* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** Was Coach Frederick's lashing out at Alan a simple case of MisplacedRetribution, or was he finally calling out Alan's bullying ways and snide comments in an attempt to gain Bill's respect?
** Did Alan choose not to acompany the Geeks to the sci-fi convention out of pride, or did he not believe that they would really accept him after years of conflict?
* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The show was never going to last in network television. The period setting, mixed with the hour-long length (most American sitcoms clock in at under 30 minutes) and subdued, quirky humor, completely turned off most viewers. It didn't help that the show had the bad timing to air when the 80s was still considered to be an [[AudienceAlienatingEra embarrassing footnote]] in US history: while it began to brew in the late 90s, it would take until around late into the early 2000s for 80s nostalgia to really get into full gear. Plus, beginning the series at the very start of the '80s meant that the setting was culturally still very much the '70s, which might have also been confusing to viewers.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: If you're a classic rock fan, the soundtrack is amazing. Including an entire episode dedicated to Music/TheWho.
* EnsembleDarkHorse:
%%** Harris.
%%** Bill may also get this, at least after watching him in "Chokin' and Tokin'" and "Smooching and Mooching".
** Millie has no shortage of fans for her OddFriendship with Lindsay managing to remain a sincere one even after Lindsay joins the freaks, being TheComicallySerious at times, and subverting a lot of the common traits of the HolierThanThou character.
* FridgeBrilliance: Consider that very last scene again: Lindsay (and, sadly, the show itself) are on the way to the land of the Dead.
* GeniusBonus: Nick holds his drumsticks in a match grip, when typically drummers hold the left one in a ReverseGrip as it provides a more natural position to hit the drums properly, providing a hint that he actually has a lot more to learn and perhaps even has no formal training. The show indeed confirms this toward the end.
* HarsherInHindsight:
** In 2014, Creator/JamesFranco was caught flirting with a 17-year-old girl as well as other allegations of sexual misconduct which emerged later, which makes his occasional flirting with Lindsay a little squicky. Not to mention the reveal that he's actually 18, given his sexual relationship with 16-year-old Kim.
** The actor, Jerry Messing (who played Gordon Crisp, one of the nicest characters on the show), became famous more for the insulting "Fedora Guy" meme than his time on the show. Which he did at age thirteen. Especially galling when you find out that Messing never did anything whatsoever to deserve it.
*** On a much more positive note, the actor has since completely owned the situation by setting up his own Website/YouTube channel. What's the channel's name? Fedora Productions. Talk about a TakeThat to online bullies.
** Ben Stiller's character in "The Little Things" discusses how boring it is to guard the VICE President, since no one cares enough to try to harm him. After the attempted murder of Mike Pence during the January 6th riots, this idea seems a lot less funny.
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The sheer number of times that people from the show keep working with each other to this day, a huge sign of how much they became a family in the brief time they had together..
* HilariousInHindsight:
** Daniel is viewed by pretty much everyone in the show as a burnout and no-hoper with no shot at (or interest in) higher education. In real life, James Franco has four degrees, was pursuing two more as of 2011, and has taught classes at NYU and USC.
** Neil's brother Barry (played by Creator/DavidKrumholtz) comes to visit for the weekend from college. There is an entire scene dedicated to his frustration that people expect him to have a major picked out and he says earnestly that he's "Series/{{Undeclared}}".
** Bill compares Sam's hairless pits to Robin Williams' hairy hands. [[Film/KnockedUp Martin Starr would eventually suffer inverse taunts.]]
** At one point Kim asks Millie if she's "eating laundry soap" (Lik-M-Aid). Fast forward to the late 2010s and what are teenagers eating to get attention? Tide Pods.
** This wouldn't be the only Creator/SethRogen [[WesternAnimation/SausageParty project to feature David Krumholtz and a character named Barry]].
** Sam was often made fun of for being short for a 14-year-old. Cut to adulthood where Creator/JohnFrancisDaley is 6 feet tall, and now ''towers'' over most of the cast. This actually happened very shortly after the show was cancelled, meaning it would have had to deal with it if there was a second season.
** Sam and the rest of the Geeks are avid ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' players. Creator/JohnFrancisDaley would later co-write and co-direct ''Film/DungeonsAndDragonsHonorAmongThieves.''
* HoYay: Kowchevski with Daniel, (whom he dislikes intensely) as seen in this quote:
-->'''Kowchevski''': Lindsay, Daniel's cute and all with his ''stringy hair and bedroom eyes'', but he's a loser.
** Les Yay: A lot of fans think Millie has the hots for Lindsay.
* JerkassWoobie: Kim is initially resentful of Lindsay and is often casually mean to her, and even briefly torments Sam. It's later revealed that Kim comes from a very abusive household, and once Lindsay finds this out, their relationship becomes much less tense. Kim's insecurity and acting out continue to cause occasional snags as the two of them become closer friends.
-->'''Lindsay:''' ''(angrily)'' I thought Kim was too tough to have her feelings hurt.\\
'''Daniel:''' Yeah, right. Kim? She's like, the rawest nerve there is.
* {{Moe}}:
** Laurie provides a good real-life example.
** Millie, given her insecurities about maintaining her lifelong friendship with Lindsay, the times where she's TheComicallySerious, and her overall nature of being a naively wholesome [[MoralGuardians Moral Guardian]] who's generally more concerned than judgmental.
* {{Narm}}: Done [[StylisticSuck deliberately]] with the song Nick writes for Lindsay.
** Creator/JuddApatow stated in the commentary for "The Little Things" that he deliberately had Ken accidentally bang his head against Amy's tuba during their make-up session to prevent the scene from becoming this.
* MemeticMutation: Creator/JohnFrancisDaley even commented on that [[https://twitter.com/johnfdaley/status/370733822104449024 this]] image of him is more famous than ''he'' is.
** Another one from Sam is when he asked Lindsay why he needed more than ''two'' friends. Which many fans related with.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Vicky is viewed as an unlikable AlphaBitch for most of the show, but a lot of viewers admit to warming up to her in "Smooching and Mooching" after she apologizes for her most recent rudeness and bonds some with Bill during game of Spin the Bottle.
* RetroactiveRecognition: Perhaps as a testament to the show's potential, nearly every actor who was involved with it went on to lead a fairly successful career.
** Creator/SethRogen and Creator/JamesFranco have gone on to star in many films. Rogen starred in ''Film/KnockedUp'', ''Film/FiftyFifty2011'', ''Film/FunnyPeople'', ''Film/TheGreenHornet'', and ''Film/SteveJobs'', and, and was brought back by Apatow for his other (failed) TV venture, ''Series/{{Undeclared}}'', becoming part of Apatow's ProductionPosse. Franco, meanwhile, got recognition in the Creator/SamRaimi ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', ''Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful'', ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'', and was nominated for an Oscar in ''Film/OneHundredAndTwentySevenHours''. The two were reunited in ''Film/PineappleExpress'', and would go on to work together in ''Film/ThisIsTheEnd'' and ''Film/TheInterview''.
** Creator/JasonSegel also has done some Creator/FratPack comedies, most notably ''Film/ForgettingSarahMarshall'' and ''Film/ILoveYouMan'' with Creator/PaulRudd. He also stands out as a member of the core cast of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''. Apatow also cast him in his next show, ''Series/{{Undeclared}}''.
** Creator/LindaCardellini played Velma in the live-action ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' movies and has had roles in ''Series/{{ER}}'', ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', ''Series/{{Bloodline|2015}}'', ''Series/MadMen'', and ''Series/DeadToMe'' (the latter two earned her Emmy nominations). She also has a supporting part in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse and appeared in the Oscar-winning films ''Film/BrokebackMountain'' and ''Film/GreenBook''.
** Creator/JohnFrancisDaley has done a number of movies and TV shows, most notably ''Series/{{Bones}}'' and has also written the screenplays for box office hits ''Film/HorribleBosses'', ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'', ''Film/GameNight'', and ''Film/DungeonsAndDragonsHonorAmongThieves'' (which he also co-directed).
** Creator/SammLevine made cameo appearances in Apatow's next show, ''Series/{{Undeclared}}'' and used ''Freaks and Geeks'' to convince Creator/QuentinTarantino (a fan of the show) to cast him in ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. Later on, he became a regular in podcasting, serving as the sidekick in ''Kevin Pollak's Chat Show'' and making frequent appearances on ''Podcast/DougLovesMovies''.
** Creator/MartinStarr also appeared briefly in ''Undeclared'' before achieving more prominent supporting roles in ''Series/PartyDown'', ''Film/{{Adventureland}}'', and ''Series/SiliconValley'', as well as the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.
** Creator/BusyPhilipps would join ''Series/DawsonsCreek'' for its last few seasons. She would end up gaining greater acclaim as part of the main cast of ''Series/CougarTown'', for which she won a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
** On the production end of things, Creator/PaulFeig's later directorial credits include episodes of ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'', ''Series/MadMen'', ''Series/NurseJackie'', and major films ''Film/{{Bridesmaids}}'', ''Film/TheHeat'', and ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 2016}}''. He had only one other directing credit prior to ''Freaks and Geeks'', although he'd been acting for years.
** Among guest stars, Creator/RashidaJones plays a bullying friend of Kim's in the episode "Kim Kelly is My Friend", [[Series/VeronicaMars Wallace Fennel]] appears as a mathlete from a rival high school in "Looks and Books", and Creator/LizzyCaplan appears in the final episode.
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Series/{{Undeclared}}''. The two shows even shared several actors, namely Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Busy Philipps, Samm Levine, and Martin Starr.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** While unintentional (they probably would have been brought back if there'd been a second season), Coach Fredericks and Millie disappear after the episodes that give them the most CharacterDevelopment and focus, which fans wanted to see more of.
** Maureen is only in three episodes, and plays a pretty incidental role in the third one, despite her character potential to border between being one of the geeks and the popular kids.

%%* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Apparently this is why the network execs screwed the show over.

* UnconvincinglyUnpopularCharacter: Daniel is achingly cool, and a typical bad-boy, but he's been held back twice and certainly isn't one of the school's in-crowd by ''any'' means.

* TheWoobie:
** Nick, again and again. He develops a crush on Lindsay from the beginning and blows his chance when he becomes too enamored with her. He then suffers through AllLoveIsUnrequited for the rest of the series, as its pretty clear he's still in love with her in the finale, though he's now in a decent relationship which essentially caused him to break away with his friends in order to pursue. On top of that, his dad sells his drum kit, which was one of the only things he had around that made him happy.
** Neal in "The Garage Door" and "Noshing and Moshing". Any time he has to deal with family drama, you just want to give him a big hug.
** Millie in "Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers". Anyone who has experienced the death of a close pet can relate.
** Sam is another constant Woobie, but it is definitely highlighted in "Tricks and Treats" when Lindsay and Kim egg him without realizing it.
** Bill is often a Woobie too, especially in "Chokin' and Tokin'" and "Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers". He almost dies in the former.
** Kim qualifies as a JerkassWoobie. She can be very cold and nasty to people, even when they're trying to be nice, but her family and home life is so horrible you can't help but want to give the poor girl a hug.
*** Similarly, Daniel is manipulative and lazy and seems set on doing as little as possible in life. But his father is sick, his mother obviously doesn't think much of him, his teachers seem set on making sure he never succeeds, he's thought of by everyone as a failure by default and even his closest friends can't see him with any type of future. He seems caught in a vicious cycle: Everyone assumes he's a screwup, he tries to prove them wrong but it doesn't work, he becomes indifferent and complacent, and everyone thinks he just doesn't care.
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