Freaks & Geeks DVD Review...

A while back I blogged about the complete Freaks & Geeks episodes coming to DVD. Well I got my package last Monday in the mail. I decided to go ahead and flip the bill for The Freaks & Geeks Limited Edition Set because I am such a fan of this series. They really did an outstanding job on the packaging. The DVD set arrives as a 1980-81 McKinley High yearbook, with the majority of the pages being behind the scenes photos and stories from the writers and actors and the DVDs are neatly tucked away in the last few pages. They even went to the extent of having what look to be handwritten notes on the front and back covers of the yearbook. When my girlfriend came home from work and saw it, she thought it was one of my high school yearbooks.

For those of you unfamiliar with the series, it really was one of the best written shows I've seen in a long time. I recommmend anyone who grew up in the 80s (or even late 70s) in to check out this series. There are so many instances of show that could have been written as moments out of my own life, it's just scary. Paul Feig is really a great writer. (After Freaks & Geeks ended, he did another great short-lived sitcom called Undeclared for FOX.) I probably relate with the show even more because I was somewhere between the Freaks (or what we called "hoods") and the Geeks (aka D&D playing, sci-fi, comedy loving kids.) Growing up I played D&D, listened to heavy metal, played guitar for awhile, hung out with my friend's garage bands, drove around time looking for stuff to do, read fantasy novels, etc. So, I relate with both sides of the show.

If you enjoy the music of the 80s, you'll love this series even more. Part of the problem with releasing this series on DVD was they wanted to use original music used in the show. It cost them a pretty penny to get the licensing to use the tunes by Van Halen, Rush, The Who, etc, etc, etc. There's so much great back music packed in these episodes.