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It's no surprise to most of that I'm always on the lookout for some well written television. I mean, writing for television is my career goal.
So one of the things I've started to in the past year is start watching Television. Not just any television, but television that comes either highly recommended, or, form what I've sen or heard of it, seems to be 'my kind of thing'.
What is my kind of thing? The category that would best fit what I like is 'dramedy'. Shows that take serious issues seriously, but also allow for the fact that really funny things can and do happen at the same time. Shows where you can be laughing one moment, and crying the next. Shows with characters that progress and grow through a season, and you can see realistic changes in those characters.
I had gone several years without watching television regularly. So when I made the decision to start checking out things, I had some catching up to do.
And thank God for TV on DVD. I've found some amazing shows this way, and, if the pilot alone means anything, I think I may have found one of my favorites.
I just bought the Complete Series of FREAKS & GEEKS, blind. I'd never seen an episode before, but the critical acclaim has been unanimously excellent, so I felt that purchasing the set blind $50 at Best Buy) wouldn't be much of a gamble.
And boy, was I right.
The pilot blew me away. This is my kind of show.
The premise is simple - we follow the lives of high school outcasts in the year 1980. The protagonists are the geeks, and a few 'rebel-looking' freaks. And do they look stereotypical? Yes. They do. Because, in all honesty, there's a reason the sterotypes exists. You've seen these people - the nerds who LOOK like nerds. the freaks who LOOK like freaks. But in most film and television productions, they're used as jokes. They're cardboard characters used for laughs. You see them as either a) people for mocking, or c) used as unrealistic heroes (as in Revenge of the Nerds).
This show takes these outcasts and makes them REAL. They're insecure, they're afraid of the rest of society - but they have reason to. They try to fit in, but nobody lets them...almost nobody.
As in real life, there are always good honestly nice people who don't just pity the outcasts, but make an effort to befriend them, find out what they're really like. Treat them as people, not a societal class.
Of all the high school-based shows I've ever seen, this is the most truthful, painful, and outright emotionally poigniant one I've ever seen.
I have no clue where their found their young actors (and actresses), but they're perfect. Absolutely perfect. The akwardness, the shyness, the conflicting emotions - it's all there. It hurts to watch them - but when something good finally does happen amidst the chaos - it really, truly makes you happy.
If you're one who is financially up for it, and are willing to take my word for it, go out and buy the series set of FREAKS AND GEEKS. There's over 18 hours of content, and it's just $50. Trust me. It's worth it. Television doesn't get much better than this.
quote:Shows with characters that progress and grow through a season, and you can see realistic changes in those characters.
I like those shows when I start watching it from the beginning. I've tried watching some of those mid-series, however, and it's impossible. So many relationships, romantic and non-romantic, have been created, developed, and destroyed that there's no possible way to understand what's going on without watching the entire series.
Anyway, I too have heard good things about this show. $50 is a bit steep, though, considering I've never seen a single show and only make about $200 a month. I'm also saving my money for the entire Save by the Bell series on DVD.
Posts: 2292 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Trust me...$50 spent on this show is a MUCH much much much much much more rewarding investment than any season of Saved by the Bell. Even if they only were to cost $5 a season (which they don't).
If anything, just Netflix the first disc of F&G. I guarantee you'll be hooked.
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Actually, while I haven't seen a single episode of either of them, both of those shows are HIGH on my 'to watch' list. I have the pilot of Twin Peaks available to watch, I just haven't done so yet. As for TV on DVD, I'm currently plowing through Sports Night, Firefly, The Office, and now Freaks & Geeks.
Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000
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Taalcon - it's difficult to get your hands on, but after you've watched the two season you have to hunt down a copy of the Christmas Special. I finally found it on Kazaa and downloaded it.
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Picket Fences was great! And also I'll Fly Away which never even won an Emmy and got canceled despite the fact that it's brilliant... Good shows are so rare these days. Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Mmm, you definitely should see them both. Twin Peaks has incredible characters. Incredible. My So-Called Life has the perfect script for early 90's teenagers.
They're so good. So good.
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I love twin peaks, 24, simpsons, and sienfield. Oh yeah, I forgot I was addicted to X-files for a time.
Posts: 1034 | Registered: Mar 2004
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A friend of mine is a Scrubs addict, and he got me hooked.. On that and West Wing. But my first love will always be Law and Order... (dreamy sigh)
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I just got Freaks and Geeks. I'd never seen it, but I really liked Undeclared, and I had heard so much good about it that I figured it was worth the risk. Boy was I right. I loved it. I won't add to all the reasons stated already, other than to second them. Oh, and it's the only post-MST3K work that Joel Hodgson and Trace Beaulieu had ever done. I think that's what pushed me over the edge. I didn't even recognize either of them. Trace got kind of a boring part, but Joel's couple of scenes were some of the funniest few minutes I've ever seen on television.
That's one thing I loved so much about it. I expected something as funny as Undeclared, and I got it. But the drama was amazing. The acting and casting were incredible. I was drawn into the lives of the characters in a way I was completely unprepared for. The closest thing I can compare it to is Twin Peaks without the murder mystery. It was every bit as quirky, funny, and compelling as Twin Peaks, and that's a compliment of the highest caliber.
By the way, anybody know when Twin Peaks season 2 is coming out? Is it ever? I heard they weren't going to do it. I saw the entire series once. I knew some dude who had it on crappy VHS, but then his fuzzy-haired reprobate of a brother stole them and probably sold them for pot or something*. Anyway, I bought season one when it came out to try to facilitate the release of season 2, and there's no word on it. Sounds like tire slashing time to me.
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Oh...almost I am convinced to get the DVD. Waiting for Dave to be kidnapped by ninjas might take too long.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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According to dugpa.com, season 2 Twin Peaks will be released in September and October of this year by Paramount. But that's a strong rumor that might be wrong. Boo, Boo.
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I heard if you play the third DVD in a CD player, it gives away their secret location. No? Maybe in my CD player. If I could just borrow it...
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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I loved Freaks and Geeks when it was on, and will definately look for it on DVD. I'm afraid I'll get booed or something for the suggestion, but so far as "Shows where you can be laughing one moment, and crying the next. Shows with characters that progress and grow through a season, and you can see realistic changes in those characters," I can't think of anything better than the first five seasons of Buffy (and maybe the sixth). :-P
Posts: 1947 | Registered: Aug 2002
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I actually had picked up the first season of Buffy a while ago and enjoyed it. I actually sold it for some quick cash a while back, but enjoyed it sufficiently enough to want to check out the later seasons. Firefly hasn't been hurting my interest in more Whedon, either Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000
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I just watched Freaks and Geeks again with my wife, about a year after my initial solo viewing. I didn't think it would be the kind of show with repeat watching value, but it was just as good the second time through. There were a couple of down moments, but for the most part it played like a really great 18 hour movie. We couldn't turn it off. I loved watching all the characters develop, and seeing what happened to them. And the last episode is nothing short of television perfection. Every character has a story that is tied up in a way that is totally satisfying, but still makes me want more. And that last scene... I get chills thinking about it. I very rarely connect with characters as deeply as I did with the ones on this show. I wish there were more programs like this on TV.
On a related note, I've owned the album American Beauty by the Grateful Dead for over a decade now, and I never really appreciated it until I heard Box of Rain and Ripple played on the soundtrack of the final episode. Both those songs give me goosebumps now.
quote:Taalcon - it's difficult to get your hands on, but after you've watched the two season you have to hunt down a copy of the Christmas Special. I finally found it on Kazaa and downloaded it.
One of my housemates has The Office Christmas Special on DVD. It is so choice. I highly recommend it if you have the means. The first half of the Christmas special is just BRUTAL, though. You come out of it feeling just AWFUL. But the ending is just spectacular. And watching the commentary on it and knowing that they filmed the first part to make you feel bad on purpose! Naughty, naughty TV writers! (*whispers* make more please!)
The American version is coming out apparently. Unfortunately, I don't think that any American version can possibly compare with the brilliance of David Brent (Ricky Gervais) .
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