Freaks and Geeks/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Freaks

Lindsay Weir

  • The Ace: Starts as one but despite being a Freak, she still gets good grades. She just stops caring about them towards the end and ditches a University summit to follow the Grateful Dead.
  • Age-Appropriate Angst
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Early on in the series, she appears to have a bit of a crush on Daniel, particularly evident in "Beers and Weirs".
  • Brainy Brunette
  • Bully Hunter: She doesn't take any shit from some of the nastier elements at Mc Kinley High, and is seen variously:
    • Stepping in to protect her brother Sam from his arch-nemesis, Alan.
    • Calling out a group of jerks (twice) for mistreating mentally handicapped student, Eli.
    • Taking on smug, patronizing mathlete Shelly Weaver (and kicking her ass) at a "mathlete scrimmage".
    • Smacking the enormous Siedelman when he is harassing a female student.
      • ...of course, this doesn't always work out for her, and on occasion her good intentions backfire, but the pluckiness is admirable.
  • Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Enforced: the show was set in the Midwest, and Feig noted that tanned people in the Midwest were rare; Cardellini was required to have makeup that made her paler.
  • Expository Hairstyle Change: As seen in "Looks and Books", where Lindsay opts for much girlier hair when she (temporarily|) falls back in with the mathlete crowd after she gets sick of the Freaks' Toxic Friend Influence.
  • The Hero: Along with her brother, Sam.
  • Hollywood Atheist: The death of her grandmother before the start of the series spurred her into atheism. Specifically, Lindsey was there at her deathbed when the grandmother confessed her terror at facing death in her last moments.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Her father's old army jacket, which is also symbolic of her transition to the Freaks
  • Secret Diary
  • She Cleans Up Nicely: As seen in "Noshing and Moshing" at the Schweiber's cocktail party, where she ditches the army jacket, puts on a hot dress, and deservingly attracts the (welcome) attention of the Schweiber's eldest son, Nice Jewish Boy Barry.
  • The Smart Guy
  • Soapbox Sadie: She represents a mild (and likeable) example. Definitely in evidence when (at the time) Vice President George Bush pays a visit to Mc Kinley High.

Lindsay: Why did your staff reject my question? Are you afraid of engaging the students in an open discourse?

Daniel: C'mon Lindsay, don't be lame.

  • Wild Teen Party: She throws a house-party to try to impress the Freaks, as seen in "Beers and Weirs".
  • Yoko Oh No: She 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. Ken even calls her Yoko at one point.

Kim Kelly

Kim: Hey Karen, was this guy trying to break into your locker?

Kim: Are you calling me irrational? Because I'll tear your head off, Daniel. I'll tear it off and I'll throw it over that fence!!

Daniel Desario

Mr Rosso: You think you're pretty cool, don't you, Daniel?
Daniel: No, I don't think I'm cool...
Mr Rosso: You don't think you're the Fonz or something?

  • Estrogen Brigade Bait: SO much!
  • Everybody Hates Mathematics: Daniel especially so - it stands between him and repeating the school year....again.
  • Hidden Depths: He confides in Harris that he is secretly worried about just how badly he is doing in school, and makes a genuine effort (after initial frostiness) to be useful when he joins the AV club.

Harris: (to Daniel) You'd make a good Dungeon Master, I can tell.

Daniel: *sobbing*..and track 3 is the dumb kids.

Nick Andopolis

Nick: I hope you enjoy your peace and quiet!

Nick: Lady L, La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la, That's the sound of L.

Daniel: The guy's turning into a waste-basket.

Ken Miller

  • A Day in the Limelight: He plays a mostly supporting, snarky-sidekick role in the series and isn't the subject of a main storyline right up until the penultimate episode "The Little Things".
  • Deadpan Snarker: His most overt trait.
  • Gayngst: The above mentioned episode focuses on his sexual confusion on learning that his girlfriend, Amy, was born with both male and female sexual organs (although who is now purely female physically).
  • Grumpy Bear
  • Invisible Parents: Unlike all of the other main characters, Ken's parents are never seen. From what he briefly mentions of them, they don't seem to have been around much in his life.

Ken: I was raised by a nanny...Katherine.
(When asked what his parents are like) Well....they're good at their jobs...


Geeks

Sam Weir

  • Adorkable: He really is.
  • Annoying Younger Sibling: Occasionally, but Sam and Lindsay get along pretty well and at worst, they just bicker.
  • Audience Surrogate
  • Author Avatar: Sam = Paul Feig.
  • Bishonen: Sam is a realistic, geeky portrayal of this. He hadn't quite hit puberty yet, so his height, facial features,and voice made him a bit girlish-looking...just not in the exact "attractiveness" that the trope requires. Unless...
    • Had the series not been cancelled, then Sam's potential attractive-bishonen might've been reached; John Francis Daley grew nearly a foot taller within the year after cancellation, and his voice would eventually crack.
  • Catch Phrase: "Oh, hi Cindy" whenever he starts a conversation with Cindy Sanders.
  • Cringe Comedy: Sam frequently finds himself in ball-shrinkingly humiliating situations.
  • Geek Physiques: Of the skinny, 103 pounds variety.

Alan: Nice pecs Weir! You look like a flat-chested girl!

Karen Scarfoli: You don't even have any hair on your pits!

Bill Haverchuck

  • Daytime Drama Queen: He adores Dallas.
  • Disappeared Dad: It's mentioned that he has contact with his father, but it's quite rare and we've never seen him on-screen
  • Give Geeks a Chance: Gets to make out with the head cheerleader.
  • Hollywood Nerd: Type 1. Bill looks like the archetypal nerd out of the Geeks, although he isn't exactly "intelligent" - He is witty and has amazing one-liners, but he's actually kind of dumb.
  • Hot Mom: His mom, Gloria.
    • Single Mom Stripper: In one episode, Bill worriedly asks his mom if she's going to start "dancing" again.
  • The Klutz: He's clumsy and more than a little mal-coordinated.
  • Momma's Boy
  • Nerd Glasses: Of the large, clunky, unflattering variety.
  • Picked Last: A hugely upsetting issue for him.
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: As seen in the Halloween episode, "Tricks and Treats", where he trick-or-treats dressed as Jaime Sommers.
  • You're Not My Father: As seen when Coach Fredericks starts dating his mom.

Neal Schweiber

  • Ambiguously Jewish: Averted. Although it's not an important part of the plot, it comes up quite a few times.

Neal: Last year I was elected school treasurer. I didn't even run!

Neal: It's SCHW-'EYE'-BER!!

  • Jewish and Nerdy
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Before Sam and Bill told him, everyone in his family except him knew his father was cheating on his mother. Poor kid.
  • Parental Issues: He reacts (understandably) very badly to the above news.
    • Calling the Old Man Out: This comes to a head at the Schweibers cocktail party in "Noshing and Moshing", where he uses his ventriloquism act as a platform to berate and humiliate his father.

Bill: I told you that thing would take him over....


The Parents and other family members

Harold and Jean Weir

  • Abusive Parents: In "Smooching and Mooching", it's implied that Harold's father was one of these.

Harold: Nick's father is a hard man, and my father was the same.
Lindsay: Yeah, I know the feeling...
Harold: Lindsay, trust me, you don't.

Harold: I had a friend in high school who smoked. Thought it made him look cool. Know what he's doing now? He's DEAD! Let's go dig him up now and see how cool he looks.

Harold: I knew a girl who had premarital sex, do you know what she did on homecoming night? She DIED! Of an overdose. Heroin.

Harold: You know who used to cut class? Jimi Hendrix. Know what happened to him? He DIED!. Choking on his own vomit.

Harold: You can't cut corners in life! You know who cut corners? Kennedy! Kennedy cut corners when he was running the Bay of Pigs. A lot of good men lost their lives because of it. You know who else cut corners? Janis Joplin -
Lindsay: DAD! what are you talking about?!

Jean: Nobody's home. You wanna have a little sex?


Dr Vic and Lydia Schweiber

  • Broken Pedestal
  • Cool Old Guy: How the Geeks see Neal's dad....before his cheating is discovered.
  • Extreme Doormat: Lydia - she knows her husband is cheating, but never voices her feelings.
    • Good Parent: However, she only does this to spare her sons the misery.
  • Handsome Lech: Dr Vic, although he isn't a bad guy per see, but rather seems to regret not living as much as he could have and seems entirely aware of how much pain his actions cause. They could have shown him as an unrepentant Jerkass but the writers admirably took the more mature path.
  • Happy Marriage Charade
  • Not That Kind of Doctor: Dr Schweiber is a dentist.
  • Your Cheating Heart: Barry tells Neal that their father has been cheating on their mom with other women for years.

Barry Schweiber

Barry: I reinvented myself as the handsome, dashing Jew.


Gloria Haverchuck

Neal: I can kinda see why Coach Fredericks is dating her. She is kinda hot.

Col. Henry Andopolis

  • The Captain: He's a tough military man and very strict with Nick.
  • Creepy Monotone: He comes across as far more imposing because he doesn't shout.
  • Military School: Where he keeps threatening to send Nick, if his grades don't improve.
  • Stealth Mentor: He claims to be looking out for Nick's future, which in essence is true, but the way he goes about it is incredibly harsh.

Col. Andopolis: End of conversation.....

Cookie Kelly and Arlo, Kim's Stepfather

"Benton Harbor Street....?"

Cookie: GED OUDDA DA CAW!! (get out of the car).

Kim: You're not my father, FAT-ASS!!

Chip Kelly

Cookie: My son Chip, he's a doll. Kim....she's another story.

  • Police Brutality: Kim's older brother was beaten up by the police and appears to be brain-damaged.
    • Empty Shell: Following the above incident, he lies on the couch all day sleeping and "never parties".

Eugenia Desario

  • The Caretaker: Daniel's father is an invalid, and his older brother is a drug addict.
  • Parental Obliviousness
  • Skewed Priorities: Rather than encourage her son Daniel to go to school (when he insists he needs to go), she's more concerned with him running errands for her.
  • Unnamed Parent: Daniel's parents are not named in the show - he calls his mother "ma".


William McKinley High School

Millie Kentner

  • Brainy Brunette
  • Betty and Veronica: A non-romantic version, the Betty to Kim's Veronica.
  • Foil: Again, to Lindsay. Good student, goes to church, listens to her parents and cares about school in contrast to Lindsay, possibly reflecting what Lindsay used to be before she joined the freaks.
  • Christian Rock

Millie: (singin) Jesus is just alright with me! Jesus is just alriiiiight!

Millie: I haven't had anything to drink, and I'm having more fun than any of you!

  • Les Yay: A lot of fans think Millie has the hots for Lindsay.
  • Moral Guardian: She acts like this to Lindsay, and is constantly trying to bring her back into the mathlete crowd, early on in the series.
  • Not Herself: Following the death of her dog, Goliath, she goes slightly off the rails and starts hanging out with Kim of all people and plans on attending a Who concert with the Freaks. She reverts back to her chaste self after Kim admits she and Lindsay were the ones who ran him over...
  • Saintly Church
  • "Stop Having Fun!" Guys

Cindy Sanders

Cindy: You're supposed to be nice! That's the only reason I'm going out with you in the first place!

  • Class Representative: For the young Republicans club.
  • Derailing Love Interests: Prior to dating Sam, she only comes across as perfectly pleasant, just a little shallow and ditzy perhaps. Her character Face Heel Turn into a bossy, controlling shrew is abrupt and surprising.
  • Lust Object: For Sam.
  • Shallow Love Interest: Justified, as it actually shows the downside of dating someone you barely know. Sam has to break up with her.
  • Strawman Political: When Sam starts dating Cindy and we find out just how rude and vapid she is, we also find out she's a staunch Republican.
  • Tsundere: Type B. This previously unseen side of her personality emerges when she starts dating Sam.

Vicki Appleby

Todd Schellinger

Todd: Hey man, gimme a high 5 for the big game!

Gordon Crisp

  • Big Fun: He shows an infectious enthusiasm for the Geeks favorite interests: sci-fi, Dungeons & Dragons, etc.

Harris: The world loves a jolly fat guy.

  • Fat Guy
  • Geek Physiques: Of the clinically obese variety.
  • Hidden Depths: He's seen to be quite an intuitive, astute guy and offers Sam relationship advice about Cindy.
  • Nice Guy: Once he's taken up by the Geeks, he's seen to be a very complimentary, constructive friend.

Gordon: (When he learns Sam is finally dating Cindy) She's the one who's lucky - you're a catch!

Harris Trinsky

Harris: Get a woman laughing, you've got a woman loving.

Harris: *sigh* You're so young.

Alan White

  • Arch Enemy: To Sam.
  • The Bully: He picks on Sam and the rest of the Geeks mercilessly during the first half of the series.
  • Heel Face Turn: He does this briefly, but only after almost killing Bill by hiding a peanut in his sandwich, to which he did not realize Bill was deathly allergic.
  • Jerkass
  • Jerkass Facade: In reality, he's an unhappy, lonely kid but can't bring himself to hang out with the Geeks, despite sharing the same interests (comic books and sci-fi).
    • Create Your Own Villain: And as it turns out, he admits to Bill that he is angry because they left him out of their fun in the lower grades.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: He really never meant to hurt Bill and is devastated when he finds out what he did.
  • The Napoleon: His short stature probably explains a lot.

Amy Edwards

Sara

  • Ascended Extra: She's one of the show's recurring extras before her big spotlight in the finale.
  • Disco Dawn: She loves it, despite the backlash against disco at the time.

Sara: We're going to dress up like ABBA!

Maureen Sampson

Eli


Karen Scarfoli

  • The Bully: She takes particular exception to poor Sam, giving him the nickname "Pygmy Geek".

Karen (to Neal): What was that, Bilbo Baggins!?

Shelley Weaver

  • Break the Haughty: She freezes and embarrasses herself at a mathlete competition where Lindsay's brilliance wins the day.
  • Holier Than Thou: She's unbelievably prim and patronizing.

Shelley (to Lindsay): I just don't know why you'd give up first block to hang around with freaks??

Mark

Eugene Seidelman

  • Fat Bastard: He's literally spherical......and a bastard.
  • Giant Mook: He's one of the nastier elements at Mc Kinley, picking on Sam and Lindsay on occasion.
  • Jerkass: So much so even teachers enjoy putting him in his place.

Kowchevski: Siedelman knock it off! Why don't you pick on someone your own size - there's a bus in the parking lot.

Laurie

Ken: The Grateful Dead: music sucks, the chicks are HOT!

  • Moe: She provides a good real-life example.

The Teachers

Coach Ben Fredericks

  • Coach Nasty: He comes off like this to the Geeks, but he's actually a pretty nice guy once off the field.
  • Jerk Jock: Subversion. He actually turns out to be quite nice.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As seen when he risks losing his job to have a more frank discussion about sex with Sam after realizing that he's seen a pornographic movie.

Mr Jeff Rosso

Rosso: I.have.herpes...

Mr Frank Kowchevski

Kowchevski: Actually Lindsay, I think I'm the best person at math in this school.....

Mr Casper

  • Ambiguously Gay: He has an overtly camp manner.
  • Apathetic Teacher: As seen with the despairing attitude he displays towards the pupils in his English Lit class.

Casper: *sigh* pearls before swine....

  • Break the Haughty: He's pretty pompous, which makes him a prime target for back-chat from his pupils, such as when Lindsay ripped apart his attack on Kim by proving her opinion on Kerouac's On the Road book valid.
  • Deadpan Snarker: He's a waspish, bitchy sort, and reserves particular venom for Daniel when he is trying to set up a projector for his class in "Discos and Dragons".


Mr Fleck

  • Cool Teacher: Easily amongst the nicest of the teachers at Mc Kinley, he heads up the AV club that the Geeks enjoy thoroughly.
  • Mentor Archetype: To the Geeks - he's more like a friend than a teacher.
  • Seen It All: He reassures the Geeks on the high school hierarchy and how the lives will turn out for the jocks who bully them.

Fleck: ...and yes, Mr Jock who cleaned me out, I will have fries with that.

Miss Foote

  • Cool Teacher: Like Mr Fleck, she's far nicer than most of the Mc Kinley staff. Even Alan shuts-up after she gently chides him for teasing Bill in class.
  • Hot for Teacher: Bill is especially taken with her, and goes all dreamy-eyed during her history class in "Chokin' and Tokin".
  • Hot Teacher
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