I recently finished watching the series Undeclared on DVD. Before that, I watched Freaks and Geeks (thanks Molly), also on DVD. Both of these amazing shows are Judd Apatow productions. They each sadly lasted only one season on network television. I remember seeing one episode of Freaks and Geeks during its network run. It was the final episode and it stood out because they used two Grateful Dead songs, Ripple and Box of Rain, in a couple of scenes. I thought that was cool. Since that was the last episode, I didn’t see the others and soon forgot about the show. A year later I remember seeing the previews for a new Fox series about college freshmen called Undeclared. I was in my second year of grad school at BYU and I remember thinking that the show looked like it was only going to be about kids getting drunk and having sex. Those activities were taboo to me at the time because I believed everything I was taught by a bunch of octogenarians in conservative business suits. LDS theology proclaims that drinking alcohol and having sex outside of marriage are big no-no’s. That’s my reason for not watching Undeclared when it initially ran. I’m saddened that I used to be so closed-minded. If you liked The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked-Up, and Superbad, you should definitely check these out (if you haven’t already seen them). Don’t rent them or burn them; go to your favorite store or online retailer and buy them. You will want to watch them more than once and share them with everyone you know.The following is a quote from Rodney Rothman, one of the writers on Undeclared. It is the introduction to the Parents’ Weekend episode taken from the booklet included with the DVD set. I think it’s hilarious. It’s about Moby.
“John Hamburg and I really wanted Marshall to have a poster on his dorm wall of Moby. And when Marshall’s dad saw the poster of Moby, we wanted Marshall to tell his dad how much he loved Moby and for Marshall’s dad to tell his son that he thought Moby looked like a “fetus”. But then Moby wouldn’t clear the poster for use in the show, and we couldn’t do the joke. How much does that suck, because that joke would have been so funny, and my guess is it would have saved the whole show and we’d still be on the air now. Well, guess what, Moby? I don’t have to ask your permission to say you look like a fetus in this episode introduction.”
2 comments:
Yes. Jared I'm surprised you were among the F&G uninitiated. Somewhere in the box set it talks about how they would probably lose a lot of money putting the episodes out on DVD, but to the contrary they really seem to be gaining in popularity with the success of other Apatow ventures. My Freaks and Geeks box set has gotten a lot of mileage on both sides of my family over the past few years. We have probably spent combined months watching and rewatching it. We're losers. So many quality scenes and music to accompany. The Who episode turned me into a Who fan. The excellently written hermaphrodite episode turned me into a ... wait a minute. Anyway, I could go on and on.
I'm still among the unitiated. I'll have to remedy that. I don't feel guilty about watching bad stuff anymore. I do feel guilty about doing bad stuff still, but not guilty enough to stop.
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