So it all begins...
It’s a story as old as, I don’t know, maybe 1980? Whenever getting slovenly drunk and hooking up at college started to happen. Forgive my lack of research. It’s the story of Steven Karp and Lizzie Exley. It is a classic dorm love story for the ages. They meet at a party. One thing leads to another, in this case one thing is spiting an old boyfriend and parents, and another is well…you know, intercourse. This is how many relationships are formed these days. Luckily for these two, it doesn’t end with a sobbing girl and a confused frat boy. These two get to hang with cool brits, Adam Sandler and guys that work a photo copy shop. Weird how ten years later something can be so dated. I mean Adam Sandler. Anyways, as far as we know, these two lovebirds make it work for one whole season before being cut from our lives forever. That is of course until most of them and the Freaks and Geeks people went on to be super rich and famous in the Judd Apatow avalanche of pot induced comedy and fortune.
See? Gangs all here. Tina has no group shots. I'll throw her in later.
Besides the two, we’ve got a few other important players. This being a college, these two have roommates. On the boy’s side we’ve got Lloyd, the British ladies’ man. We’ve got Ron, who exists mainly to be drunk and snarky. Then Marshall, who is wacky! In the female room we have Rachel, who fluctuates in personality. We’ll say she’s like a lot of college girls and goes for whatever comes her way. They eventually gain Tina, the loud and happy girl brought in to bring a little melatonin to the mix. Real life aside, Judd, bring this girl back. She’s way better than most the chicks you use. Most of the episodes revolve around these kiddies and what they get into. This being a college show, there is drinking, sex and some less than smart comedy. Like I’ve come to expect from Apatow produced TELEVISION, it takes the obvious and makes it way better.
Before we dive into what this show is all about, there are 6 other characters I feel must be introduced.
Top Left to Bottom Right: Hal, Perry, Lucien and that picture of TIna I promised.
Those people are 3 of the characters mentioned, and Tina. Hal is the old one. He is Steven’s dad that hangs around and is generally awesome and annoying all at once. He sleeps with Amy Poehler a bunch. To his right, is Perry. He is the best example of complete sarcasm ever. Never a hint of irony. Best or worst acting ever, I can’t tell. Next is Lucien; he is the RA and is a general wuss. He only is the center of one episode, but when he shows up it’s always fun.
L to R: Greg, Eugene and Eric.
These guys work in a photo center. They are losers. Eric is Lizzie’s crazy ex that never goes away. She ends up dumping him and turning him mad. Greg and Eugene are just his pals that tag along. They can be found break dancing or being lame.
Now, introductions are out of the way. Let’s talk about why this show may be worth looking into for you FAN followers. If I may be so bold, this show is a good one because the problems are relatable. The problems and situations are of course sensationalized, but it’s not like a lot of shows with similar subject matter that have nothing but models running around doing things that have never happened on any campus in any place. We’ve got normal looking people doing normal things. The series finale involved the boys watching Girls Gone Wild all day and the girls highlighting Lizzie’s hair. It’s not ground breaking and award winning stuff, it’s just good old fashioned comedy.
We can run the gamut of plots and you can raise your hand if it’s happened to you. I expect the FAN twitter to be blown up with pictures of people raising their hands. And I want a number next to each one denoting what you’ve been through.
1. Hooking up with a stranger 2. Breaking up with a girl and crying in the shower
3. Getting a crappy job 4. Kicked out of a room someone is banging in
5. Trying out new religion 6. Paying Will Ferrell to write your papers.
7. Lying to Parents 8. Fraternity Hazing
9. Truth or Dare 10. Eating lots of candy and watching porn
I don’t expect complete honesty here folks, but I’m waiting on a lot of 10 and 6 pictures to show up.
Steven has hazing down for all of us
So, this isn’t a show that you cannot relate to. Yes you Jake. (That’s confusing for most of you, but Jake just jumped back in shock that I knew he was relating to Steven). Double negatives aside, the real thing that drives this show is the writing. The dialogue and acting is okay. It’s a lot of people that went on to be big deals learning their craft on camera. The scripts they are given though really bring these college kids to life. Steven is played by Jay Baruchel , who is awkward still ten years later. He was hard to watch sometimes, but his robotic way of moving and talking made the character more real. Ron is Seth Rogen, and this is the show you can blame or cherish for his fame. He started writing here and began to learn to act here. Timm Sharp and Charlie Hunnam play Marshall and Lloyd respectively, and they are both spot on. The latter had experience from Queer as Folk and the former from cereal commercials. Way different backgrounds, but they are both spot on. Somehow, the best actor I can find is Louden Wainwright III, who has a background in folk music. Go figure.
Hey man, google Carla Gallo or Monica Keena. Just saying.
Plain and simple, this show is good. On a graded scale, it’s good enough to get into college, but it’s not getting any scholarships. It’s the funnier, not as well acted and a lot less meaningful follow up to Freaks and Geeks and you can tell. It tried to change the drama and reality of that show into all comedy reality and it worked most of the time. It did not fare any better though. Maybe if getting cancelled after the season is better than half way through, you can call it a win. With a great cast, better writing and cameos from stars like Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, and Fred Willard then out of the park performances from guests like Samm Levine, Martin Starr and Kevin Hart, this show is worth watching in some aspect in every episode. If I could just leave you with some words of wisdom from Ron:
"Sleep don't drink no beer."