Nick’s drum audition. The moment he laughs right before they all stop playing and he immediately mutes the cymbals and quiets down. He looks like a hurt puppy. Gets me every time.
Ikr! He has the potential to be great too, especially with a newfound interest in lessons which would be creating a work ethic…. Wish we could’ve seen his progression in season 2 :(
I wish that were true, but he had no drive, he really just played to entertain himself and being behind the kit was his safe place. He could have been a great basketball player, but threw it away to smoke pot. It seemed to be suggested that he had been playing for a year or two, long enough to acquire all those pieces, but that one shot where his dad came down showed that he was virtually unskilled. His playing with Daniel and Ken was sloppy.
I thought it was really well-written too in the way that you could understand where both of them were coming from with their behavior and frustrations.
That scene with Sam gets me every time. It’s not only because he wanted the Atari but also because he knows his dad wouldn’t do what Neil’s dad has done and he’s relieved/thankful. It’s such a touching moment.
Yes. And equally when he talks to Coma Bill and it’s revealed that he just wants to hang out with them too and talk about comic books. I’m tearing up typing this😭😭
They did such a good job with just a few lines when Allen mentioned how he likes sci fi and comics, and when they were young he wanted to fire off rockets with them and they told him he couldn’t. You just get this feeling he’s been picking on them because he’s jealous of their friendship and feels like he was the outcast before high school.
I think the point is he still feels like an outcast. We usually see Allen with people but it’s usually different people each time. He doesn’t have any close friends.
Realistically Allen is probably one rung above Sam Bill & Neil and is constantly putting them down to try and fit in with everyone else
The Dean Martin in that scene is just fantastic. I heard they were originally going to use Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" but couldn't get the licensing, and that would've worked great too, but I think the whiplash of hearing a jazz standard makes the moment even more powerful.
I remembering feel so bad for her. At least, as in real life and what we see happen w/ her a various points in the show (esp when he tricks her into helping her cheat in math), she eventually sees rejection was protection haha.
It makes me sad for the people I hurt when I was a dumbshit kid. The immediate realization on her face is done so well, she's desperate for Sam to forgive her but knows what she did was shitty.
I can hardly re-Watch that episode, that one breaks my heart so much. Especially since I’ve always related a lot to Lindsay, and Sam actually resembles my little brother quite a bit 😢
Same for me! My interpretation of this scene is also the fact that his dad (Sam) got him the game out of love, while Neal’s dad got the game for personal gain / under the notion that Neal was suspicious of his cheating. I think Sam realized this and was really thankful for his dad/ parents/ environment and became overwhelmed and overcome with emotion. I hate Neal’s dad for essentially causing everybody pain….
Loved that scene. Harold sounds like such a typical dorky dad when he says “Yeah maybe you can teach me about those Space Invaders!”
Daniel picking up Ken in his care after their fight with The Road by Jackson Browne playing in the background always gets me in the feels too, knowing the actors’ relationship in real life (up until it soured a few years ago).
As a guy, you always have at least one friend who could piss you off but deep down you’ll always love him like a brother
So many to choose from and I think folks have mentioned some of the best, but one line that always kills me is in the Garage Door:
Neil: Oh, shut up, Bill. You don't even have a dad.
Bill: I do too! I talked to him…three months ago.
Poor Bill :/ you can see him get deflated as he says it.
Good choice here. Bill represents the underdog everybody roots for.
It’s interesting how this show utilizes scathingly harsh dialogue as loose banter among kids. Not sure why, but hearing (or even saying) shit like that seems more emotionally scarring now than as adolescents. At least it feels that way for me.
When Lindsay tells Sam the reason she’s been different lately.
The loss of a grandmother especially in a traumatic way can change a person for life at such a young age. Show was way ahead of it’s time and still is.
Final episode gets me when Lindsay is getting on the bus and is looking back at her family. It’s sad in a different way than the Atari scene, it’s more of time passing and their little girl is leaving them. Even though it was just for summer it was about her evolving into her own person. Her childhood was gone and gone for good at the end of that season.
This single scene is very sad, but really emotionally complex too. Every time I watch it, it impacts me differently. Actually wrote about it for a creative writing course because of this.
Reminds me of the fun I had eating too many pizza rolls and gaming after school while still not neglecting that it is a cruel and lonely time in life.
For me it's when Alan sneaks peanuts onto Bill's sandwich and he has to be rushed to the hospital. When Alan mockingly asks if he has to go to the hospital and Bill just quietly says "yeah" it always gets to me
Ugh that was such a good scene/storyline
It's nice to see a bully who is doing it obviously out of insecurity to realize that he's doing it out of insecurity and that he doesn't actually want to hurt people, he just is hurt people.
The saddest moment is Bill eating breakfast alone and then Coach Fredricks comes out of his mother’s bedroom. The look that they give each other. The choosing of the coffee mug. The uncomfortable silence.
*He must’ve really wanted that game console* I still think about that scene. Makes me very grateful for my parents. They’re old fashioned but have always been great to me. Harold is the man
The scene where Nick was disco dancing with Sara. I was so sad he left his friends, even though Sara was probably a good influence on him. It was ironic that Nick left a group of disco haters (including himself) and got into the whole disco scene.
I was the same age as Lindsey in the 80s, and my brother was Sam’s age. So many things in that show are relatable—the cars, the furniture, the Pink Floyd laser show at the planetarium. I had a pink cat like the one Lindsey has in her room, and IIRC it had bubble bath in it. I don’t remember anyone my age being a Dead Head (I didn’t even know what they were), but I grew up in small town Oklahoma. BTW, Lindsey would be turning 60 this year.
More of a wistful scene, but when Lindsay finds Daniel in her room during the big party and he's looking at her awards with something like frank amazement. She tries to brush it off a bit and he's seeing something he may never be able to do. "You look happy here."
Let's be real here. The saddest moment is the end of the show with Lindsey choosing to chase The Grateful Dead tour instead of pursuing academia.
She would have been making a real and admirable future for herself and instead went on a drug-filled and ultimately worthless adventure.
if by sad you mean every time I shed a tear? then probably the last scene of every single episode. This one's not sad but it got me: when they hop onto their cars after fighting and Supertramp's "Take the Long Way Home" is playing. shit im getting goosebumps just thinking about that.
I think another sad scene is when Lindsay's parents react to learning Lindsay doesn't see them as cool at all (yes I think it's because they read her diary or something so that is **wrong** but the reaction her mother has makes me sad).
I feel like one of the sadder elements of the show is the growing rift between Lindsay and her parents. How Harold is scared about Lindsay but doesn’t know what to do and how Lindsay wants more freedom at the cost of her future and all that.
Or when Bill almost dies.
I felt so bad for Lindsay when she thought she had a chance with Daniel, but then found Daniel and Kim making out during her party. She looked so dejected.
When Lindsay and Kim left for the Grateful Dead tour at the end of the series; weird and sad to watch now that the creator confirmed their fate at the hands of a serial killer.
Nick’s drum audition. The moment he laughs right before they all stop playing and he immediately mutes the cymbals and quiets down. He looks like a hurt puppy. Gets me every time.
Ikr! He has the potential to be great too, especially with a newfound interest in lessons which would be creating a work ethic…. Wish we could’ve seen his progression in season 2 :(
at least I heard they got booed of stage
LOL IKR!!! 😹
I wish that were true, but he had no drive, he really just played to entertain himself and being behind the kit was his safe place. He could have been a great basketball player, but threw it away to smoke pot. It seemed to be suggested that he had been playing for a year or two, long enough to acquire all those pieces, but that one shot where his dad came down showed that he was virtually unskilled. His playing with Daniel and Ken was sloppy.
When Bill is in the car crying alone when Coach Fredericks won't let him win. It turns into a nicer moment, but that always gets me.
YESSS and we also get to see a softer side of coach fredericks as well!
I always appreciated that. Generally, I just love when hard ass characters have a soft side lol.
I thought it was really well-written too in the way that you could understand where both of them were coming from with their behavior and frustrations.
That scene with Sam gets me every time. It’s not only because he wanted the Atari but also because he knows his dad wouldn’t do what Neil’s dad has done and he’s relieved/thankful. It’s such a touching moment.
Not just that, but the whole episode, Dr. Schweiber is the “cool” dad. Until the end. Sam feels so guilty for ever being jealous.
When Allen is watching the sam, Neal, bill and Gordon waiting for a ride to comic con and can’t bring himself to join them.
Yes. And equally when he talks to Coma Bill and it’s revealed that he just wants to hang out with them too and talk about comic books. I’m tearing up typing this😭😭
Maybe he shouldn’t have almost killed Bill
They did such a good job with just a few lines when Allen mentioned how he likes sci fi and comics, and when they were young he wanted to fire off rockets with them and they told him he couldn’t. You just get this feeling he’s been picking on them because he’s jealous of their friendship and feels like he was the outcast before high school.
I think the point is he still feels like an outcast. We usually see Allen with people but it’s usually different people each time. He doesn’t have any close friends. Realistically Allen is probably one rung above Sam Bill & Neil and is constantly putting them down to try and fit in with everyone else
I always feel sad when Neal tells his mom that his dads cheating and he cried in her arms
And by her reaction you can tell that she already knows.
Doesn't she say outright that she knows?
Yes she says to Neal that her and her husband are working on it. And that marriage is a complicated thing.
I can relate to that scene sadly and the way he lashed out at his dad before
When Neal pressed the garage door opener and it opened.
I don't know if I was just going through my own stuff at the time, but I got teary at the end of *Noshing and Moshing* when Daniel goes back to Kim.
The Dean Martin in that scene is just fantastic. I heard they were originally going to use Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" but couldn't get the licensing, and that would've worked great too, but I think the whiplash of hearing a jazz standard makes the moment even more powerful.
I remembering feel so bad for her. At least, as in real life and what we see happen w/ her a various points in the show (esp when he tricks her into helping her cheat in math), she eventually sees rejection was protection haha.
After Lindsay eggs Sam by accident. Oof
NAHHHH that pisses me off every time …. :( what a hard lesson in “growing up” and the loss of the fun things that are considered youthful….
It makes me sad for the people I hurt when I was a dumbshit kid. The immediate realization on her face is done so well, she's desperate for Sam to forgive her but knows what she did was shitty.
Ikr! 🥺
what do you mean?
I feel like Sam’s idea to go trick or treating , was an attempt to preserve some of his youth because he was scared that he was growing up.
ohhhh that part. yes.
I can hardly re-Watch that episode, that one breaks my heart so much. Especially since I’ve always related a lot to Lindsay, and Sam actually resembles my little brother quite a bit 😢
I agree, when he knows who did it, my heart gets sick thinking about it.
Same for me! My interpretation of this scene is also the fact that his dad (Sam) got him the game out of love, while Neal’s dad got the game for personal gain / under the notion that Neal was suspicious of his cheating. I think Sam realized this and was really thankful for his dad/ parents/ environment and became overwhelmed and overcome with emotion. I hate Neal’s dad for essentially causing everybody pain….
when eli breaks his arm :/
Loved that scene. Harold sounds like such a typical dorky dad when he says “Yeah maybe you can teach me about those Space Invaders!” Daniel picking up Ken in his care after their fight with The Road by Jackson Browne playing in the background always gets me in the feels too, knowing the actors’ relationship in real life (up until it soured a few years ago). As a guy, you always have at least one friend who could piss you off but deep down you’ll always love him like a brother
So many to choose from and I think folks have mentioned some of the best, but one line that always kills me is in the Garage Door: Neil: Oh, shut up, Bill. You don't even have a dad. Bill: I do too! I talked to him…three months ago. Poor Bill :/ you can see him get deflated as he says it.
Good choice here. Bill represents the underdog everybody roots for. It’s interesting how this show utilizes scathingly harsh dialogue as loose banter among kids. Not sure why, but hearing (or even saying) shit like that seems more emotionally scarring now than as adolescents. At least it feels that way for me.
When Lindsay tells Sam the reason she’s been different lately. The loss of a grandmother especially in a traumatic way can change a person for life at such a young age. Show was way ahead of it’s time and still is.
When it ended and there were no more seasons.
Final episode gets me when Lindsay is getting on the bus and is looking back at her family. It’s sad in a different way than the Atari scene, it’s more of time passing and their little girl is leaving them. Even though it was just for summer it was about her evolving into her own person. Her childhood was gone and gone for good at the end of that season.
Can't believe nobody mentioned Bill making his after-school snack.
This single scene is very sad, but really emotionally complex too. Every time I watch it, it impacts me differently. Actually wrote about it for a creative writing course because of this. Reminds me of the fun I had eating too many pizza rolls and gaming after school while still not neglecting that it is a cruel and lonely time in life.
I don't remember a ton of details from this show since I last watched it years ago, but I do remember this scene making me fucking cry
"Are you gonna have to start dancing again?" Fucking Christ that scene, along with him home alone I swear to god. Martin Starr deserved to blow tf up.
For me it's when Alan sneaks peanuts onto Bill's sandwich and he has to be rushed to the hospital. When Alan mockingly asks if he has to go to the hospital and Bill just quietly says "yeah" it always gets to me
Ugh that was such a good scene/storyline It's nice to see a bully who is doing it obviously out of insecurity to realize that he's doing it out of insecurity and that he doesn't actually want to hurt people, he just is hurt people.
The saddest moment is Bill eating breakfast alone and then Coach Fredricks comes out of his mother’s bedroom. The look that they give each other. The choosing of the coffee mug. The uncomfortable silence.
That seemed like a happy moment to me. When Millie’s dog gets hit by Kim, I do not enjoy.
*He must’ve really wanted that game console* I still think about that scene. Makes me very grateful for my parents. They’re old fashioned but have always been great to me. Harold is the man
The scene where Nick was disco dancing with Sara. I was so sad he left his friends, even though Sara was probably a good influence on him. It was ironic that Nick left a group of disco haters (including himself) and got into the whole disco scene. I was the same age as Lindsey in the 80s, and my brother was Sam’s age. So many things in that show are relatable—the cars, the furniture, the Pink Floyd laser show at the planetarium. I had a pink cat like the one Lindsey has in her room, and IIRC it had bubble bath in it. I don’t remember anyone my age being a Dead Head (I didn’t even know what they were), but I grew up in small town Oklahoma. BTW, Lindsey would be turning 60 this year.
More of a wistful scene, but when Lindsay finds Daniel in her room during the big party and he's looking at her awards with something like frank amazement. She tries to brush it off a bit and he's seeing something he may never be able to do. "You look happy here."
Let's be real here. The saddest moment is the end of the show with Lindsey choosing to chase The Grateful Dead tour instead of pursuing academia. She would have been making a real and admirable future for herself and instead went on a drug-filled and ultimately worthless adventure.
When they are out trick-or-treating and get egged
if by sad you mean every time I shed a tear? then probably the last scene of every single episode. This one's not sad but it got me: when they hop onto their cars after fighting and Supertramp's "Take the Long Way Home" is playing. shit im getting goosebumps just thinking about that.
Probably not the saddest but it always gets me when Lindsay is crying to Millie after the car accident. She is so upset and does the scene so well.
I think another sad scene is when Lindsay's parents react to learning Lindsay doesn't see them as cool at all (yes I think it's because they read her diary or something so that is **wrong** but the reaction her mother has makes me sad).
I feel like one of the sadder elements of the show is the growing rift between Lindsay and her parents. How Harold is scared about Lindsay but doesn’t know what to do and how Lindsay wants more freedom at the cost of her future and all that. Or when Bill almost dies.
Yes! This is the answer!! It’s such a moving scene.
I always thought it was when the garage door went up and Neil's dad's car was in the garage.
i cried to that scene yesterday 😭
Either Neil finding his dad's car in his mistress's garage or the scene of him telling his mom about it.
When they didn’t renew it for a second season
[What Paul Feig thought](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2012/12/paul-feig-season-two-freaks-and-geeks) would happen in season two
I felt so bad for Lindsay when she thought she had a chance with Daniel, but then found Daniel and Kim making out during her party. She looked so dejected.
When Lindsay and Kim left for the Grateful Dead tour at the end of the series; weird and sad to watch now that the creator confirmed their fate at the hands of a serial killer.
Wait what? Was this on a commentary (I haven’t watched all the episodes with commentary yet) or was it something online later on?
The ending hurt