Twisted and Resisted Trailer

Breaking Trends

1. The new bathing suits are out, and they are pretty split between weird-shaped but cool-looking, or pointless. Is it odd that the less fabric they use, the less expensive? Leave it to economic chaos to put people's priorities back in order.

stupid. Also, is that a penis?

2. My ironic crush on Sarah Palin.

You're no better.

3. I would say celebrities dying in threes, but no. I remember when Johnny Cash and John Ritter died on the same weekend and there was no third, so fuck you, superstition!

Meanwhile, I'm still working on the summer replacement, and going from two classic comedies to a campy western revival is an incredible shock to the system.
~MP~

The Summer Replacement: Undeclared

When people think about the Fox network, they see a network that is unwilling to take risks and running good shows into the ground. But when you actually think about it, Fox has always been a paragon of experimentation. Would it have been likely for any other network to pick up shows like The Simpsons, In Living Color, The X-Files, 24, and myriad other successes at a time when nothing like them had been on TV?

When I started this project, I briefly considered doing the complete Paul Feig trilogy by talking about Arrested Development. Unlike Freaks and Geeks, I remembered the show and watched it fairly regularly, but decided against the piece because it's quite possibly the most written-about television show ever.

Not so for Undeclared, the spiritual sequel to Freaks and in many ways a prelude to Arrested. Arriving only a year after the demise of Judd Apatow's previous project, the face of television was rapidly changing, and Freaks' legacy was becoming apparent through shows like Scrubs. It seemed like the perfect climate for a this college comedy. So what went wrong?

As one of the few, few people who periodically watched this show, the problem was Fox. While in retrospect the show was mainly a character-driven piece like Scrubs, the network relentlessly advertised it as a raucous varsity extravaganza in the mold of Animal House.



Though it had it's wild moments, this tended to be the exception, not the rule.

Unlike Freaks and Geeks, the setting and pacing of the show allowed almost everyone to step forward and have their own moments. Among the more genius characters were Jason Segel as the female lead's crazy-but-dorky boyfriend, and Jarrett Grode as the guys' perpetually sarcastic hipster floormate.





While Freaks and Geeks and Arrested Development were given new life through home video, now as popular as any show on today, Undeclared has mostly gone unnoticed in the seven years since being cancelled. But as word of the show's existence is slowly resurfacing through the internet, only time will tell what kind of legacy it may yet have.

~MP~

Coming up: The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.

The Summer Replacement: Freaks and Geeks

My personal theory on this: If you could make a list of the 100 best, most influential television shows ever made, at least half of them would have been canceled due to poor ratings. If anyone tells you otherwise, say the following words: Star Trek.

The summer replacement is my attempt to shine light on three of these shows and what they have done for television, the first of which is Freaks and Geeks.

At a time when networks demanded rigid formulas and canned laughter, the very fact that this show made it onto the air is nothing short of a miracle. Striking out with shows like Jesse and Veronica's Closet, NBC made a gamble with two obscure producers named Paul Feig and Judd Apatow, intent on making a show about what High School was really like, with a cast of nobodies, and a period piece at that!

who-gen?

It certainly didn't hurt that Apatow pitched the show as a mannerist dramedy along the lines of Northern Exposure, at a time when filmmakers like Whit Stillman were trying their hand on such a concept, so NBC gave it a go.
However, Freaks and Geeks was shown with several episodes out of order, and was frequently preempted, not exactly conducive to loyal fans. Either way, it was canceled after 18 episodes, in August of 2000.

Why is it great?

Freaks and Geeks doesn't pretend to be something it's not, and doesn't bother setting up the story, opting instead to jump right in. (It ends in a similar way, though the conclusion is somewhat more satisfying). It was a meeting of relative unknowns who would become superstars, from Paul Feig (Arrested Development) to teenage comedians Seth Rogen, James Franco, and Jason Segel (with whose character I most strongly identified). Strangely enough, the main stars (John Francis Daley and Linda Cardellini) have been less successful. I mean, let's be real.

You. Tina Fey. My office.

Ultimately, Freaks and Geeks was both a martyr for cinema-quality television, and a portent of things to come. History has vindicated it to the point that it is vastly more popular now than it was ten years ago, making it, for me, a reason to have faith in humanity.

You. Tina Fey. My office.

Coming up whenever I damn well feel like it is this show's spiritual sequel, Undeclared.
~MP~

The Absolute Truth

Two Years of Monty Park!

Viva Sacramento!