The Real Reason A Freaks And Geeks Reunion Probably Won't Happen
Freaks and Geeks is one of those unexpected Hollywood nexus points, like The Ben Stiller Show or Charles Manson. Just about everyone involved in the show went on to have a successful career, from the showrunners on down. Judd Apatow was one of the guiding lights of comedy in the early aughts as a writer/producer/director. Paul Feig became similarly sought-after in the 2010s. Seth Rogen and James Franco went on to be bonafide movie stars, and many other alumni became familiar faces on television and in films.
With the tentacles of this one-season wonder in just about everything, and the massive amount of fan support lending it the status of cult classic, it's amazing that a reunion or sequel hasn't been plotted. Apatow is very frank about the reason why we never saw Freaks and Geeks: The Later Years: He thinks that carrying on the story of Lindsay Weir would be a massive downer.
Judd Apatow enjoys the ending the series had
Speaking with Mix 104.1's Karson & Kennedy, Apatow said that he felt the series' original ending was better than anything that would come from picking these characters back up.
"The ending came out so well, you get afraid to open it up again. It's somewhat of a magical ending, it ends with her just disappearing to go follow The Grateful Dead. You don't really want to know how that went," he said.
Apatow didn't want to reopen that story because an honest look at what happened to Lindsay Weir would likely be sad. Think of how one of the key members of the pickup baseball team in The Sandlot is written off as just disappearing in the '60s, and you have some idea.
"You assume she took a lot of acid, so she probably would just come home just strung out on acid. So, is that the end we really want?" he asked.
What is Judd Apatow up to right now?
Even if Apatow had the desire to bring together the Freaks and Geeks cast for one more go-round, he wouldn't have the ability. Like the rest of Hollywood, Apatow's productions are on hold due to the coronavirus crisis. The director and producer shared what life is like on the Apatow homestead after months of isolating with his family.
"They're just so annoyed that they're just stuck here with me now. We're in the fourth month isolated together," he said. "My daughters are 22 and 17 and I think we've all lost our minds at this point. Forget work. Right now, the house is filled with empty White Claws, we are about two minutes from doing mushrooms together at this point."
At the far-off date where Hollywood gets back to normal, you can assume that Apatow won't be calling Linda Cardellini first thing. That's especially true when you consider the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Apatow's just-dropped movie The King of Staten Island. Apatow doesn't need to return to the well. His new stuff is doing just fine.