This television series, from 1999, was produced by none other than the currently popular Judd Apatow and I have to say that this is perhaps the finest work I've ever witnessed from the man. While it was canceled by NBC after its first run, it also happens to be, in my opinion, one of the finest shows that they have ever committed to the small screen.<br /><br />Set in the early 80's, "Freaks and Geeks" follows the trials and tribulations of the so-called freaks/burnouts and geeks. Our primary protagonists are the Weir children, Lindsay, a good girl who befriends the freaks after a troubling event and, Sam, her younger brother, who is firmly cast into the geek category.<br /><br />One thing I love about this series is that it has this remarkably warm and very real tone to everything and much of the humor is grounded in the kind of ironies that you probably can think back to with some sort of wincing, provided that you understand how these two social groups function in high school. Furthermore, while being a comedy series, it doesn't hesitate to explore the drama present in the characters' lives and draws very real characters, who may seem like archetypes at first, but end up being a lot more than you might think.<br /><br />I love the attention to detail when it comes to the time period, how each main character and even a few side characters are treated with depth and complexity, and how real all the characters and their relationships seemed.<br /><br />The only thing that I have an issue with in Freaks and Geeks is that the series occasionally suffers from a little bit of the over-linger present in many Apatow works, where it feels like a scene goes on too long and could've been edited down to keep up the pace or not lose focus on the narrative of the episode. But, really, that's such a little thing compared to the overall high enjoyability of this series. Honestly, some of the finest television that I've ever seen. It's too bad it got canceled. Highly recommended. 9/10.