedy. I’m mediocre at a lot of things, and I’d like to be good at one of them. I’d also accept me joining a team sport kind of thing, like baseball.
12. Family. Last few years I tried to fix, repair, or salvage my old definition of family. I don’t think I have enough duct tape to make the shattered remnants of my family look like how it used to. So as opposed to trying to “fix” my family, I believe I’m going to have to redefine my perception of family. I should reach out to my extended family more that lives in the Portland area. I also want to make sure that my friend is still included in my definition of family.
13. Help my friend graduate from graduate school. It’s been a long time coming, and I’ve been beside her through the whole process, but this year my best friend is graduating, and one of my personal goals is to make sure she gets there, sane, and with a damn amazing thesis.
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