Undeclared - or another "how come nobody told me" thread

Don't get me started.

Freaks and Geeks is the James Dean of coming-of-age television.

Best one-season-only run in TV history.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, was off pitch.

 

Freaks and Geeks had no name recognition.

They had many sort of homely major characters ... for the epidermis-fixated asshats who care about such things.

And... the 1980s weren't quite as IN as they seem to be now.

Just some supposition.

 

Undeclared was on Fox, and as I recall, it got jerked around a lot by baseball playoffs/World Series. By the time the World Series was over, nobody knew when it was on and Fox did a horrible job of promoting it.

 

That's what pissed me off. I love baseball and all, but I loved that show, too. I had no clue what the fuck was going on by the time it came back on.

 

What annoys me is that the networks spend tons of time hyping up a show, then they give it two weeks and either cancel it right away if the ratings aren't high enough, or shift it to another night. They don't give people enough time to discover a show, or decide if they like it. Especially today, with all the other options that viewers have, you'd think they would try to build an audience, instead of just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing if it sticks.

Cheers finished last in the ratings in its first TWO seasons. Today, it would have lasted one episode. And it's one of the most loved series in TV history.

My mother loved a show called "Brooklyn Bridge." It's ratings were O.K. in spite of being shifted around several times, and got terrific reviews by critics, but the network (I think it was CBS) kept shifting it around, ratings finally dropped, and they finally cancelled it.

There are very few shows that I watch on network TV anymore. Partially, it's because I work nights, but also, I don't feel like investing my time in watching a show if it's just going to get dumped in a month, or moved to a night that I'm working.

 

"How I met your Mother" on Monday nights is Legend...wait for it....


well, you know the rest if you are a fan.


As for F&G and Undeclared, yup, both shows...along with Life as We Know it and My So Called Life (yum, Claire Danes) all suffered WAAAAY to early deaths.

Also cut waaaay to early..Journeyman (just this season on NBC),
the 4400,
Clubhouse (with Dean Cain and Christopher Lloyd) and
Birds of Prey (with Ashley Scott as Batman/Catwoman's daughter)

 

I liked the couple episodes of How I Met Your Mother, but I could never remember when it was on or I wasn't home for the episode, so I lost touch.

With most shows now, like Scrubs, I'll wait until they go into syndication, then I'll buy the DVDs, so I won't be lost when I watch.

 

Screw ever buying DVD box sets...get Netflix and rent em...WAY cheaper.

Think about it...how many times are you actually going to watch the same episodes over and over? Pay 40-60 bucks to own and then collect dust...or 4.99-14.99 a month to watch the whole series once? Call me frugal, but...

 

Apparently you are not familiar with my work, sir.

Seriously, though, I get your point and agree with it, but I really enjoy having the discs -- I'm the same way with CDs, too; I'll rip them or burn them, but will buy the albums later. And I really study what I like. I watch every episode, every bonus feature, every audio commentary -- production and cast and crew, if both are there. And I watch and watch and watch every episode and disc over and over.

When I really get interested in a television show, I want to know everything about it. Netflix won't give me that; it won't allow for me to look back on the episodes when I'm bored or when I need something to help me fall asleep. But owning the discs do that.

Renting might work for most, but it doesn't for me. I can't afford to buy a lot of the DVD sets, but when I can get my hands on them, I make them my bitches.

 

And head freak James Franco went on to play James Dean!

I'm guessing Moddy doesn't watch much of the FOX network. Because there's no way you missed promos for Undeclared show when it was on.

I love Freaks and Geeks. I have the series on DVD. I spent New Years watching the entire series!

The only shows in recent memory that I've geeked out over like I did F&G are Arrested Development [especially Season Two] and 30 Rock. It's rare that the big four air shows that are clever and original. Usually you have to flip to HBO or Showtime for that kind of programming.

And Moddy, if you haven't seen Weeds you need to check it out.

 

The main thing I remember about "Freaks and Geeks" is that it ran on Saturday nights for a while. Basically, the network was assuming that because the show was about freaks and geeks, its viewership was a bunch of loosers who would be home at 9 p.m. on Saturday to watch it.

It's logic like this that makes me stick to "Good Eats" reruns and syndication.

 

I never got into Arrested Development, but Birds of Prey was one of my favorites when it was on.