Why freaks and geeks only one season

Even after NBC canceled "Freaks and Geeks," there remained calls to create a revival along the lines of the reboots that so many other shows have received in recent years. So far, those haven't come to fruition, but series creator Paul Feig and executive producer Judd Apatow recently revealed that there was actually a secret offer to save the show shortly after news broke that it had been canceled.

Feig and Apatow said that "Freaks and Geeks" wouldn't have been able to continue in the same way that it had. We were already always strained on our budget as it was. Feig said that he and Apatow were okay with the decision, but he did wonder after the fact if the MTV version would have been possible.

Could we have pulled it off if we had done it? The factors that contributed to the show's death were numerous. It was like coming in second or third place — it was qualifying for the next round. After just 12 episodes were aired, though, the show was canceled by NBC.

So, we were ready to drop at the end of those 18 episodes. Could we have pulled it off if we had done it? But at the same time, it's set in amber now and there's something lovely about that. And we do that at the end of the series because it's like when you graduate high school, you don't know where half the people you went to high school with go.

I've always said the only true final episode for a show ever was Six Feet Under because it showed how each one of the characters died. Look for much more from my interviews with Feig and Apatow on Collider soon.

Freaks and Geeks is now available to purchase on Digital for the first time ever with the original soundtrack intact , including Amazon, iTunes, and Google. So we didn't really fit in, and part of why we didn't fit in was parts of the show were very realistic; some of it was sad and melancholy. Now people love that and they respond to very emotional programming, but back then, most of it was escapism.

So talking about the sadness of a young, nerdish person was not what most people were seeing on their screens in those days. But that's what Paul cared most about, representing a certain type of young person that he hadn't seen [on TV] before.

Throughout your career you've specialized in helping develop and spotlight young talent, whether it was giving the big screen breakouts to Steve Carell, Seth Rogen, or Amy Schumer. But are even you still amazed at how literally everyone from this main cast, who were all essentially kids, went on to do notable things?

It is very strange, but I have to say that we thought all of these people were so talented, so it doesn't surprise us because they were all doing such remarkable work every day. So it would've been weirder to think that they couldn't do it again than to think that it's shocking that they are doing it.

I'm very proud of the fact that we encouraged everyone to stretch their wings and try to write and direct and produce. And so many of them have done that and have taken the reins of their careers in some very innovative and challenging work.

That's literally the perfect trajectory for Sam Weir. If someone made an infographic of all of the different projects that everybody on the show has made — and it's a lot of great work — we're just proud of what everyone has chosen to do. They all seem to have very high standards and they're trying to do projects they are proud of. People aren't just working, they're working on great stuff. You passed on doing a second season back in the day, and I'm guessing we won't ever see more Freaks and Geeks at this point, but do you ever find yourself sitting around and just randomly wondering what these characters' lives ended up being like?

I haven't had that conversation with Paul since back then, but I think we thought some of them would have succeeded and become the Bill Gates or the Steve Jobs of their day and others would have wound up in prison. It certainly would be a grab bag. That seems about right. Back in , you and Paul were talking Freaks and Geeks with EW — I assume it was for a previous round of "hey, the show is available here now" — and you said, "There will certainly never be a project that we're more proud of.

I think that everybody tried to write and perform and direct from their heart. People really gave it up to the show. It went to the bone, and it's meaningful to people because everybody associated with the show shared who they were and tried to inject it into these characters and these stories.

And as a result, people connect in a very deep way. A lot of what the show is about is that life is hard and things don't always work out, but you'll get through it with the love of your friends and your family, and that is very meaningful to people. No matter, you're always going to share that first time. Well, Judd, I'm glad we got a chance to reflect on the show, and I'm sure we'll do it again whenever some other technology is invented and Freaks and Geeks becomes available on there.