“Freaks and Geeks” Had the Most Successful Cast and Crew of Any TV Show Ever
This is what’s supposed to happen to the former stars of a high school TV show. They’re supposed to get hooked on meth, get dropped by their agent, do something attention-grabbing to remind the world that they still exist, feel embarrassed that they did that attention-grabbing thing, go on a daytime talk show to apologize, and then launch a steady career of guest roles in mediocre TV shows and indie movies. But for the cast of Freaks and Geeks, none of that happened. Instead, they all blew up, often in unexpected ways. Some of them became writers, producers, and directors. Two of them challenged Nicolas Cage for the honor of being the most eccentric actor in America. One of them even helped kill Hitler.
It’s astonishing to consider how much talent emerged from the ruins of a critically-acclaimed but swiftly-cancelled TV show made by and starring a bunch of people nobody had ever heard of. Freaks and Geeks has cemented its reputation as a cult classic thanks to an afterlife on DVD (back in the day, I signed an online petition to get the show released…you’re welcome) and online (you can stream all the episodes on Netflix right now!). Like the future work of many of its producers and stars, the show was really funny but also incredibly honest. It made fun of our teenage years while also taking them seriously. Despite the incredible success of its two creators, Judd Apatow and Paul Feig, it still might be the best thing either of them will ever do. The talent assembled for Freaks and Geeks was, in hindsight, one of the greatest cast and crews of any TV show ever. Here is a rundown of what those people have accomplished since the show went off the air 15 years ago.
Cast
John Francis Daley — The guy who played little Sam Weir is the most sneakily successful of the show’s principle cast. He became a screenwriter, penning the comedies Horrible Bosses (2011), The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013), and Vacation (2015), which he also directed. He’s currently working on Marvel’s Spider-Man reboot.
James Franco — Everyone knows who James Franco is. But in case you forgot, he was in 127 Hours (2010) the Spider-Man trilogy, Milk (2008), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), and the outrageously weird and kind of terrible but still awesome Spring Breakers (2012). He also co-starred in pretty much every Seth Rogen movie ever. He directed a whole bunch of indie movies that most people don’t know exist. He taught filmmaking classes at NYU and USC. He also makes music and writes stuff and does like five thousand other things. He’s James Franco.
Seth Rogen — Who would’ve thought that the quiet sarcastic guy with bad sideburns on Freaks and Geeks would blow up? Seth Rogen is awesome and has written many hit comedies, such as Superbad (2007), Pineapple Express (2008), and This Is the End (2013). He acted in Knocked Up (2007), Take This Waltz (2011), 50/50 (2011), Neighbors (2014), Steve Jobs (2015), and The Night Before (2015). He’s currently working on the upcoming AMC series Preacher. He is, I think it’s safe to say, the most influential stoner in America. He also wrote, directed, and starred in Kim Jong-un’s least favorite movie, The Interview (2014).
Jason Segel — He spent nearly a decade starring in the hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother. He wrote and starred in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), The Muppets (2011), The Five-Year Engagement (2012), and Sex Tape (2014). He recently tested his dramatic chops by playing David Foster Wallace in The End of the Tour.
Martin Starr — A prominent member of the Apatow/Rogen crew, he’s been in Knocked Up, This Is the End, Superbad, and Adventureland. He starred in the wildly underrated series Party Down, which competes with Freaks and Geeks for the prize of comedy show that least deserved to be cancelled. He’s currently starring in HBO’s Silicon Valley, which is easily one of the funniest things on TV.
Linda Cardellini — One of those actresses who is just always good in everything, she was in the Scooby-Doo movies, Brokeback Mountain (2005), and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). On TV, she spent 6 years on ER, had a terrific supporting role on Mad Men, and starred in the recent Netflix series Bloodline.
Busy Phillips — She spent a couple years on Dawson’s Creek before co-starring in the TBS series Cougar Town. She’ll be in the upcoming HBO series Vice Principals.
Samm Levine — He was one of the deadly Jewish-American soldiers in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (2009). I mean, he’s done a lot of other stuff too but being in a Tarantino movie is pretty much as good as it gets.
Lizzy Caplan — You didn’t forget about Lizzy Caplan’s brief role as Jason Segel’s disco-dancing girlfriend, did you? I hope not, you bastard. She co-starred with many of her fellow Freaks alums in Orange County, 127 Hours, Party Down, The Interview, and The Night Before. She was also unforgettable as Janis Ian in Mean Girls (2004). She’s currently starring in the Showtime series Masters of Sex. She’s awesome.
Ben Foster — Foster played Eli in two episodes of Freaks and has since been in a slew of big movies, including X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), The Messenger (2009), The Mechanic (2011), and Lone Survivor (2013). He’ll be in the blockbuster video game adaptation Warcraft next year as well as Inferno, the third installment of the Dan Brown/Da Vinci Code series.
David Krumholtz — If you don’t love David Krumholtz, that’s your problem. He starred in the network crime series Numb3rs (yes, that’s how it’s actually spelled…if you don’t like it, take it up with CBS). He was in all 3 Harold & Kumar movies, Ray (2004), the Joss Whedon film Serenity (2005), Superbad, and This Is the End. He’ll be in the Coen brothers’ next film Hail, Caesar!. He’s also had memorable stints on TV shows like Aziz Ansari’s Master of None, The Good Wife, and The Newsroom.
Rashida Jones — She was in Freaks and Geeks, I swear! She played a girl who bullied Sam Weir and flirted with James Franco. She later co-starred with Jason Segel in I Love You, Man (2009) and The Muppets (2011). She was also in The Social Network (2010) and of course starred in NBC’s Parks and Recreation. Her next big project is the Steve Carrell-produced TBS comedy Angie Tribeca, in which she plays the titular character.
Shia LaBeouf — Shia played the school mascot who broke his arm. Don’t believe me? Here he is…
LOL. That’s so Shia. He’s since been in the Transformers movies, the Brad Pitt war movie Fury (2014), and he got naked for Lars von Trier in Nymphomaniac (2013). He’s currently starring in a bunch of weird performance art projects that you can read about on the internet. He’s Shia LaBeouf.
Jason Schwartzman — His character tried and failed to get fake IDs for the Freaks. Schwartzman himself did a little better. He starred in a bunch of Wes Anderson movies, created the Amazon series Mozart in the Jungle, and starred in the underrated HBO series Bored to Death. His eyebrows are epic.
Producers
Judd Apatow — You know who Judd Apatow is. If you don’t, you need to go away right now because you’re not welcome here. He launched Seth Rogen and Jason Segel’s careers. He directed a string of successful comedies (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People, This Is 40, Trainwreck). He produced pretty much every Will Ferrell movie ever (Anchorman, Kicking and Screaming, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers). Oh, and he executive produces HBO’s Girls. He is without question the biggest director/producer in comedy right now. His only real competition is Paul Feig.
Paul Feig — Feig has been ridiculously successful since Freaks ended in 2000. He wrote a pair of books chronicling his extreme dorkiness (Kick Me and Superstud). He directed episodes of Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Mad Men, Parks and Recreation, and The Office. He directed the hit comedies Bridesmaids (2011), The Heat (2013), and Spy (2015). He produced the just-released Peanuts Movie and is currently working on the all-women reboot of Ghostbusters. Yeah, he kinda did well for himself.
Directors
Jake Kasdan — Went on to direct the comedies Orange County (2002), Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007), Bad Teacher (2011), and Sex Tape (2014). He’s also the executive producer of the network sitcoms New Girl and Fresh Off the Boat.
Ken Kwapis — Followed up Freaks with rom-coms The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005), License to Wed (2007), He’s Just Not That Into You (2009), and the recent Robert Redford/Nick Nolte buddy comedy A Walk in the Woods (2015).
Miguel Arteta — Directed the quirky indie comedies The Good Girl (2002), Youth in Revolt (2009), and Cedar Rapids (2011), as well as the adaptation of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014).
Danny Leiner — Directed the cult stoner classic Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) and the Ashton Kutcher comedy Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000).
Writers
Mike White — Teamed with fellow Freaks alums on Orange County (2002) and The Good Girl (2002). He also wrote the Jack Black vehicles School of Rock (2003) and Nacho Libre (2006) before creating the HBO series Enlightened.
Patty Lin — Worked on classic shows like Breaking Bad, Friends, and Desperate Housewives.
Rebecca Sinclair — Wrote episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, and 90210.
I’m going to end the list here because I don’t want to be researching the IMDB pages of second assistant directors and grips and stuff. So trust me when I say they all did really well for themselves. Want to see the result of all this talent? GO WATCH FREAKS AND GEEKS RIGHT NOW.
Addendum: Undeclared
The sort of unofficial quasi-follow-up to Freaks and Geeks was the college comedy Undeclared, which reunited much of the Freaks cast and crew. It also expanded the Apatow/Rogen club to include future collaborators Greg Mottola (who directed Adventureland and Superbad), Nicholas Stoller (who directed Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Five-Year Engagement, and Neighbors), Jennifer Konner (who executive produces Girls), and Jay Baruchel (who starred in This Is the End and Knocked Up). It’s sort of the missing link between Freaks and all the successful shows and movies that followed it. But TBH and IMHO, it’s not as good as Freaks and Geeks.
