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Line 7: Has a [[Freaks and Geeks/Characters\|character sheet.]] ~~----~~ ~~=== ''[[Freaks and Geeks]]'' is the [[Trope Namer]] for the following tropes: ===~~ {{tropenamer}} * [[Saw Star Wars 27 Times]] ~~----~~ ~~=== ''[[Freaks and Geeks]]'' provides examples of: ===~~ * [[Aborted Arc]]: Sam's beginning frustration 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 as he started with puberty, as well as the relationship between Coach Fredericks and Gloria Haverchuck (Bill's mother), and the divorce between the Schweibers. [[As You Know\|No further explanation is needed]]. ▼ {{tropelist}} * [[The Alleged Car]]: Kim Kelly's Gremlin, Nick's Maverick...It's 1980, it's Detroit, if the series had lasted pretty much every marginal American car from the '70s would've shown up...▼ ▲* [[Aborted Arc]]: Sam's beginning frustration 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 as he started with puberty, as well as the relationship between Coach Fredericks and Gloria Haverchuck (Bill's mother), and the divorce between the Schweibers. [[As You Know\|No further explanation is needed]]. * [[Adults Are Useless]]: Played with. The Weir parents generally give well-meaning and sometimes helpful advice to their children. However, generational differences in particular (they are, after all, pre-Boomers while the Weir kids are early Gen-X'ers) often diminish the value of their advice. ▲* [[The Alleged Car]]: Kim Kelly's Gremlin, Nick's Maverick... It's 1980, it's Detroit, if the series had lasted pretty much every marginal American car from the '70s would've shown up... * [[All Guys Want Cheerleaders]]: Vicki Appleby; Sam's crush on Cindy Sanders. * [[Alliterative Name]]: Kim Kelly, Daniel Desario, Cindy Sanders. * [[Alpha Bitch]]: Vicki Appleby, although this is subverted in "Smooching and Mooching". Kim Kelly seems to be one at first, but she gains some [[Character Development]] and reveals herself as a [[Broken Bird]] instead. * [[Audience Surrogate]]: Arguably, any of the main characters. * [[Author Avatar]]: Sam Weir = Paul Feig. ** Gabe Sachs claims to have based Nick on himself, complete with giant drum kit. * [[Belated Backstory]]: Alan gets one in "Chokin' and Tokin'", where we find out that the reason he gives the geeks a hard time is because they used to ignore him when he actually wanted to be friends with them. * [[Betty and Veronica]]: Initially, Lindsay's two main love interests, Nick and Daniel, seem to fit this trope, with Nick being the sweet, slightly shy one and Daniel being the stereotypical "bad boy." This gets subverted to hell and back when we find that {{spoiler\|Nick is a stoner with [[Stalking Is Love\|an Edward Cullen complex]] and Daniel is actually a pretty good guy}}. Also played mostly straight with Lindsay's [[Heterosexual Life Partners\|gal pals]] Millie and Kim. ** Arguable ''re''verted when Nick starts getting his act together, but that's also left hanging. * [[Big Fun]]: Gordon Crisp. * [[Big Screwed-Up Family]]: Everyone in {{spoiler\|Neal}}'s family seems to be fully aware of {{spoiler\|his dad having an affair}}, but none of them know that anyone else knows, so they all keep it a secret so as not to traumatize everyone else. * [[Brainy Brunette]]: Lindsay and Millie. The former was a star mathlete.. * [[Broken Pedestal]]: Neal's ~~idolisation~~idolization of {{spoiler\|his father}} is destroyed upon learning of {{spoiler\|his affairs}}. The show however refuses to cast him in an overly negative light and rather portrays him as a good husband and father who is likely in the midst of a mid-life crisis. * [[Brother Chuck]]: There are a few unnamed extras in the freaks and the geeks that ~~dont~~don't appear in later episodes after the pilot. * [[Butt Monkey]]: The geeks. ''All of them''. * [[California Doubling]]: Gets pretty obvious by the Halloween episode. * [[The Cast Showoff]]: John Francis Daley's accomplished dance moves were shown off during the mirror scene in ''"Looks & Books''". ** It's even remarkable on its own that Daley was ''fourteen'' while working with ''Freaks & Geeks''. * [[Drill Sergeant Nasty\|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 [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold\|heart of gold]] underneath it all and is actually rather compassionate and kind, particularly when he's not on the sports field.▼ * [[Deliberate Values Dissonance]]: Students and teachers smoking on campus.▼ * [[Cool Loser]]: Harris.▼ ▲* [[Drill Sergeant Nasty\|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 [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold\|heart of gold]] underneath it all and is actually rather compassionate and kind, particularly when he's not on the sports field. * [[Convenient Slow Dance]]: Subverted in the first episode. Sam gets Cindy out onto the dance floor just as the tempo (to [[Styx]]' "Come Sail Away") picks up. * [[Converse with the Unconscious]]: 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 [[Belated Backstory]]. * [[Conversational Troping]]: Both groups, constantly, although the geeks mostly talk comedy and science fiction, while the freaks are more into music. ▲* [[Cool Loser]]: Harris. * [[Cosplay]]: ~~for~~For the science fiction convention. * [[Cringe Comedy]] to spare. Two notable examples are Neal's ventriloquism act at his parents' party and ''definitely'' Nick's disastrous audition for a professional rock band. Nick serenading Lindsay with Styx's "Lady"... and, in a different episode, auditioning his own composition, "Lady L", to Ken. * "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''... which is accurate. **** Surely Sam walking into school wearing a baby-blue Parisian nightsuit. The look on his face as he ~~realises~~realizes that everyone is laughing at him is priceless. * [[Cut Short]]: And it makes the final episode, ''"Discos and Dragons~~,''~~" into an inadvertent... [[Gainax Ending\|Mind-Screw Ending]]: Let's see, {{spoiler\|Sam has become disillusioned with his best friends but Daniel has joined their gang. Nick and Lindsay are no longer a couple, he has also broken up from his circle of friends and Lindsay is off on a cross-country road trip while her parents think she's attending an academic summit. And Kim and Daniel's latest break-up may be the last.}}. Lord knows where they would have taken this. * It was completely advertent. The final four episodes were written knowing the show would be cancelled. * [[Dawson Casting]]: Averted. Only John Francis Daley was actually the ''same'' age as his character, but with the exception of James Franco, Busy Phillips and Linda Cardellini, the actors playing students were still teenagers when they made the show. * [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Ken and Amy. Harris, Ken, and Neal also fit this trope. ▲* [[Deliberate Values Dissonance]]: Students and teachers smoking on campus. * [[Down to the Last Play]]: The basketball game in "We've Got Spirit". * [[Dreadful Musician]]: Nick, although he is said to be getting better towards the end after taking lessons. * [[DVD Commentary]]: Most episodes have at least two, some have ''three'', including fan commentaries and Rosso, Fredericks, & Kowchevski reviewing an episode in character. * [[The Eighties]] and [[The Seventies]] * [[Enforced Method Acting]]: To make it look like Bill was laughing insanely at an Garry Shandling routine from ''Dinah'' (that actor Martin Starr found more annoying than anything), they filmed Bill's reaction shots without sound while Judd Apatow was standing off-camera telling the actor "''extremely'' dirty jokes". * [[Fan Boy]]: The geeks are fan boys of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', science fiction, ''[[The Jerk]]'', and ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''. Bill is also very adamant about watching ''[[Dallas]]''. ** Eli really, really likes ''[[Three's Company]]''. Line 61 ⟶ 60: * [[Finding a Bra In Your Car]]: The garage door opener. * [[Foreshadowing]]: 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, a bully slips peanuts into Bill's sandwich. He nearly dies from an allergic reaction. ** ''"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}}. ''"Smooching and Mooching''" also foreshadowed with a brief cameo of some [[The Grateful Dead\|Deadheads]]. * [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: This series was ''full'' of it. The cast and crew [[Lampshade Hanging\|called it]] the "clean dirty" on the DVD commentaries ** Just one humorous example: {{quote\|'''Maureen:''' Wow Bill, your [[Double Entendre\|rocket's huge!]]<br /> '''Bill (who is holding a large toy rocket):''' Oh, it is? I hadn't noticed. }} * [[Halloween Episode]]: "Tricks and Treats". * [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: Lindsay and Kim. * [[Hidden Depths]]: Naturally it occurs in the main cast, but recurring characters receive it as well. For example, Gordon Crisp is introduced early as just a fat kid, but he proves himself to be rather intuitive. * [[High School]] * [[High School Dance]] * [[Hippie Teacher]]: Mr. Rosso. * [[Hot Mom]]: Bill's mother, even according to Neal: {{quote\|'''Neal''': I can kinda see why Coach Fredericks is dating her. She is kinda hot. '''Sam''': Oh, God, she's your friend's mother! Weirdo. }} * [[Hypocrisy Nod]]: The big basketball game is against Lincoln High, and the students put up posters everywhere that say "Assassinate Lincoln!". But their own school is named after President McKinley. * [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming]]: "_____ and _____". And it usually rhymes. * [[In with the In Crowd]]: Sam, in "The Little Things". Line 86 ⟶ 85: Harold Wier starts out as a typical unreasonable [[Overprotective Dad]] to Lindsay, but actually treats Nick quite well, stands up for him to his own dad and does genuinely care about his daughter. Coach Fredericks, when he's not doing his [[Drill Sergeant Nasty\|Coach Nasty]] act, is actually rather kind and sweet. * [[Left Hanging]]: [[Invoked Trope\|Deliberately invoked]] by the series finale when each of the "freaks,", with the exception of Ken, finds him- or herself among a new group. ** Arguably Ken is left in flux as well, given his relationship with Amy in the previous episode. Amy can snark with the best of the freaks, but she's still the ~~tubist~~tubbiest in the school's marching band. * [[Like Brother and Sister]]: At one point Cindy tells Sam, "You're so easy to talk to. You're like my sister." * [[Limited Wardrobe]]: Lindsey's ~~everpresent~~ever-present green Army surplus coat, and Bill's blue-and-white horizontal-striped shirt. * [[Locked Out of the Loop]]: Neal's brother and mother knew about his father's affairs long before he did, poor kid. * [[Luke Nounverber]]: Meta-subverted by a first-time D&D player, Carlos the Dwarf. * [[A Man Is Not a Virgin]]: Although never directly stated, definitely so when it comes to the Geeks, but this when Daniel talks with Harris: {{quote\|'''Daniel:''' Am I a loser? '''Harris:''' Well, you're having sex, so no. }} * [[Monochrome Casting]]: There really are very few people of color with speaking roles, and a grand total of one recurring Hispanic character. ** [[Justified Trope\|Justified]] since the setting is Suburban Detroit where you could realistically have an all-white case even in the present. * [[Most Writers Are Adults]]: A rare aversion for for a show about ~~highschool~~high-school students. The kids actually act like kids their age, and deal with relatively realistic issues. * [[Music Video Syndrome]]: Averted. Feig and Apatow wanted the emotional scenes that would, on most teen dramas, be underscored by music from hip new bands, to simply speak for themselves. The results speak for themselves. * [[Naked People Are Funny]]: Sam gets caught naked in the school hallway in "I'm with the Band". Line 103 ⟶ 102: ** However, it's never implied that the geeks are particularly smart. Bill, in particular, comes off as being surprisingly dumb at times. So this might actually be an ''aversion'' in some sense. * [[No Ending]]: About the only downside to discovering the show on DVD. * [[Not Named in Opening Credits]]: Busy Phillips. * [[Odd Friendship]]: At first with Lindsay and Kim, Millie and Kim in ''"Gym Teachers &and Dead Dogs",'' Daniel and the Geeks in the last episode (although it technically began when Daniel lent Sam a porno) . * [[Picked Last]]: Bill had a history of being picked last. This actually drove him to ''~~prank~~[[Prank ~~call~~Call]] his gym teacher!''! After his teacher finds out he was the one who made the call, Bill is awarded [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming\|the opportunity to captain a team for a day]]. * [[Picture Day]]: Opening credits. * [[Primal Scene]]: 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... Line 113 ⟶ 112: '''Ken:''' "Baba O'Riley."<br /> '''Lindsay:''' [[Flat What\|What?]]<br /> '''Ken:''' The name of the song is "Baba O'Riley"... It's on ''Who's Next''? }} * [[Right Behind Me]]: {{quote\|'''Neal:''' The previous mascot was as funny as a car wreck. '''Previous mascot:''' Hey! }} * [[Sad Clown]]: Neal in particular, though a good portion of the male characters have their turn too. * [[Sadist Teacher]]: Mr. Kowchevski. * [[Scenery Censor]]: "I'm with the Band". * [[Screwed by the Network]]: The usual sad story. Aired out of order, shuffled around the schedule, barely advertised, and so on. * [[Shallow Love Interest]]: 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. ▼ * [[Seinfeldian Conversation]]: The freaks engage in these frequently, especially Nick. ▲* [[Shallow Love Interest]]: 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. * [[Shout-Out]]: 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 ''[[The Larry Sanders Show]]'' before ''Freaks and Geeks''. Line 129 ⟶ 127: * [[So Unfunny It's Funny]]: {{quote\|'''Neal:''' Friday night; always a good night for some ''[[Black Sabbath\|Sabbath]]!''}} * [[Spin the Bottle]]: "Smooching and Mooching". * [[Spiritual Successor]]: ''[[Undeclared]]''. ** The two shows even shared the same actors, namely Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Busy Philipps, Samm Levine, and Martin Starr. * [[Stealth Pun]]: Alan keeps calling Sam Weir things that rhyme with his second name (Sam Queer, Sam Rear, etc.) but Sam Weird never seems to occur to him. * [[The Talk]]: Sam and Coach Fredricks in "Tests and Breasts". * [[Tech Marches On]]: "Help buy our school a computer!" Later in the (1980-81) school year they have 4 or 5 of 'em. Line 144 ⟶ 142: ** Though they were not the leaders; Alan Sepinwall identifies Daniel and Neal as the heads of their respective groups. * [[TV Teen]]: Hugely averted. The characters deal with girls/boys, body image (Sam), sexual identity issues (Ken), fitting in and generally finding yourself (Lindsay). It's all amazingly real. * [[Unconventional Smoothie]]: ''"Tricks &and Treats''" begins with Bill accepting a challenge to drink one of these. Sam and Neil 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. * [[Unusual Euphemism]]: "Cutting the cheese" refers to farting. That's considered arcane now? Man, this troper feels old. * (Possibly the first troper was from somewhere other than North America, it's not commonly used elsewhere). * [[Ventriloquism]]: Taken up by by Neal in "Noshing and Moshing". * [[Very Special Episode]]: "Chokin' and Tokin'" deals with marijuana. ** It's considerably more subtle than most examples, however. The show's portrayal of the first time getting high is largely [[Truth in Television]]. * [[What Could Have Been]]: Sam Weir was originally meant to be ''tall'' for his age (as Feig had been). Had there been a second season, Paul Feig wanted to have {{spoiler\|Sam breaking with Bill and Neal to find a new group of friends, Lindsay struggling with drug addiction, Kim Kelly getting pregnant, Bill's mom marrying Coach Fredricks and Neal's parents divorcing}}. And Sam ''would'' have gotten tall; John Francis Daley grew almost a foot in the year after cancellation. Feig also wanted {{spoiler\|Lindsay and Daniel to eventually end up together}}. * [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: Did Nick win the dance competition in the final episode? Was [[Shia LaBeouf]] asleep because he was ~~cuncussed~~concussed or just because he was really tired? Did he ever wake up? Where did Alan go after making peace with the geeks? ** Was Lindsay really smoking as her mother accused her of in the pilot? This troper's instinct is no, but it was never really elaborated on in the rest of the episode... or the rest of the series. * [[What Is This Feeling?]]: Played subtly with Ken, when he gets a crush on Amy: {{quote\|'''Lindsay:''' Oh my God...you really like her, don't you! '''Ken:''' ...I feel odd. }} * [[Wild Teen Party]]: Subverted in "Beers and Weirs". {{spoiler\|The "beer" is actually non-alcoholic. And yet everyone [[Placebo Effect\|still acts drunk]]}}. [[Truth in Television\|Try it sometime. It works.]] 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.}}. * [[Wrong Genetic Sex]]: This is a major plot point in one episode, when Ken's new girlfriend Amy tells her 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. * [[Yoko Oh No]]: In-universe, 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. Ken 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. * [[Zen Survivor]]: Harris, to the geeks. ** [[wikipedia:Stephen Lea Sheppard\|"Harris"]] is also [[One of Us]]; he's a moderator on RPG.net, and a writer and editor for ''[[Exalted]].''. {{reflist}} {{TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever}} {{TV Guide's Television Shows Canceled Way Too Soon}} [[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]] [[Category:Teen Drama]] [[Category:The Seventies]] Line 176 ⟶ 174: [[Category:American Series]] [[Category:Dramedy]] [[Category:~~Freaks~~TV ~~and Geeks~~Series]] [[Category:Live-Action TV of the 1990s]] [[Category:Live-Action TV of the 2000s]]