Tribeca 2018: Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary

Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary

Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary is the perfect way to offer closure to the series should there never be a reboot.

In just over an hour, Brent Hodge manages to reunite the cast and crew of Freaks and Geeks by way of contemporary interviews while revisiting the set of the 1999-2000 series.  As the series did so on September 25, 1999, the documentary’s world premiere was also on a Saturday night at 8 PM.

Fans of the series will laugh and cry their way through the 72 minute documentary that takes us back nearly 20 years.  This was a series that created a family.  As is the case with any family, the breakup is tough.  Even though the series was canceled, many of the cast and crew have worked together again over the years.  It’s the sense of loyalty to Freaks and Geeks creator Paul Feig and executive producer Judd Apatow.  Apatow told Jason Segel that if he ever wanted to have a movie career, he would need to write his own material.  Meanwhile, Seth Rogen comments that he is “totally okay with having a career that is based on vengeance.”

Freaks and Geeks was the series that treated both comedy and drama in the way it should be.  The series also shined a lot on the often-ignored areas of the country.  While many series at the time focused on New York and Los Angeles, Feig notes that “the middle of the country was just treated disparingly.”

A full review will be published upon the documentary’s premiere on A&E this summer.  It will touch on the many anecdotes during the documentary.

DIRECTOR:  Brent Hodge
FEATURING:  Paul Feig, Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini, Busy Phillips, James Franco, John Francis Daley, Joe Flaherty, Becky Ann Baker, Steve Bannos, Dave Allen, Sarah Hagan, Natasha Melnick, Stephen Lea Sheppard, Tom Wilson, Jake Kasdan, Ken Kwapis, Gabe Sachs, J. Elvis Weinstein, Jeff Judah, Jason Schwartzman, Allison Jones, Dennis DeYoung

An official selection of the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary premiered in the Tribeca TV program.  The documentary will premiere this summer on A&E as part of the Cultureshock series.

Danielle Solzman

Danielle Solzman is native of Louisville, KY, and holds a BA in Public Relations from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in Media Communications from Webster University. She roots for her beloved Kentucky Wildcats, St. Louis Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Boston Celtics. Living less than a mile away from Wrigley Field in Chicago, she is an active reader (sports/entertainment/history/biographies/select fiction) and involved with the Chicago improv scene. She also sees many movies and reviews them. She has previously written for Redbird Rants, Wildcat Blue Nation, and Hidden Remote/Flicksided. From April 2016 through May 2017, her film reviews can be found on Creators.

One thought on “Tribeca 2018: Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary

Leave a Reply