This will ring a bell with you if you are a fan of "Freaks and Geeks" but if not, I encourage you to check out the old episodes on YouTube or NetFlix. The show only lasted one season during 1999 and 2000 and its short run completely boggles the minds of fans like me. It has fortunately developed a cult following so it will continue to be passed down to new generations of fans.
The writing was brilliant and the acting top-notch and if you were like me and were a bit of an outcast in school ( a "freak" or a "geek" if you will) you'll especially appreciate the show. And for you "Mad Men" folks, Linda Cardellini who played Lindsay on the show is now Don Draper's mistress neighbor! You can see her before she was the temptress doctor's wife and instead a school "freak". Many other actors and actresses that are in popular shows and films today also had large roles on "Freaks and Geeks" including James Franco, Busy Phillips, Jason Segel, John Francis Daley and Seth Rogen. And if you need further convincing, Judd Apatow was the executive producer and Paul Feig was the show's creator. They are both brilliant. If you've never read Paul's book entitled "Kick Me" then put it on your Summer reading list.
Boy, I went off on a ramble! Anyhoo....back to the Parisian nightsuit! One of the main characters named Sam really wanted his school crush to dig him so he went and bought himself the ever-so-suave Parisian nightsuit after the studly clerk at the men's store told him that it was the cutting edge of cool. Behold his entrance into school the next morning:
Oh my gosh! Can't you just feel his pain as he goes from thinking he's the coolest thing around to realizing that he has just landed both bellbottomed legs in the lion's den? And wow, how perfect is Joe Jackson's "Look Sharp!" as the soundtrack to that moment? That was another thing about this show. The soundtrack was always dead-on and gives me serious childhood flashbacks sometimes when I watch the episodes.
If you want to see a montage of all the clips from that episode including Sam buying the nightsuit and how the fashion nightmare turned out, you can see them here:
So yeah, maybe my little jumpsuit WAS the cutting edge in fashion at the time. My Mom emailed me to apologize for the getup after my post about it but I told her that honestly, I think it was kind of cool. Especially that I could ride a bike in it. Though, I can't even imagine how long it took to get out of that thing when the old bladder got full. So many questions best left in the seventies...
A few of you have mentioned in the comments on the old post that you had similar jumpsuit getups...which I love. Do tell me about your most embarrassing childhood outfits! Were you a freak or a geek in school? A cool kid? Or something else altogether? I just realized that I wasn't studious enough to be a geek but not daring enough to be a freak. I'm going to have to think it through to find a term for what I was in school. "Hopeless" might describe my junior high and high school struggles best!
And if you haven't before, go over to Retronaut and scroll down the page to check out these incredible (and sometimes innuendo laden) ads for mens' jumpsuits here. My jumpsuit (and Sam's) were pretty innocent compared to all of that "this jumpsuit is going to help me get laid" business!
Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha "the funky chicken" Kitsch
17 comments:
I loved this show so much when it aired that I got signatures at school to keep it on air when it was in jeopardy of going off air (circa 2000). Well, we all know the outcome. Great show! Miss it dearly. Glad to see almost all of the cast, writers, and director have moved onto other successful projects. My grandpa owned and wore several "Parisian Nightsuits" well into his later years. :)
- Suz
Such a good show.This and Pushing Daisies I feel got cut short long before they should have.And oh man,that scene gives me second hand embarrassment every time.
I thought I was a huge fan of F&G and Mad Men, but I had no idea that was the same actress!
I didn't know that Sam from F&G grew up to be Dr. Lance Sweets on Bones!
Love the show and loveee that episode!!
xo,
Em
I loved this show so much! I was so happy when the DVD came out, and I could do marathons every now and again. Now I have to get my daughter to watch it, I know she will love it as much as I do, if she would give it a chance.
I went to a relatively small high school and felt like I was friends with everyone. I had friends who were jocks, bandos, drama kids, potheads, nerds, exchange students, artists. I think I felt a bit like Ferris Bueller adored by the "Sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads." I thought I was a "righteous dude" but more than likely, I was freak and/or geek.
"i didn't say she was barefoot."
haha love that show so much! we just watched that episode a day or two ago =]
i just watched freaks and geeks for the first time last year and i cant believe it was only on one season! it is amazing! i guess it was before it's time.
have you read paul feig's other book, superstud? It might be even more hilarious that kick me!
I'm with Rae. I liked super stud better but they are both top notch. I love Paul Feig and as I've rewatched arrested development - I've noticed he's directed several episodes.
I watched every singe episode when it originally aired and was devastated when it was cancelled! I remember there was a guy at my school who wore leg warmers once and I'm sure he pretty much felt the same way.
I LOVE that show--just discovered it last summer on Netflix. (I was knee-deep in toddlers when it aired so I'm pretty culturally illiterate when it comes to the early 2000s.)
What best describes me in high school? Hmmm...How about Poser? I was a geek in a cheerleading uniform. It never did fit right. :-)
I was also hopeless. I think I finally just gave up trying to look cool. My most embarrassing till I see other evidence is a class picture day posted on Facebook sadly. I look like a hobo. Bad shoes, flooders and hair that looks like it hadn't been combed when I got our of bed that morning. I died all over again when I saw it posted last year. UGH!!!
Freaks and Geeks.....best show eva! I was SO bummed when they pulled it after just one season.
Hmmmmmm, what would I have been in HS??? Well, I was not all that studious either....I guess I probably leaned toward the 'freak' side in that I wanted to wear 50s dresses all the time!
My daughter loved F & G and watched it all the time when she was in high school. I was one of THOSE kids in school - cheerleader, band nerd, AP classes, drama, choir ----no wonder I was exhausted all the dang time. My most embarrasing? Oh yeah, Mom bought me a new bathing cap (I had waist length hair) and this cap had light blue "hair" all over it - she said it was the newest thing.......it was mortifying! However, she was about 25 years ahead of her time I think.......I see those blue and pink hair wigs now and all I can think of is that stupid bathing cap at the swimming pool!
Another huge F & G fan here!! It reminds me so much of high school. I think I was caught somewhere between geek and freak. Still am.
This is my very first time of ever hearing about this show but I will be finding the DVD. It reminds me of the show The Wonder Years!
'Gmama Jane
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