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School's NOT Out for Summer: Revisiting Judd Apatow's "Undeclared"
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Man, didn't you just love "Freaks and Geeks"?Weren't you pissed when it got cancelled, almost as pissed as you were when they cancelled "Arrested Development"? Or, if you discovered it post-axe, weren't you pissed there was only one season to savor on DVD? But then The Forty-Year-Old Virgin came out and was really funny and did really well at the box office, and you were still pissed about "Freaks and Geeks", but at least Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen were still getting work? And then you felt doubly justified in your appreciation for their excellent brand of stoner-AND-family-friendly comedy when Knocked Up started getting major buzz three months before its release? Because you were all like well, DUH, I knew these guys were funny wayyyy back when, even their half-hour college comedy show "Undeclared" was funny and sweet and full of relatable characters, and that got cancelled after only like one season and you felt like it was the last day of school and you'd never see your friends again. Right? Um. Right?
Wait, wait, wait - you're telling us you've never seen "Undeclared"? You've never seen it. Never had the urge to pick up the DVD set at Best Buy, even though it features many of the Freaks cast (including Apatow's apparent comic muse, Rogen, and recurring guest stars Jason Segal, Busy Phillips, and Sam Levine)? Even though it was one of the best television shows ever done about college? Even though its list of star cameos included Amy Poehler, Will Ferrell, Kyle Gass, TED NUGENT, Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler? Even though LOUDON FREAKIN WAINWRIGHT III as Jay Baruchel's (another seasoned Apatow vet) recently divorced and comically earnest dad? Oh, and Fred Willard as a comically earnest history professor who, fully costumed and accents at the ready, acts out the Cold War for his impossibly bored students?
Wow. Whew. Man. You gotta get on top of that. That's almost as bad as telling us you've never seen "Firefly," but seriously, you don't want to get us started on THAT one. Okay, get thee to a video retailer or renter, check out the episode where the gang has to drink a leftover keg, or the one where Marshall gets a cool pet, or the one where Will Ferrell is a speed-freak grad student, or any episode where Jason Segal shows up as the creepy ex-boyfriend...oh, just go.
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