Freaks and Geeks Marathon

When it originally aired all over NBC’s schedule in the late Nineties, I remember thinking Freaks and Geeks was a good show, but I didn’t realize it was a classic until I sat down and watched all 18 episodes back-to-back on DVD last spring. With no toilet bowl cleaner spots to intervene, I became engrossed in the gradually unfolding plotlines and well-developed characters as they continually triggered reference points from my own high school days.

My favorite scene in the entire series is the one where Bill Haverchuck comes home from school, makes himself a grilled cheese, flips on the TV and begins laughing out loud in unconstrained solitude at Garry Shandling on The Dinah Shore Show as the Who’s “I’m One” plays. Can you say “shock of recognition?” By the time I got to the final scene where Lindsay sneaks off to follow the Grateful Dead with Kim Kelly, there was a very real lump in my throat.

On Saturday, June 4, our friends at the Alamo Drafthouse downtown are hosting “The Freaks and Geeks Marathon.” In addition to showing the entire series, Martin Starr (Bill Haverchuck) and Sarah Hagan (Millie Kentner) will be there to answer questions. You can even purchase one of 20 VIP tickets that get you a pre-marathon Garza High School cafeteria brunch with Starr and Hagan.

Tickets go on sale this Friday at 3:30pm, so if you’re a fan or just Freak-curious, get ‘em while they’re hot because this show will almost certainly sell out fast.