Freaks and Geeks/YMMV

• Ensemble Darkhorse: Harris.
  • Bill may also get this, at least after watching him in "Chokin' and Tokin'" and "Smooching and Mooching".
• Foe Yay: Kowchevski with Daniel, (whom he dislikes intensley) as seen in this quote:

Kowchevski: Lindsay, Daniel's cute and all with his stringy hair and bedroom eyes, but he's a loser.

• Hilarious in Hindsight: Daniel is viewed by pretty much everyone in the show as burnout and no hoper with no shot at higher education. In real life, James Franco has four degrees,is currently (as of 2011) pursuing two more and teaches a class.
• Retroactive Recognition: Ironic how the most timid of the Freaks became the most prominent of the actors.
  • Sam is Dr. Lance Sweets.
  • Lindsay is Sam Taggart.
  • Nick is Marshall Eriksen.
  • Daniel is Harry Osborn.
  • Ken is the guy who knocked Katherine Heigl up.
  • Neal is a Basterd!
  • Gilmore Girls fans will recognize several people: Dean's Navy friend Kyle is Alan the bully, Mr. Rosso is the rival troubadour, Logan is a rival high school athlete in one brief scene, and Tanna is one of Lindsay's fellow Matheletes.
  • Coach Fredricks is Biff Tannen.
  • Kim's friend Karen Scarfolli is also another Karen.
  • Sara is Janis Ian. No, not that one.
  • Shia LaBeouf as a school mascot who breaks his arm.
  • Ben Stiller is a secret service agent.
  • Neal's brother Barry is Mr Universe!
  • Biology teacher Mr. Lacovara is Dr. Clayton Forrester.
    • And the manager of the disco-clothing boutique/disco-bowling alley disc jockey is Joel Robinson.
  • Shane Botwin/Nemo is the little boy for whom Lindsay and Millie baby-sit in "Chokin' and Tokin'".
• Tear Jerker: Lots of moments, especially if the show was anything at all like your growing up experience. The episodes "Carded and Discarded", "Kim Kelly is My Friend", "The Garage Door", and "Discos and Dragons" can be real floodgate openers.
  • Bill watching TV alone in "Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers".
• Too Good to Last: A textbook example.
• The Woobie: Nick, again and again, although everyone has their episode. Neal in "The Garage Door" and "Noshing and Moshing" and Millie in "Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers".
  • Poor Sam. If something humiliating is going to happen to one of the characters, it'll usually be him, whether it's being the main target of Alan and Karen's wrath, or hilariously embarrassing incidents involving public nudity, Parisian Night Suits or being egged (accidentally) by his own sister.
  • Kim qualifies as a Jerkass Woobie. She can be very cold and nasty to people, even when they're trying to be nice, but her family and home life is so horrible you can't help but want to give the poor girl a hug.
    • Similarly, Daniel is manipulative and lazy and seems set on doing as little as possible in life. But his father is sick, his mother obviously doesn't think much of him, his teachers seem set on making sure he never succeeds, he's thought of by everyone as a failure by default and even his closest friends can't see him with any type of future. He seems caught in a vicious cycle: Everyone assumes he's a screw-up, he tries to prove them wrong but it doesn't work, he becomes indifferent and complacent, and everyone thinks he just doesn't care.