A slacker is someone who habitually avoids work or lacks work ethic .
33-561: According to different sources, the term slacker dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the British Gezira Scheme in the early to mid 20th century, when Sudanese labourers protested their relative powerlessness by working lethargically, a form of protest known as "slacking". In the United States during World War I , the word "slacker" was commonly used to describe someone who
66-486: A boarding school and then on to Princeton. Creator Paul Feig expressed the "irony of the situation", as everyone involved wanted Freaks and Geeks to be a success, but the network didn't understand the concept of realistically showcasing life as ordinary teenagers. Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow had multiple arguments with the network concerning "lack of victories" in the script and that the characters needed to be "cool." The writers wanted to produce something that would represent
99-430: A group of teenage delinquents as "slackers". It gained subsequent exposure from the 1989 Superchunk single " Slack Motherfucker ", and the 1990 film Slacker . The television series Rox has been noted for its "depiction of the slacker lifestyle ... of the early '90s". Slacker became widely used in the 1990s to refer to a type of apathetic youth who were cynical and uninterested in political or social causes and as
132-549: A human rights lawyer, years after following the Grateful Dead . Sam would have joined the drama club. Neal would cope with his parents' divorce by joining a swing choir in school. Bill would join the basketball team, becoming a jock and leading to tension with the geeks. Daniel would end up in jail. Kim would become pregnant on tour while following the Grateful Dead. Nick would be pressured by his strict father to join
165-433: A music and video company specializing in comprehensive reissues and compilations, eventually brought Freaks and Geeks to DVD with all of its music intact. In 2000, the cast of Freaks and Geeks was featured in an episode of the game show Family Feud hosted by Louie Anderson . At Metacritic , Freaks and Geeks has a score of 88 out of 100, based on 26 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". On Rotten Tomatoes ,
198-541: A stereotype for members of Generation X . Richard Linklater , director of the aforementioned 1990 film, commented on the term's meaning in a 1995 interview, stating that "I think the cheapest definition [of a slacker] would be someone who's just lazy, hangin' out, doing nothing. I'd like to change that to somebody who's not doing what's expected of them. Somebody who's trying to live an interesting life, doing what they want to do, and if that takes time to find, so be it." The term has connotations of "apathy and aimlessness". It
231-505: A way, is revenge for the people who cancelled Freaks and Geeks ." In June 2010, it was announced that IFC had acquired the rights to air both Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared . Freaks and Geeks ' s 18-episode run on IFC finished with all episodes having aired as of October 29, 2010. Undeclared ' s IFC run began on November 5, 2010. Both shows have also joined TeenNick 's lineup as of June 13, 2011. A reunion of several cast members and producers of both shows took place at
264-693: Is Doused in Barrel of Paint". The term was also used during the World War II period in the United States. In 1940, Time quoted the U.S. Army on managing the military draft efficiently: "War is not going to wait while every slacker resorts to endless appeals." The shift in the use of "slacker" from its draft-related meaning to a more general sense of the avoidance of work is unclear. In April 1948, The New Republic referred to "resentment against taxes levied to aid slackers". An article tracking
297-433: Is a recurring character, as well as Cindy Sanders, the popular cheerleader on whom Sam has a crush. Lindsay finds herself attempting to transform her life as an academically proficient student, star " mathlete ," and young girl into a rebellious teenager who hangs out with troubled slackers . Her relationships with her new friends and the friction they cause with her parents and her own self-image form one central strand of
330-543: Is also used to refer to an educated person who avoids work, possibly as an anti- materialist stance, who may be viewed as an underachiever . "Slackers" have been the subject of many films and television shows, particularly comedies. Notable examples include the films Slacker , Slackers , Clerks , Hot Tub Time Machine , Bio-Dome , You, Me and Dupree , Bachelor Party , Stripes , Withnail and I , Old School , Ferris Bueller's Day Off , Trainspotting , Animal House , and Bill and Ted as well as
363-443: Is an American teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 television season . The show is set in a suburban high school near Detroit during 1980–81. The theme of Freaks and Geeks reflects "the sad, hilarious unfairness of teen life". With little success when it first aired, because of an erratic episode schedule and conflicts between
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#1732764907786396-556: The 1980–81 school year. The show is set in the town of Chippewa, Michigan , a fictional suburb of Detroit (named after Chippewa Valley High School , which series creator Paul Feig attended). Lindsay joins a group of friends who are referred to as the "freaks" — Daniel Desario, Ken Miller, Nick Andopolis and Kim Kelly — while Sam's friends, Neal Schweiber and Bill Haverchuck, constitute the " geeks ." The Weir parents, Harold and Jean, are featured in every episode, and Millie Kentner, Lindsay's nerdy and highly religious former best friend,
429-453: The Army. On April 6, 2004, a six-DVD Freaks and Geeks box set was released through Shout! Factory and Sony BMG Music Entertainment . A limited "yearbook edition" set, including two additional discs, was also available through the official website for the show. Fans who had signed an online petition to get the show on DVD got priority in purchasing the special set. On November 25, 2008,
462-616: The Internet existed; they were worried about losing viewers to it", as explained by Judd Apatow. Freaks and Geeks was only averaging under 7 million viewers, while other NBC series such as Frasier and Friends were averaging over 14 million viewers each. NBC and the creative directors of Freaks and Geeks did not have the same vision for the series. After the network picked up the pilot, Garth Ancier replaced Scott Sassa as president of NBC Entertainment. Ancier "didn't understand public school life" and its relevance because he went to
495-417: The average high school experience, but the network wanted to produce something that would make high school seem cool. Because the network did not think the series would be a success, they let the writers add things to the script that they "wouldn't have if they thought the show would resurface the next season", like the use of the phrase, "ambiguous genitalia". Apatow said in 2014 that "Everything I've done, in
528-753: The creators and NBC , the series was canceled after airing 12 out of the 18 episodes. The series became a cult classic , and Apatow continued the show's legacy by incorporating the actors in future productions. The series has appeared in numerous lists of the greatest television shows of all time, including lists by Time , Entertainment Weekly , TV Guide , Rolling Stone and Variety . It launched most of its young actors' careers, such as James Franco , Seth Rogen , Jason Segel , Busy Philipps , John Francis Daley , Martin Starr , Samm Levine and Linda Cardellini . Teenager Lindsay Weir and her younger brother, Sam, attend William McKinley High School during
561-421: The deluxe "Yearbook Edition" box set was re-released through Vivendi Entertainment . The set features all of the episodes, commentaries and special features of the "Complete Series" six-DVD set, plus two extra discs and deluxe packaging. It is packaged as an 80-page color yearbook with essays, pictures and episode synopses. In July 2015, Shout! Factory announced it had begun preparing for a Blu-ray release of
594-611: The evolution of the meaning of the term "Slacker" in defamation lawsuits between World War I and 2010, entitled When Slacker Was a Dirty Word: Defamation and Draft Dodging During World War I, was written by Attorney David Kluft for the Trademark and Copyright Law Blog. The term achieved renewed popularity following its use in the 1985 film Back to the Future in which James Tolkan 's character Mr. Strickland chronically refers to Marty McFly , his father George McFly, Biff Tannen , and
627-584: The magazine's list of greatest television shows of the 2000s. In 2004 and 2007, respectively, Freaks and Geeks ranked No. 25 and No. 21 on TV Guide ' s Top Cult Shows Ever. In 2008, Entertainment Weekly ranked it the 13th-best series of the past 25 years. The same year, AOL TV named it the Best School Show of All Time. In 2013, TV Guide included it in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time, and ranked it No. 1 on their list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon". In 2016, it
660-448: The pilot episode of Freaks and Geeks was written by Paul Feig as a spec script . Feig gave the script to producer Judd Apatow , who sold it to DreamWorks , where Apatow was under an overall deal. DreamWorks sold it to NBC , who greenlit a pilot . Before the script was shot, Feig wrote a second episode at the behest of Apatow. He showed this second script to Apatow and pilot director Jake Kasdan , and they suggested that he combine
693-583: The screenwriters appeared on the show. Mike White played Kim Kelly's oft-discussed injured brother, and first appeared in episode 4, "Kim Kelly is My Friend". Paul Feig , Gabe Sachs and series composer Michael Andrews appear uncredited as members of the fictional band Dimension in "I'm With the Band". Numerous actors who starred on Freaks and Geeks would later appear on Judd Apatow's later TV series Undeclared , including Rogen, Segel, Levine, Starr, Phillips and Melnick, among several others. The script for
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#1732764907786726-544: The series, compiled by Paul Feig and Judd Apatow . Extra content includes behind-the-scenes memos and notes, photos, additional plot lines and excerpts from the Freaks and Geeks series bibles. Freaks and Geeks ' creators made it a priority to feature genuine, period-specific music that would help to create the show's tone. Clearing such names as Billy Joel , Cheap Trick , the Grateful Dead , Rush , Styx , The Moody Blues , The Who and Van Halen required much of
759-655: The series. It was subsequently confirmed in December 2015 that Shout! would release the complete series on Blu-ray on March 22, 2016, and the set would contain all special features from the previous releases and the episodes in both their original aspect ratio and widescreen. As of July 1, 2021, all U.S. DVD and Blu-ray releases have been discontinued and are out of print. In October 2004, Newmarket Press released two Freaks and Geeks books: Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Scripts, Volume 1 and Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Scripts, Volume 2 . Each book covers nine scripts from
792-443: The show has a score of 100% with an average rating of 9.7 out of 10, based on 34 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, " Freaks and Geeks lampoons real-life adolescence while affectionately embracing every growing pain along the way with refreshing honesty." The show averaged 6.77 million viewers and was #93 in the rankings during the only season it ran. The series received three Emmy Award nominations: creator Paul Feig
825-461: The show in 2000. The final three episodes premiered at the Museum of Television and Radio prior to being broadcast on television. The list below is ordered by the chronology of the storyline. * ^ Initial airing occurred on Fox Family . In a 2012 interview with Vanity Fair , Paul Feig detailed what would have happened to the characters if the show had continued: Lindsay would become
858-483: The show's budget. Eventually, this became an obstacle in releasing the show on DVD due to the difficulty and expense of clearing all of the music rights for the series. Music cues were changed or removed for Freaks and Geeks when it aired in reruns on Fox Family. However, Freaks and Geeks ' creators chose to wait to release the DVD until they could find a company willing to pay for the original music. Shout! Factory ,
891-426: The show. The other follows Sam and his group of geeky friends as they navigate a different part of the social universe and try to fit in. Guest stars included: The show's producers were resistant to stunt casting . For example, they resisted the network's suggestion that they have Britney Spears appear as a waitress in one episode; they thought such appearances would detract from the show's realism. Several of
924-469: The television shows Freaks and Geeks , Spaced , and The Royle Family . The Idler , a British magazine founded in 1993, represents an alternative to contemporary society's work ethic and aims "to return dignity to the art of loafing". UK">British The requested page title contains unsupported characters : ">". Return to Main Page . Freaks and Geeks Freaks and Geeks
957-538: The two episodes to form a stronger pilot. Notable additions include the introduction of Kim Kelly and Lindsay's recollection of her grandmother's death. Feig wrote a final draft after a read-through with the cast, this time incorporating a first meeting between Lindsay and the freaks (in previous drafts, Lindsay was already part of the group). The show ran for 18 episodes, three of which — "Kim Kelly Is My Friend", "Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers" and "Noshing and Moshing" — were unaired by NBC and not seen until Fox Family ran
990-411: Was named the 11th-greatest television series of all time by Rolling Stone . One of the cited reasons for its early cancellation was its inability to gain an audience due to its "erratic scheduling" and poor time slots, competing with the high-rated Who Wants to Be a Millionaire . The producers created a website for the series, but NBC would not share its URL because "they didn't want people to know
1023-626: Was nominated for Best Performance in a TV Series – Young Ensemble at the Young Artist Awards . For the YoungStar Awards, John Francis Daley and Sarah Hagan were nominated for Best Young Actor/Performance in a Comedy TV Series, and the ensemble was nominated for Best Young Ensemble Cast – Television. The series also received several other nominations in other categories. The series appeared on Time magazine's 2007 "100 Greatest Shows of All Time" list, and placed third on
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1056-532: Was nominated twice for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series , for the episodes "Pilot" and "Discos and Dragons", and it won for Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series ( Allison Jones , Coreen Mayrs and Jill Greenberg). It was also nominated for two Television Critics Association Awards, for New Program of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Drama. For acting, the series won for Best Family TV Series – Comedy and
1089-470: Was not participating in the war effort, specifically someone who avoided military service, equivalent to the later term draft dodger . Attempts to track down such evaders were called slacker raids . During World War I, U.S. Senator Miles Poindexter discussed whether inquiries "to separate the cowards and the slackers from those who had not violated the draft" had been managed properly. A San Francisco Chronicle headline on 7 September 1918, read, "Slacker
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