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A ‘Freaks and Geeks’ Reunion

Variety is reporting that a 10-year reunion for the cast of Freaks and Geeks will be staged for an event at PaleyFest 2011. Apparently Judd Apatow revealed the reunion through his Twitter over the weekend and the Paley Center has since confirmed the fact that a Q&A with the cast and producers is possible.

The official announcement regarding the TV festival won’t hit until next week, but it seems like a safe bet.

The American comedy-drama television series was created by Paul Feig and executive produced by Judd Apatow and aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 television season. Eighteen episodes were completed but the series was canceled after only twelve had aired.

A fan-led campaign persuaded NBC to broadcast three more episodes in July 2000; the three remaining unaired episodes were not seen until September of that year, when the cable network Fox Family Channel aired them in syndication. Despite a quick cancellation and only one season with 18 episodes, Freaks and Geeks developed a devoted cult following and many of the series stars like Seth Rogen, Jason Segel and James Franco have since catapulted into stardom.

The coming of age drama centered on a teenage girl, Lindsay Weir (Linda Cardellini), and her brother, Sam (John Francis Daley), who attend William McKinley High School during the 1980–1981 school year in the town of Chippewa, Michigan, a fictional suburb of Detroit.

Lindsay’s friends consisted of the “freaks”— Daniel Desario (James Franco), Ken Miller (Seth Rogen), Nick Andopolis (Jason Segel), Kim Kelly (Busy Philipps)— and Sam’s friends consisted of the “geeks”— Neal Schweiber (Samm Levine) and Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr). The show focussed on the everyday fears, humiliations and little triumphs of the adolescents.

The series appeared on Time magazine’s 2007 “100 Greatest Shows of All Time” list, and in 2008 Entertainment Weekly ranked it the 13th-best series of the past 25 years.

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