TTH 3/30/26

Freaks and Geeks Recap - Pilot

OK, let’s kick off the Freaks & Geeks rewatch with what proved to be a near perfect pilot. As is usually the case with pilots, the characters are not yet fully formed, but the early signs of what a great show this would become were immediately evident. One of the things I admire most is how Judd Apatow and Paul Feig did not hit us over the heads with excessive exposition. They showed us just enough to get a sense of who the various characters are and how they interact, but they used the show, don’t tell method.

The episode began with shots of the two subsets. With Van Halen’s Running With the Devil as the score, the freaks are seen hanging out underneath the bleachers. A camera pan then shows the geeks exiting the school, performing Bill Murray in Caddyshack impressions. One of the plots in this episode involved a bully picking on Sam. Lindsay intervenes to stick up for her younger brother, and her opening scenes showed how her efforts to create a new personality for herself had left her torn between two populations. Her former best friend Millie couldn’t figure out why Lindsay was choosing to hang out with “those” people rather than continue to compete in the upcoming academic decathlon.

The action in this episode all led up to the annual homecoming dance. The Weir parents were encouraging their children to attend. Lindsay felt it was lame; Sam would rather hang out with his friends, although he did keep it in the back of his mind that he wanted to ask his crush Cindy to the dance. Joe Flaherty was in perfect form as Harold Weir.

Lindsay found herself getting into trouble multiple times this week, once inadvertently. She began by sticking up for the developmentally disabled Eli (Ben Foster.) Mind you, this is a series set in 1980, so he was referred to by the “r” word. A pair of mean girls - one of whom was played by Lizzie Caplan - were teasing Eli, claiming that they wanted to go to the dance with him. Lindsay stepped in to inform him that they were mocking him because he is the r word. Eli responded by stating “I’m not r——-, I’m special!” He the storms off and accidentally trips over his own feet, suffering a broken arm in the process.

That leads to a session with Mr. Rosso the guidance counselor. He once again tries to get her to commit to the academic decathlon, and in true aging hippy fashion he attempts to connect with her by saying that she can call him Jeff. She still refuses. Put a pin in that.

Later on, as the first signal of the massive crush that Nick has on Lindsay, he encourages her to skip class with him. They go to his house where he shows her the massive drum kit he has set up in his garage. This is when she confesses why she has been in a downward spiral. Her beloved grandmother had recently died, and Lindsay had been alone with her in the hospital room as she passed. Before dying, the grandmother told Lindsay that she saw nothing, no light at the end of tunnel. This is what drove Lindsay into nihilism.

And soon after Mr. Rosso catches Lindsay and Nick. He offers her a deal; I’ll let this pass if you participate in the academic decathlon. She refuses - as a sign of her cluelessness she continues calling him Jeff even though she’s in trouble - so as her punishment she was forced to work the refreshment stand at the dance.

While all this was going on, Alan the bully challenged Sam to a fight. Bill & Neal were present at the time and place to stand beside him, but while this was going on Sam was awkwardly asking Cindy to the dance. She told him that she already had a date, but she would save a dance for him. Sam then rushes to meet his friends, but he was too late. There was no real harm down, but it was amusing to watch Bill turn into an oversized maniac in the mini-brawl.

The episode ended at the ball. Sam summons the courage to ask Cindy for that dance, and he does so while Come Sail Away is playing. Unfortunately for him, in the amount of time it takes him to ask her and then to walk to the dance floor, the piano portion of the song has ended and the opportunity for a slow dance is gone. He basically shrugs and rocks with her. Lindsay was watching this from the refreshment table and then sees Eli quietly dancing by himself. She excuses herself and then shares a dance with Eli as an apology for accidentally causing his injury.

The cast for this show was so magnificent that it’s hard to choose out one singular standout. If I had to make a choice, it would have to be Linda Cardellini. She has such an expressive face, and she so exquisitely conveyed the conflicting emotions that Lindsay often felt. Over the course of the following 17 episodes, the other young actors would have their own opportunities to fully shine. Stay tuned.

Ballot Breakdown - Wu-Tang Clan

The official announcement of the Hall Of Fame Class of 2026 will take place during the April 13 episode of American Idol. Now, on to the final artist on the ballot.

The Wu-Tang Clan were more than a rap collective, they were a way of life. There are plenty of hip-hop artists whom I like better, but their overall importance makes them one of the biggest no-brainers on this year’s ballot.

All told, there were 10 members in the Wu-Tang Clan. They were the act which introduced Staten Island as a hotbed of rap music. The lifelong friends in the group came together out of a collective love of hip-hop, comic books, and Asian culture, kung fu movies in particular. With so many members, there were inevitably going to a few who had stood out the most. Method Man was the most skillful rapper; he also of course earns bonus points for his role in The Wire. RZA was one of the most creative producers in hip-hop history. Ghostface Killah has had the best solo career; Raekwon dropped the best solo album. And Ol’ Dirty Bastard was one of the most unique characters the music world has ever seen. There was only one ODB; and thank goodness for that, I don’t know if the world could have handled 2 of him.

Their reach expanded well beyond music. The iconic Wu-Tang logo can still be seen everywhere; it is an omnipresent laptop sticker. They also branched out into fashion with the Wu-Wear clothing line. The Wu-Tang name generator is still active; that’s how Donald Glover became Childish Gambino. My name comes up as Holy Dreamer. OK. They were also responsible for one of the more infamous moments in pop culture history. In 2014 they recorded Once Upon a Time In the Shaolin, with the intention that they would only provide 1 copy of the recording which was to be sold to the biggest bidder. That bidder was the much loathed pharma bro Martin Shkreli. That whole saga is best ignored.

As mentioned, there were 10 members of Wu-Tang. Being that all of them were ambitious, it’s little wonder that they did not remain together as a unit for very long. They all had individual careers to focus on. The group has intermittently reunited, but most of their later material is fairly uninteresting; their HOF case lies entirely within their first 2 albums. That should be enough to get them in, especially since the hip-hop lane has essentially been cleared for their benefit. Just keep in mind that with 9 surviving members plus whomever would speak on the late ODB’s behalf, you may need to pack a lunch when it’s their turn at the ceremony.

My personal favorite: C.R.E.A.M.

If elected, will they perform at the ceremony?: They would certainly appear at the event. As the Hulu documentary from a few years ago makes clear, they are all still close friends. As for a performance, that might be tough. It would be a challenge to give each one of them their just due in a 10 minute segment, it would not surprise me if they pass on making a performance.

No Kings

It was colder than one would hope for on a Saturday afternoon in late March, but other than that it was another amazing experience on the No Kings march route. Where I was, the crowds were huge, well organized, and well behaved. A sample of photos that I took are below, I only wish I had gotten a better angle of the people who were carrying a large printout of the Constitution. The picture that I have doesn’t do it justice; it was so massive that it took around 20 marchers to carry it.

But I was in NYC. You know, the home of nothing but America hating Antifa who were only there so that we could dip into the wheelbarrow filled with Sweet Soros Cash. Of course we were going to assemble en masse. What truly inspires me is to see footage of rallies which took place in some of the reddest areas of the country. I mean, The Villages is practically MAGA Central, yet it appears that there was a healthy turnout there.

The marches have grown larger and larger with each successive turn. I am often skeptical of crowd estimates, but the last one I saw stated that all told more than 8 million Americans participated in the thousands of rallies. It can’t be repeated enough; people hate the s*** that this guy is trying to pull. I am under no illusion; it is going to take years to undo the damage he has done to our institutions and to repair the relationships with our longest standing allies. Few of these repairs can be done in my lifetime. We would not have been in this situation in the first place if the American electorate did not have the collective memory of a goldfish. Still, I welcome all latecomers to the resistance. It should not have taken this long for any revelations, and it should not have required leopards eating faces to do so, but better late than never. There is still a long road ahead of us, but when I witness events such as what I had seen on Saturday, it fills me with confidence that we are going to win. Eventually.

The Sports Movie Pantheon - Bull Durham

This is a seasonally appropriate selection; the greatest baseball movie of them all? You’ll get no argument from me. Eminently quotable, eminently rewatchable, completely authentic. Writer/director Ron Shelton played minor league baseball himself, so he knew of what he spoke. He even incorporated some anecdotes from his playing days into the script, such as the intentional flooding of the field and the candlestick conversation during a mound visit.

Kevin Costner starred as Crash Davis, a veteran catcher who had once had a cup of coffee in the major leagues, AKA The Show. The minor league Durham Bulls sign him to mentor Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) a hotshot prospect with a million dollar arm but a five cent head. The third star was Susan Sarandon as Annie Savoy, a lifelong resident of Durham who “adopts” a player each season so that she could bestow him with her wisdom. Oh, and have great sex on top of that. She has narrowed it down to Crash & Nook.

It is a true adult comedy. I have no interest in arguing whether it’s a sport movie or if it’s a rom-com. I’ll make the bold statement that it’s possible to be both. The chemistry among the 3 stars is what makes it work. This movie came out when Costner was an ascending star, fully in the This Guy Can Do No Wrong phase of his career. Sarandon was well into her run as the thinking man’s sex symbol. And this was the movie which removed the Howard the Duck stank off of Robbins’s résumé. At the same time the one real flaw in the movie can be traced to Robbins. By 1988 the days of actors such as William Bendix or Anthony Perkins looking awfully awkward in their playing sequences were a relic of the past. Robbins was the exception. His attempts to ape a proper pitching motion were painful to watch.

The script for this movie was nearly perfect. It was smart, yet it was also uproariously funny at times. Think of the “lollygagging” tirade from the manager. Or the aforementioned “candlesticks always make a nice gift” moment. And then, there were the speeches, such as Crash’s lengthy soliloquy about what he believed. It’s a bit ironic that one of his beliefs was that Oswald acted alone, in light of the fact that Costner would portray Jim Garrison a few years later. And I love to quote Annie’s speech about the passion that the sport inspires. “I’ve tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones. But the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in and day out, is the church of baseball.” Truer words have rarely been spoken.

Bull Durham came out at the beginning of a surge of great baseball movies. It also had an exceptional soundtrack. It’s an outstanding piece of work in every conceivable way. Even if Crash thinks that strikeouts are fascist. I doubt he would approve of the way the game is played today. Oh my.

Closing Laughs

Hope you all had a great weekend. Sincere thanks one again to all of you for your support. Have a fantastic today all you fine people, and we’ll be right back here again on Wednesday. See ya then!