Was Coach Frederick's lashing out at Alan a simple case of Misplaced Retribution, 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?
Audience-Alienating Premise: 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 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.
Awesome Music: If you're a classic rock fan, the soundtrack is amazing. Including an entire episode dedicated to The Who.
Millie has no shortage of fans for her Odd Friendship with Lindsay managing to remain a sincere one even after Lindsay joins the freaks, being The Comically Serious at times, and subverting a lot of the common traits of the Holier Than Thou character.
Fridge Brilliance: Consider that very last scene again: Lindsay (and, sadly, the show itself) are on the way to the land of the Dead.
Genius Bonus: Nick holds his drumsticks in a match grip, when typically drummers hold the left one in a Reverse Grip 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.
In 2014, James Franco 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 YouTube channel. What's the channel's name? Fedora Productions. Talk about a Take That! 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.
Heartwarming in Hindsight: 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..
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 David Krumholtz) 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 "Undeclared".
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.
Sam was often made fun of for being short for a 14-year-old. Cut to adulthood where John Francis Daley 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.
Ho Yay: 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.
Jerkass Woobie: 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.
Millie, given her insecurities about maintaining her lifelong friendship with Lindsay, the times where she's The Comically Serious, and her overall nature of being a naively wholesome Moral Guardian who's generally more concerned than judgmental.
Judd Apatow 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.
Another one from Sam is when he asked Lindsay why he needed more than two friends. Which many fans related with.
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Vicky is viewed as an unlikable Alpha Bitch 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.
Retroactive Recognition: 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.
Samm Levine made cameo appearances in Apatow's next show, Undeclared and used Freaks and Geeks to convince Quentin Tarantino (a fan of the show) to cast him in Inglourious Basterds. Later on, he became a regular in podcasting, serving as the sidekick in Kevin Pollak's Chat Show and making frequent appearances on Doug Loves Movies.
Busy Philipps would join Dawson's Creek for its last few seasons. She would end up gaining greater acclaim as part of the main cast of Cougar Town, for which she won a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Among guest stars, Rashida Jones plays a bullying friend of Kim's in the episode "Kim Kelly is My Friend", Wallace Fennel appears as a mathlete from a rival high school in "Looks and Books", and Lizzy Caplan appears in the final episode.
Spiritual Successor: Undeclared. The two shows even shared several actors, namely Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Busy Philipps, Samm Levine, and Martin Starr.
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 Character Development 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.
Unconvincingly Unpopular Character: 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.
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 All Love Is Unrequited 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 Jerkass Woobie. 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.
image of him is more famous than he is.