August 25, 2009

• Freaks and Geeks- We've Got Spirit (episode 9)

  Previously on Freaks and Geeks:  Pilot, Beers and Weirs, Tricks and Treats, Kim Kelly is My Friend, Tests and Breasts, I'm with the Band, Carded and Discarded, Girlfriends and Boyfriends.

  
  
  

  We've Got Spirit was written by Paul Feig and Michael White, who had a cameo in the episode Kim Kelly is My Best Friend.  This episode was directed by Danny Leiner.

  Episode Summary: Sam tries out to be the school mascot hoping to impress Cindy. Meanwhile, Daniel, Ken, and Kim suddenly become the basketball team's most rabid fans following a series of run-ins with jocks from the rival school, Lincoln High. Lindsay tries to figure out the best way to break up with Nick.

  Once again we see Sam trying to figure out how to impress Cindy Sanders although this time Sam realizes it isn't worth it.  Sam dons the outfit of the school mascot after the original student was hurt during a a pep rally.  That student was played by the GREATEST ACTOR EVER (according to the little girls on yahoo answers), Shia LaBeouf.  I can't believe I found a pic of him.  Hopefully the pic works and doesn't go away like the ones from last week.  Anyway, I love how Sam and Neal have words and Neal backs away to allow Sam to pursue Cindy.  You may think this is the last time we see a Sam and Cindy relationship but wait to a later episode when we see the most awkward moment in the series, according to creator Paul Feig.

  The mascot, I hated that during high school.  It was such a distraction.  My school's mascot was the knight so they had some tiny freshmen dressed up in tin foil armor brandishing a toy sword.  It was so lame and so Lutheran.  Anyway during one game the knight tried to lead us out to the field.  The knight was my cousin.  I stood about a foot taller than him and probably had at least 150lbs on him.  He was jumping around and I pushed him down and said, "get out of my way, Nerf."  Nerf was his nickname and I won't go into details about that because it was quite gross.  He cried and the cheerleading adviser chewed me out after the game.  My coach slapped me on the helmet and started laughing.  When I was coaching football, my team played against a school that has one of the worst school mascots in the country.  They were the Awesome Blossoms (click the link to see what was drawn all over the school).  Anyway they had a young girl dressed in this horrible looking flower costume.  By the end of the game she was in tears.  Every time I saw her I laughed.  Here I only thought Awesome Blossoms were delicious fried onion appetizers but no, there is also a high school in Minnesota that bears that name for a mascot.

  The Kim, Daniel, and Ken storyline is funny because they go from not caring about sports to being rabid fans.  I remember when my football team made a championship run, we got the whole school out of school for the day so all the burnouts, who also happened to be my friends, would come up and congratulate me and thank me for playing.  I got so much beer and weed gifts from them just because I got them out of high school.  We got out because most of our games were played on other ends of the state.  One game we had to travel at least 4 hours to play.  We ended up losing in the championship game to a team whose team name was the Ledgers.  Fighting CPAs!  Actually the school was located on the edge of a bluff.  I like the idea of guys in suits and ties in hand to hand combat better.

  Nick and Lindsay...ugh...I felt so bad for Nick and how he learned that she wanted to break up.  One of my exes broke up with me after my dad called her.  It was freaky because he found her number on my phone bill and called her to find out why I talked to her for 40 minutes one night and then 2 hours the next night.  Thanks, Dad.

  Triva and Goofs: After Daniel and Ken get jumped, they talk to Lindsay's father and Daniel touches him leaving a large, blood stained thumb print on his shirt. When they leave though, we see his shirt again and the stain is almost completely gone.

  In the basketball scenes, a three-point line is visible even though college and high school basketball didn't adopt the rule until near the end of the 80s. 

  At the end of the basketball game, Todd Schellinger is fouled with no time on the clock. Since there is no time on the clock, the other team cannot get possession of the ball off of a missed shot. Therefore the foul shots should be shot without any players under the hoop, similar to a technical or flagrant foul shot. When Schellinger is shooting there are rebounders under the basket.

  Music: "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas; "How Funky Is Your Chicken?" performed by McKinley High Cheerleaders; "Keep Yourself Alive" by Queen; "Everybody Wants Some" by Van Halen; "Stranglehold" by Ted Nugent; "Do Ya Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" by Joan Jett; "Hava Nagila," sung by Samm Levine; "The Song Is Over" by The Who

  Quotes:
  Cindy: Remember when I told you I had a crush on Todd?
  Sam: Yeah.
  Cindy: Well I don't.
  Sam: Really?
  Cindy: It's more like an obsession.

  Daniel: These jocks think they're such badasses. Like they cured cancer or something.

  Neal: Being the school mascot has always been my dream.
  Bill: Yeah. Since lunch

  Lindsay: Mom, did you just break up with my boyfriend?

  Daniel: Man, I love the smell of gasoline (honestly, who doesn't?)

  Here's the episode, I hope you enjoy.
  

  • 1:05 PM
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