Line #104 Series/FreaksAndGeeks


1	[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/freaks_and_geeks.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:305:RetroactiveRecognition: The Series.]]
3
4	->''"We're all unhappy. That's the thing about life."''
5	-->-- '''Lindsay Weir'''
6
7	''Freaks and Geeks'' is a Creator/{{NBC}} {{dramedy}} series created by Creator/PaulFeig and Creator/JuddApatow, based on Feig's experiences as a teenager in the early [[TheEighties '80s]].
8
9	The show is about two groups of teenagers in the UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} suburbs circa 1980: the titular "Freaks" and "Geeks". The "Freaks" are into rock music (''not'' disco!), pot, and hanging around; the "Geeks" are into comedy, the AV club, and tabletop [=RPGs=]. Lindsay Weir (Creator/LindaCardellini) is at the fringe of the Freaks, while her younger brother, Sam (Creator/JohnFrancisDaley), is at the core of the Geeks.
10
11	The show is a ComingOfAgeStory for both of them: Lindsay, with the help of the Freaks – Daniel Desario (Creator/JamesFranco), Nick Andopolis (Creator/JasonSegel), Ken Miller (Creator/SethRogen) and Kim Kelly (Creator/BusyPhilipps) – attempts to forge her own path in life, while Sam, alongside Neal Schweiber (Creator/SammLevine) and Bill Haverchuck (Creator/MartinStarr), deals with slightly more traditional romantic fare, particularly his crush on cheerleader Cindy Sanders (Natasha Melnick), and their parents Jean (Creator/BeckyAnnBaker) and Harold (''Series/{{SCTV}}'' alumnus Joe Flaherty) watch on with mingled bemusement, concern and pride.
12
13	Part of what made ''Freaks and Geeks'' stand out was that it was surprisingly immersive as to its period setting; it was even sparing in its use of NothingButHits (which proved ironic, given the show's music clearance issues which delayed its DVD release). The show was praised to heaven and back for its surprising amount of realism (making it onto ''[[Magazine/TimeMagazine Time]]'' magazine's "Top 10 New Shows" list), but it [[AcclaimedFlop never quite took off]] in the ratings department, which led to its notorious cancellation after airing just fifteen of its eighteen episodes.[[note]]It actually topped the ''Magazine/TVGuide'' list of the shows that were cancelled too soon.[[/note]]
14
15	The show's pilot premiered on September 25, 1999, and its series finale aired on July 8, 2000. It only lasted one season, but in addition to its critical acclaim, it has become a {{cult classic}} among audiences in the decades since its initial run.
16
17	Compare to its fellow high school drama ''Series/MySoCalledLife'', and Apatow's follow-up college comedy ''Series/{{Undeclared}}''.
18
19	Has a [[Characters/FreaksAndGeeks character sheet.]]
20	----
21	!!''Freaks and Geeks'' is the {{Trope Namer\|s}} for the following tropes:
22	* SawStarWarsTwentySevenTimes
23	----
24	!!''Freaks and Geeks'' provides examples of:
25
26	* AbortedArc: Sam's feud with Neal and Bill (as well as Gordon and Harris) in "Discos and Dragons" was to translate into the next season with Sam wanting to break away from the Geeks (causing slow tension), as well as the relationship between Coach Fredericks and Gloria Haverchuck (Bill's mother), and the divorce between the Schweibers. [[AsYouKnow No further explanation is needed]].
27	* ActorAllusion: Creator/JoelHodgson recommends a "Parisian night suit" which is actually just a [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 jumpsuit]].
28	* AdultsAreUseless: Played with. The Weir parents generally give well-meaning and helpful advice to their children. However, generational differences in particular (they are, after all, pre-Boomers while the kids are early Gen-X'ers)[[note]] Lindsay, likely being born after the 50s and before 1965 would be considered a member of Generation Jones (70s and early 80s high school seniors)[[/note]] often make it difficult for them to understand what their children are going through. This is particularly apparent in the episode "Boyfriends And Girlfriends," where the Weir parents' lacking familiarity with post-60's sexual politics makes them extremely paranoid about Lindsay and Nick hooking up. Fortunately, unlike a lot of other teen shows, F&G never goes overboard with this trope. It's actually presented in a very civilized (for its time, at least) manner.
29	** Jeff the Guidance Counsellor is a straighter version of this trope.
30	* TheAllegedCar: Kim Kelly's Gremlin, Nick's Maverick... It's 1980, it's Detroit, if the series had lasted every marginal American car from the '70s would've eventually shown up.
31	* AlliterativeName: Kim Kelly, Daniel Desario, Cindy Sanders
32	* AmbulanceCut: Sort of. In "Chokin' and Tokin'," Alan yells at Bill that he put peanuts in his sandwich. Cue his OhCrap face as he realizes Bill really is allergic to peanuts, and then cut to Bill on a gurney being rushed down the hall to the waiting ambulance.
33	* AndStarring: Creator/BusyPhilipps gets this attribution right at the start of the second act, after the actual credits have rolled. Her character, originally intended as a RomanticFalseLead to be discarded after one episode, was kept on for the strength of Phillipps' performance... and the meticulously-crafted IntroductoryOpeningCredits, which provide an EstablishingCharacterMoment for each school-aged character under the guise of PictureDay while "[[Music/JoanJett Bad Reputation]]" blasts in the background, probably just didn't have room for another person.
34	* ArtisticLicenseMusic: Amy Andrews, the "tuba girl", plays a sousaphone. Then again, the Freaks probably don’t care what it's technically called.
35	* AuthorAvatar:
36	** Sam Weir = Paul Feig
37	** Gabe Sachs claims to have based Nick on himself, complete with giant drum kit.
38	* AuthorTract:
39	** "The Little Things" is one long political ad. Somewhat understandable, as it aired a few months before the 2000 election.
40	** "Chokin' and Tokin'" was Apatow's anti-pot VerySpecialEpisode, which intentionally avoids the MarijuanaIsLSD trope, and instead stresses that while smoking pot in and of itself is not bad, making it the focus of your life (especially in high school) is.
41	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Bill is the gentlest and least confrontational of the Geeks, but he goes absolutely ''ballistic'' when [[spoiler:Coach Fredricks, whom he barely tolerates at the best of times, starts dating his mom]].
42	* BittersweetEnding: Many episodes. ''Especially'' the finale.
43	* {{Blackmail}}: Mr. Rosso tries using this to get Lindsay to re-join the Mathlete team after he catches her cutting class in the pilot.
44	* BrainyBrunette: Lindsay and Millie. The former was a star mathlete.
45	* BrokenAesop : Most of Mr. Weir's stories are in-universe examples.
46	--> You know where they are now? They're DEAD!
47	* BrokenPedestal: Neal's idolization of [[spoiler: his father]] is destroyed upon learning of [[spoiler: his extramarital affairs]]. However, [[spoiler:the show takes pains to portray the senior Schweiber as a good husband and father who is likely in the midst of a mid-life crisis.]]
48	* ButtMonkey: The geeks. ''All of them''.
49	* CastingGag: The geeks are huge science-fiction fans, which makes it quite fun that Bill's mother is played by [[Creator/ClaudiaChristian one of the most beloved sci-fi heroines of the 90s]].
50	* CelebrityParadox: The geeks make reference to the film ''Stripes'', which includes Joe Flaherty (the actor for Mr. Weir) in a small role.
51	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: There are a few unnamed extras in the freaks and the geeks that don't appear in later episodes after the pilot.
52	* [[DrillSergeantNasty Coach Nasty]]: Played with; Coach Fredericks can definitely be rather blunt, sarcastic and mean, particularly to the less-than-athletically talented geeks, but he's got a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold heart of gold]] underneath it all and is actually rather compassionate and kind, particularly when he's not on the sports field.
53	* ContinuityNod:
54	** Lindsay's mom referring to Nick as "the guy who ate all my Fruit Roll-Ups" in "Boyfriends And Girlfriends" counts as this; the series generally doesn't make too many references to previous episodes beyond well-established plot points, so this is particularly apparent.
55	** Bill first mentions his peanut allergy in "Tricks and Treats"; this will later become a plot point in "Chokin' and Tokin'".
56	** In the pilot, Nick mentions how much he hates disco and makes fun of the music and dance moves. Whether CharacterizationMarchesOn or not, he explores disco in the last episodes.
57	* ConvenientSlowDance: Subverted in the first episode. Sam gets Cindy out onto the dance floor just as the tempo (to Music/{{Styx}}' "Come Sail Away") picks up.
58	* ConverseWithTheUnconscious: Alan gives a heartfelt apology to the unconscious Bill, after he puts peanuts in his sandwich and Bill is rushed to the hospital, giving us some backstory.
59	* ConversationalTroping: Both groups, constantly, although the geeks mostly talk comedy and science fiction, while the freaks are more into music.
60	* {{Cosplay}}: In "Chokin' and Tokin'", the Geeks dress up as ''Star Wars'' characters for a science fiction convention.
61	* CreatorCameo: Paul Feig plays Alex, the guitarist for Dimension, in "I'm with the Band".
62	* CringeComedy: To spare.
63	** Neal's ventriloquism act at his parents' party.
64	** Nick's disastrous audition for a professional rock band.
65	** Nick serenading Lindsay with Styx's "Lady"... and, in a different episode, auditioning his own composition, "Lady L", to Ken.
66	** "Smooching and Mooching" has a deleted scene in which Sam and Cindy dance while Sam sings, which everyone on the DVD commentary claims is ''the creepiest thing ever filmed''. They are correct.
67	** Sam walking into school wearing a baby-blue disco jumpsuit ("Parisian nightsuit"). The look on his face as he realizes that everyone is laughing at him is priceless.
68	** Sam getting trapped naked in the school hallway.
69	* CutShort: Famously, the show was cancelled after only one season, and as a result, the finale doesn't have the same feeling of definitive conclusiveness that many other shows' series finales have.
70	* DeadpanSnarker: Ken and Amy. Harris and Neal also fit this trope.
71	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: HighSchool teachers ''and students'' openly smoking on campus.
72	* DiscoSucks: The final episode has the "Freaks" go to a disco just to taunt the dancers only to be surprised when Nick turns out to be one of the dancers. While Nick says that taking part in disco dancing helped him overcome some issues in his life (like his pot use). When Ken shows up to further harass the dancers, the security guard takes him outside and secretly tells him that the disco is closing due to the genre's waning popularity.
73	* DownToTheLastPlay: The basketball game in "We've Got Spirit".
74	* DreamApocalypse: While high on marijuana and babysitting for neighbors, Lindsay believes she's in a dream belonging to the neighbors' dog and begs Millie, who's helping her babysit, not to wake it up.
75	* DreadfulMusician: Nick, although he is said to be getting better towards the end after taking lessons.
76	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In early episodes, Kim, Ken, Daniel and others can be interpreted to act out of character and behave with extreme cruelty toward others, when ultimately they are shown to be warm and caring people. Is this an aberration or good character development? The debate goes on...
77	* TheEighties: Or more specifically, the part immediately following (and thus still retaining a lot of the look and culture of) TheSeventies.
78	* FakeOutOpening: The pilot has a small one, with hints of a TakeThat to boot. The camera focuses in on [[TheBeautifulElite a jock and his cheerleader]] sitting in the bleachers during football practice, trying to ham up their non-existent melodrama. Soon after, the camera pans down to introduce us to the ''real'' heroes of the show, conversing underneath said bleachers. Can you say metaphor?
79	* FanBoy: The geeks are fan boys of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', science fiction, ''Film/TheJerk'', and ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. Bill is also very adamant about watching ''Series/{{Dallas}}''. Eli really, really likes ''Series/ThreesCompany''.
80	* FantasyForbiddingFather: All Nick wants to do is play drums, but his father sells his drum set "for his own good" and threatens to send him to military school.
81	* TheFellowshipHasEnded: At the end of the series, the Freaks have all joined different groups. Lindsay and Kim are off to follow Music/TheGratefulDead, Daniel has become one of the geeks and Nick has gotten into ''disco''. Ken's a bit of a loose plot thread, though he is still happily dating Amy.
82	* FindingABraInYourCar: The garage door opener.
83	* FireAlarmDistraction: Attempted in the final episode. Daniel has a test he was planning on cheating through only to discover the guy who was supposed to help him cheat is absent. So, he goes to pull the fire alarm to buy some time, but Mr. Rosso catches him in the act and assigns him to work with the A.V. Club.
84	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
85	** In the Halloween episode, the geeks go trick or treating and one woman gives them circus peanuts. Bill asks "Are there any peanuts in those peanuts? Because if there are, I could die." Later in the season, Alan slips peanuts into Bill's sandwich. He nearly dies from an allergic reaction.
86	** In "The Diary," Sam, Bill, and Neal are hanging out at Neal's house after school when Neal's dad unexpectedly arrives, despite being scheduled to work late. Neal explains he sometimes 'comes home to change his shirt' when performing dental surgery. This foreshadows the events of "The Garage Door."
87	** "Looks and Books" offers some foreshadowing during the conversation between Harris and Daniel: [[spoiler: Harris is reading a ''Dungeons and Dragons'' book, and comments that Daniel would make a great Dungeonmaster]].
88	** "Smooching and Mooching" also foreshadowed with a brief cameo of some [[Music/TheGratefulDead Deadheads]].
89	* TheGenerationGap: Between Lindsay and her parents and Nick and his father. They are both between pre-boomers and early gen-Xers.
90	* GoofyPrintUnderwear: Nick has some black-and-white vertically-striped ones in "Smooching and Mooching." The print itself isn't so goofy, but the fact that the underwear was a pair of small, revealing briefs raises the hilarity. In the DVD booklet, Paul Feig even commented, "Kudos for Jason Segel for allowing us to show him in his underwear."
91	%% * HalloweenEpisode: "Tricks and Treats"
92	* HardTruthAesop: InUniverse - as the death of her grandmother showed Lindsey you can do all the right things in life, follow the rules, and still [[DyingAlone die alone]], inspiring her to break bad and star hanging out with the freaks.
93	* HeldBackInSchool: Daniel is an 18-year-old junior who has been held back due to his horrible grades and lack of motivation.
94	%% * HeterosexualLifePartners: Lindsay and Kim.
95	* HiddenDepths: Gordon Crisp is introduced early as just a fat kid, but he proves himself to be rather intuitive.
96	%% * HighSchoolDance: In the pilot episode.
97	%% * HippieTeacher: Mr. Rosso
98	* HiredHelpAsFamily: Ken mentions that his parents are wealthy workaholics and he was "mostly raised by the nanny".
99	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Typical with 6'4'' Jason Segel in most of his roles. Nick and Lindsay have plenty of ShipTease and he is a solid head taller than her.
100	* HumiliationConga: The episode where Sam finally gets the courage to shower with other guys...only to end up being forced to streak through the school thanks to some bullies who lock him out of the locker room. Subverted because he actually ends up impressing Cindy by doing it.
101	* HypocrisyNod: The big basketball game is against Lincoln High, and the students put up posters everywhere that say "Assassinate [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln Lincoln]]!" But their own school is named after UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley.
102	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: "_____ and _____". And it often rhymes. (It's only about half the episodes, though, so the rest aren't tortured forced rhymes.)
103	* InWithTheInCrowd: When Sam dates Cindy Sanders in "The Little Things," he begins sitting with the jocks and cheerleaders at lunch and leaving Neal and Bill behind. When the relationship quickly ends, Sam reassures Bill he'll go back to sitting with them.
104	* ItsAlwaysSpring: The entire show seems to have been shot in the fall.
105	* JerkJock: Seldom played straight, which is surprising given all the other stock high school tropes.
106	** The bullies and jocks are completely separate cliques--the bullies are mainly losers picking on others even lower on the social ladder, while the jocks are mostly just known for sleeping around. They can be obnoxious but few actually antagonize others. One example is Cindy's boyfriend Todd: he starts out as the RomanticFalseLead keeping Sam from dating Cindy, but turns out to be an unusually decent guy. There is a straight example, though, in Seidelman, the enormous football player who torments, well, everybody whenever he appears.
107	** In fact in the beginning of one episode, a jock accidentally hits Sam very hard in the stomach while giving his girlfriend a gun show, and though Sam doesn't admit that he got hurt, the guy did genuinely act apologetic.
108	** Subverted with Mr. Fredricks. He initially appears to be a cliched asshole gym teacher, but is later revealed to be very compassionate and understanding, even when dealing with students who don't do well in gym (Sam and Bill). He risks losing his job to have a more frank discussion about sex with Sam after realizing that he's seen a pornographic movie and makes a good effort to bond with Bill after he starts dating Bill's mom.
109	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
110	** Harold Weir starts out as a typical unreasonable overprotective parent to Lindsay and to a lesser extent Sam, but gets numerous PetTheDog moments throughout the series showing how much he loves and cares about his wife and children. In addition, when Nick stays with the Weirs in "Smooching and Mooching," Harold takes him under his wing and stands up for him to his father, empathizing with Nick's upbringing.
111	** Coach Fredericks, when he's not doing his [[DrillSergeantNasty Coach Nasty]] act, is actually rather kind and sweet.
112	* LaserGuidedKarma: Harold and Jean read Lindsay's diary only to find a blistering analysis of their lameness.
113	* LeftHanging: [[InvokedTrope Deliberately invoked]] by the series finale when each of the "freaks," with the exception of Ken, finds him- or herself among a new group.
114	* LikeBrotherAndSister: Sort of. At one point Cindy tells Sam, "You're so easy to talk to. You're like my sister."
115	* LimitedWardrobe: Lindsay's ever-present green Army surplus coat, and Bill's blue-and-white horizontal-striped shirt.
116	* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Neal's brother and mother knew about his father's affairs long before he did, poor kid.
117	* LukeNounverber: Meta-subverted by a first-time D&D player, Carlos the Dwarf.
118	* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: Subverted with the freaks: while they do have HiddenDepths, they are just as capable of cruelty, rudeness, and pressuring tactics as a stereotypical JerkJock, especially in the first few episodes.
119	* MonochromeCasting: There really are very few people of color with speaking roles, and a grand total of one recurring Hispanic character. Makes sense for the era, given that it takes place in the early 1980s on the tail-end of white flight to the suburbs. Paul Feig has stated there was one black student in his entire high school.
120	* MostWritersAreAdults: A rare aversion for a show about high school students. The kids actually act like kids their age, and deal with relatively realistic issues.
121	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Sam gets caught naked in the school hallway in "I'm with the Band".
122	* NoEnding: About the only downside to discovering the show on [=DVD=].
123	* NotNamedInOpeningCredits: Busy Philipps, though she's pretty much part of the core cast, is billed as "Also Starring" after the credits.
124	* OddFriendship: Lindsay and Kim (starting with "Kim Kelly Is My Friend"), Millie and Kim ("Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers"), Daniel and the Geeks ("Discos and Dragons", although it technically began when Daniel lent Sam a porno in "Tests and Breasts").
125	* OhCrap: When The Freaks realize that Mr. Rosso is fronting the band in the bar they used their fake [=IDs=] to get into.
126	* OrphanedPunchline: A raunchy joke that the Geeks don't understand is the impetus for their plot in "Tests and Breasts". We only hear the punchline, "...'How do you think I rang the doorbell?'", until near the end of the episode, where the audience finally gets to hear enough of the setup to figure out the joke ("So there's this guy with no arms and no legs...").
127	* PickedLast: Bill had a history of being picked last. This actually drove him to ''prank call his gym teacher!'' After his teacher finds out he was the one who made the call, Bill is awarded the opportunity to captain a team for a day.
128	* PictureDay: Opening credits.
129	* PeriodPiece: Deliberately set in 1980-81 to avoid the tendency of teen shows to fall into UnintentionalPeriodPiece.
130	* PresentDayPast: Since the show's 1980 setting was really more about averting TotallyRadical (see below) than wallowing in period nostalgia anyway, it's pretty easy to forgive the occasional anachronism. However, the show's side characters generally have pretty typical TurnOfTheMillennium haircuts, and some of the settings (particularly the fast food restaurant Sam and Cindy visit in "Girlfriends and Boyfriends") look a little too modern for the early-80's. Once again, however, this was all deliberate since the show was striving to look as realistic as possible[[note]]It often used real life locations rather than sets[[/note]] and was really more concerned with properly depicting the ''culture'' of the early-80's than the actual aesthetics of them. A slightly less excusable example is Nick eating Fruit Roll-Ups in the episode "Kim Kelly Is My Friend." The show takes place in 1980-1981. Fruit Roll-Ups wouldn't be introduced until 1983.
131	* PretenderDiss: Kim initially resents Lindsay hanging out with the Freaks, viewing her as "just some rich kid who's trying to piss off her parents".
132	* PrimalScene: Interestingly used. The Geeks enter the Weir house, and Sam calls out for Jean; he hears Harold and Jean in their bedroom and makes a disgusted face. Both Bill and Sam walk away, but Neal listens in...
133	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "I. Have. Herpes."
134	* RazorApples: Discussed by the geeks (along with other rumored foreign objects tainting Halloween candy) in "Tricks and Treats". Then there's the other mom who accompanies her kids' trick-or-treating and refuses Jean's homemade cookies for fear of this.
135	* RealSongThemeTune: "Bad Reputation" by Music/JoanJett.
136	* RealityIsUnrealistic: Played with. Kim states that, despite reading a mere thirty pages, Jack Kerouac's ''On the Road'' reads as though it was written as a stream-of-consciousness by someone on drugs. Her English teacher condescendingly dismisses this assessment. Vindicated by Lindsay.
137	* RefrainFromAssuming[[invoked]]:
138	--> '''Lindsay:''' [[SarcasmMode God, how could I be so awful to actually suggest that you play an entire song correctly all the way through!]] God knows [[Music/LedZeppelin Zeppelin]] only play half of "Stairway To Heaven" and Music/TheWho never even ''practices'' "Teenage Wasteland."
139	--> '''Ken:''' "Baba O'Riley."
140	--> '''Lindsay:''' What?
141	--> '''Ken:''' The name of the song is "Baba O'Riley"... It's on ''Music/WhosNext''?
142	* RightBehindMe:
143	-->'''Neal:''' The previous mascot was as funny as a car wreck.
144	-->'''Previous mascot:''' Hey!
145	* SadClown: Neal in particular, though a good portion of the male characters have their turn too.
146	* SadistTeacher: Mr. Kowchevski ranges from grouchy to actively hostile, and lets his negative biases about certain students (most notably Daniel) cloud his teaching. Particularly evident in "Tests and Breasts." However, even he is slightly humanized later on ([[StraightGay most notably in a deleted scene]]).
147	* SatelliteLoveInterest: Justified with Cindy. We know next to nothing about Cindy when Sam gets together with her, and this comes to bite him in the ass later, as they have nothing in common and never really have any fun.
148	* ScareEmStraight:
149	** In "Beers and Weirs", the students are shown a slide presentation depicting students who suffered alcohol-related fatalities.
150	** Harold Weir: "I had a friend that used to smoke. You know what he's doing now? He's ''DEAD!''"
151	* SceneryCensor: "I'm with the Band" (mixed in with some standard blue-circle censor effects).
152	* SeinfeldianConversation: The freaks engage in these frequently, especially Nick.
153	* ShoutOut: To nearly all the musical cult favorites of the late '70s, which is probably one of the reasons why it took so very long to clear the rights for the [=DVD=] release. Bill watching Garry Shandling qualifies, as Judd Apatow was a writer on ''Series/TheLarrySandersShow'' before ''Freaks and Geeks''.
154	* ShowerShy: Sam in the episode "I'm with the Band," when the school starts requiring students to shower after PE. Things only get worse for him when he finally tries to overcome his fear, only to be pushed out of the locker room and into the hallway without clothes or a ModestyTowel.
155	* ShownTheirWork: Set in the Detroit suburbs, regional brands are often seen and Japanese cars are conspicuously absent.
156	* SingleMomStripper: In one episode, Bill worriedly asks his mom if she's going to start "dancing" again.
157	* SoUnfunnyItsFunny:
158	-->'''Neal:''' Friday night; always a good night for some ''[[Music/BlackSabbath Sabbath]]!''
159	* SpinTheBottle: "Smooching and Mooching"
160	* StacysMom: Bill's mother, even according to Neal:
161	--> '''Neal''': I can kinda see why Coach Fredericks is dating her. She is kinda hot.
162	--> '''Sam''': Oh, God, she's your friend's mother! Weirdo.
163	* StereotypicalNerd: While all the "geeks" in the show play with the trope, Bill most physically resembles one with his oversized glasses, ill-fitting and dorky outfits, and gangly proportions. However, he is ultimately far more confident in himself than Sam or Neal.
164	* TheTalk: Sam and Coach Fredricks in "Tests and Breasts".
165	* TeamPowerWalk: The Geeks and Maureen, in "Carded and Discarded".
166	* TechMarchesOn:
167	** "Help buy our school a computer!" Later in the (1980-81) school year they have 4 or 5 of 'em.
168	** When the AV club faculty adviser scores an 8mm filmstrip copy of ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', it's a [[SeriousBusiness very big deal]] and major treat for the geeks. This was a few years before home video reached a tipping point.
169	* TenMinutesInTheCloset: Bill and Vicki Appleby, in "Smooching and Mooching".
170	* ThatNostalgiaShow: To 1980.
171	* ThisIsYourSong: "Lady L".
172	* TooOldToTrickOrTreat: In “Tricks and Treats,” Sam, Bill, Neal, and Harris decide to go trick-or-treating one last time, but it doesn't end well. At one of the houses they go to, the woman giving them candy asks "Aren't you a bit old for trick-or-treating?", following which they get robbed by the school bully. Later, Sam gets egged by the freaks that his sister Lindsay is with.
173	* TotallyRadical: Mr Rosso is a '60s relic in the series' early '80s setting.
174	* TroubledButCute: Daniel has a bad home life and does poorly in school, but Lindsay is still interested.
175	* TrueCompanions: Two separate groups with the Weir siblings as the connection.
176	* UnconventionalSmoothie: "Tricks and Treats" begins with Bill accepting [[TheBet a wager]] to drink one of these. Sam and Neal mix cayenne pepper, mustard, pickle juice, pickles, a generous handful of salt, sardines, vinegar, soy sauce, chili, a spoonful of grape jelly, powdered dairy creamer, and after-dinner mints. Bill actually ''likes'' it.
177	* UnflatteringIDPhoto: Invoked when Daniel gets his picture taken for a fake ID; the guy making it tells him to mess up his hair and look irritated, like he'd been waiting in line for hours, explaining that it renders the photo more realistic.
178	* {{Ventriloquism}}: Taken up by by Neal in "Noshing and Moshing".
179	* VerySpecialEpisode: "Chokin' and Tokin'" deals with marijuana. Probably a StealthParody, as anyone remotely familiar with the effects of marijuana can tell Lindsay is just freaking out because she's not used to it. The show seems aware of this, as experienced users such as Nick and Daniel don't react the same way.
180	* VirginShaming: Although never directly stated, definitely so when it comes to the Geeks, but this when Daniel talks with Harris:
181	-->'''Daniel:''' Am I a loser?\
182	'''Harris:''' Well, you're having sex, so no.
183	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Did Nick win the dance competition in the final episode?
184	** Was Creator/ShiaLaBeouf asleep because he was concussed or just because he was really tired? Did he ever wake up?
185	** Was Lindsay really smoking as her mother accused her of in the pilot? It was never really elaborated on in the rest of the episode... or the rest of the series.
186	** Many of the side characters, such as Alan, Millie, and Mr. Fredricks, disappear after their character and plots are expanded upon (in "Chokin' and Tokin'" and "Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers" respectively). Feig has revealed that season two plans included Mr. Fredricks and Bill's mom getting married and Bill joining the basketball team.
187	* WhatIsThisFeeling: Played subtly with Ken, when he gets a crush on Amy:
188	-->'''Lindsay:''' Oh my God...you really like her, don't you!\
189	'''Ken:''' ...I feel odd.
190	* WildTeenParty: Subverted in "Beers and Weirs". The beer is actually non-alcoholic. [[spoiler:And yet everyone [[PlaceboEffect still acts drunk]]]].
191	** Also subverted in that [[spoiler: nothing that bad really happens, most of the crises you'd expect never occur, and to all intents and purposes the kids get away with it.]]
192	* WrongGeneticSex: This is a major plot point in one episode, when [[spoiler: Ken's new girlfriend Amy tells him she's one of these. There was no DNA test or anything - the conflict came from Amy getting upset at Ken telling his friends her big secret]].
193	* JustForFun/{{X Meets Y}}: ''Series/MySoCalledLife'' meets ''Series/TheWonderYears'', with a bit of ''Series/That70sShow''.
194	* YiddishAsASecondLanguage: When Barry and Lindsay are discussing the attempted assassination of UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan, he calls the idea of it being done to impress Creator/JodieFoster ''fakakta'', which, as he explains, means "lame" (or crap). Lindsay later uses the expression to describe Nick and his friends getting stoned all the time.
195	* YokoOhNo: Lindsay inadvertently becomes this in "I'm with the Band", where she splits up the freak's band when actually trying to get them to improve. Daniel even calls her Yoko at one point, although they're all back together by the end of the episode. He teases her about it again in a later episode, referring to the time she broke up their band so she could make out with Nick. She doesn't correct him that she actually made out with Nick in part ''because'' she felt bad about breaking up their band.
196
197	----
198	->''[[Music/JoanJett ♫ I don't give a damn about my reputation\
199	I've never been afraid of any deviation\
200	And I don't really care if you think I'm strange\
201	I ain't gonna change\
202	And I'm never gonna care about my bad reputation\

Context Series / FreaksAndGeeks