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    in Television

    ‘Freaks and Geeks’ at 25: ‘It Was Slipping Away the Entire Time’

    To twist a famous line from Jean Renoir’s “The Rules of the Game,” the awful — and hilarious — thing about high school is this: Everyone has their reasons. All adolescents are worlds unto themselves, whether they’re jerks, jocks, stoners, smart kids or underachievers. Each is an entire cosmos of yearning and hurt trapped inside a juvenile body.Perhaps no television show has ever done as much to document those reasons as the short-lived NBC series “Freaks and Geeks.” Set in Michigan in 1980, it followed the misadventures of the siblings Lindsay and Sam Weir (Linda Cardellini and John Francis Daley) and their respective crews of burnouts and dweebs.Afflicted with poor ratings, “Freaks and Geeks” was canceled after just one season. But it has lived on, first in fans’ memories and then on DVD and streaming, to be discovered by new viewers who embraced its zits-and-all depiction of adolescence and were thrilled by early sightings of future stars like Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jason Segel and Busy Philipps.“Freaks and Geeks” premiered on Sept. 25, 1999. On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, The New York Times spoke with veterans of the show, including the creator Paul Feig and the writer-executive producer Judd Apatow, about an experience that, like adolescence, was sometimes painful and embarrassing, but was nonetheless imbued with a kind of magic. These are edited excerpts from the interviews.‘We were a bunch of nerds.’A writer-director has many memories about the agonies of adolescence and decides to make a TV show about them.Paul Feig, left, based “Freaks and Geeks” on his adolescent experiences, and Judd Apatow, right, quickly signed on to produce.Jason Merritt/Getty ImagesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    5 Books to Read After Watching ‘Nobody Wants This’

    These romance novels feature cross-cultural connections, charming banter and plenty of heart.There’s a long history in Hollywood of cross-cultural rom-coms — films and TV shows such as “Keeping the Faith,” “Bend It Like Beckham” and “The Nanny” that mine clashing traditions to find hilarity and heart. Colliding heritages naturally lend themselves to moments of comedic gold: Just think of a nonplused Andrea Martin in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” reassuring John Corbett’s vegetarian leading man, “That’s OK: I make lamb.”The series “Nobody Wants This,” which premieres on Netflix on Sept. 26, is the latest entry into this oeuvre. Joanne (Kristen Bell) is an agnostic, sex-positive podcast host with a history of toxic relationships; Noah (Adam Brody — Mr. Chrismukkah himself, no stranger to interfaith high jinks) is a pot-smoking rabbi with a fiercely protective mother who spends his free time playing basketball with the Matzah Ballers. Their story is as much about the universal awkwardness and hilarity of a budding romance as it is about the complex differences in their worldviews.Interfaith and cross-cultural romances are nothing new in the literary sense, either. If you’re craving more stories about clever people drawn together by chemistry and circumstance who also face the difficult work of navigating disparate backgrounds, these romance novels have got you covered.I think hot rabbis may be the new hot priestsThe Intimacy ExperimentBy Rosie DananNaomi Grant is a bisexual adult film actress with a master’s degree who runs a successful online sex-ed platform; she wants to expand into live seminars, but she’s having trouble finding an institution to support her. Enter Ethan Cohen, an unconventional (and very attractive) straight rabbi who invites Naomi to teach a course on human sexuality and relationships at his synagogue — a gamble aimed at reaching more young Jewish people and saving his dwindling congregation.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Desi Lydic Ridicules Trump for Demanding Harris’s ‘Burger Certificate’

    “This isn’t the kind of thing you would lie about,” Lydic said. “It’s not like sex with a porn star while your wife is pregnant.”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Salty BehaviorAt a rally this week, former President Donald Trump continued to question Vice President Kamala Harris’s experience of working at a McDonald’s in her youth.Desi Lydic called it “ridiculous that Trump is asking to see Kamala’s burger certificate.”“This isn’t the kind of thing you would lie about. It’s not like sex with a porn star while your wife is pregnant.” — DESI LYDIC“But look, I get why he’s suspicious — if she had ever worked at any McDonald’s between the years 1960 and last week, he probably would have seen her. Or maybe this whole thing is just a ploy for him to get free food: ‘You worked at McDonald’s? Prove it. Make me seven Big Macs!’” — DESI LYDIC“So, Trump’s new conspiracy theory is that Kamala Harris never worked at McDonald’s when she was young, which to him is basically stolen valor: ‘How dare you disrespect our men and women in uniform. Those people served with honor and with extra ketchup packets if you ask.’” — DESI LYDIC“At the same rally, Trump also claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris lied about working at a McDonald’s and said that he would go to the restaurant chain in the next two weeks to see, ‘what her job really wasn’t like.’ And even — even if she can provide proof that she worked there — he’s still probably going to go to McDonald’s in the next two weeks.” — SETH MEYERS“Did Trump just talk himself into getting hungry? ‘She never worked over the piping hot fries, so crispy and salty, each bite a perfect — we should go to McDonald’s. Let’s go to McDonald’s.’” — DESI LYDICThe Punchiest Punchlines (Golden Guys Edition)“Tonight was the second episode of ‘The Golden Bachelorette.’ It was pretty slow. The first hour was just the remaining guys in the house watching the new ‘Matlock’ reboot.” — JIMMY FALLON“Tonight, the golden guys had to decide who’d sleep on the top bunk, which was not as easy as it sounds. Some of them snore, some of them have bad knees, one of them sleeps naked, and they all wake up a lot of times to go pee. So there a lot of logistics going into putting five guys in one bedroom. They’re lined up outside the men’s room like it’s a Lakers game at 4 a.m.” — JIMMY KIMMELWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    The Nation’s Politics Are Dramatic. Now Its Dramas Are Political.

    For the second year in a row, a play about the Constitution is the most-staged in America. And a farce about a terrible president is also pretty popular.The United States is in the final stages of a dramatic election year, with an unexpected change of candidates, two assassination attempts, and a remarkably close contest. Now it turns out that many of the nation’s theaters are leaning into the politics of the moment, programming shows that explore, or mock, the state of affairs.For the second year in a row, the most-staged play in America will be “What the Constitution Means to Me,” Heidi Schreck’s look at this country’s fundamental legal document, seen through the lens of gender and autobiography. Further down the list: “POTUS,” Selina Fillinger’s farce about a group of women caught up in a male president’s scandals.An annual survey by American Theater magazine finds that there will be 16 productions this year of “What the Constitution Means to Me,” which ran on Broadway in 2019. There will be 14 productions each of “Fat Ham,” James Ijames’s Pulitzer-winning riff on “Hamlet,” and “King James,” Rajiv Joseph’s buddy drama about two LeBron James fans. And not far behind, with 13: “Primary Trust,” Eboni Booth’s Pulitzer-winning play about loneliness, kindness, and a man who loves mai tais.The survey found 11 local productions of “POTUS,” and of the musicals “Jersey Boys” and “Waitress.”The most-produced playwrights around the country will be Joseph, whose “Guards at the Taj” is also popular, and Kate Hamill, who has written adaptations of works including “Pride and Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility.” (The survey does not include work by Shakespeare, or productions and adaptations of “A Christmas Carol,” because those would swamp the list each year.)One striking result of the magazine’s survey: The overall number of shows being staged at nonprofits that are members of the trade organization Theater Communications Group (which publishes American Theater magazine) is continuing to fall, as cash-strapped regional theaters cut back productions to try to control costs. The survey found 1,281 productions planned this season, down from 1,560 in last year’s survey, and 2,229 in the 2019 survey, before the pandemic, according to Rob Weinert-Kendt, the magazine’s editor in chief. More

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    Roundabout, With 3 Broadway Theaters, Finds Leader in California

    Christopher Ashley, the artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse and a Tony winner for “Come From Away,” will run the large New York nonprofit.Roundabout Theater Company, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit theaters and a major player on Broadway, has chosen Christopher Ashley, a Tony-winning director who runs an influential theater in California, as its next artistic director.Ashley is a prolific director, particularly of musicals with commercial aspirations, many of which he has developed at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, where he has been the artistic director since 2007.He won a Tony Award for directing “Come From Away,” an inspirational heartbreaker about a Canadian community that welcomed thousands of passengers from flights that were grounded on Sept. 11, 2001. He received Tony nominations for directing the musical “Memphis” and a revival of “The Rocky Horror Show.” He has also directed some high-profile flameouts, including “Diana,” “Escape to Margaritaville” and “Leap of Faith.”Just last week, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, an offshoot of the labor union representing American directors and choreographers, announced that next spring Ashley, who is 60, will be given the organization’s Mr. Abbott Award for his contributions to the American theater.“I have loved my time at La Jolla Playhouse, and it’s a very hard place to leave, but the opportunities and possibilities of the Roundabout are impossible to deny,” Ashley said in an interview. “The possibility of programming in their five amazing spaces is exhilarating, and they have an amazing education program, and at a moment when theater is tremendously stressed, Roundabout is, and can continue to be, a real beacon.”The transition will be gradual: Ashley plans to remain artistic director of La Jolla until Jan. 1, 2026, and to start full-time at Roundabout on July 1, 2026. Scott Ellis, who is Roundabout’s interim artistic director, will continue in that role until Ashley’s arrival and the two will collaborate during the 2026-27 season.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Festival d’Automne in Paris Honors Rabih Mroué and Lina Majdalanie

    A retrospective in Paris honors Lina Majdalanie and Rabih Mroué, whose theater works have examined the region’s troubles for decades.The theater-makers Lina Majdalanie and Rabih Mroué have grown accustomed to life in exile. In 2013, the duo, who are creative as well as life partners, left their home country of Lebanon, to settle in Berlin — out of “fatigue,” Majdalanie said recently.The corruption and the frequent crises that rocked the Middle Eastern country had become too draining, she added. “When you see the same problems repeating themselves over and over again, you need distance to find peace,” she said.The move worked — until the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel last year. Israel’s subsequent offensive in Gaza had a devastating knock-on effect on its relations with Lebanon, which is home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees and their descendants.Majdalanie and Mroué, who have long investigated Middle Eastern conflicts onstage, were critical of Israel’s retaliation. That made life uncomfortable in Germany, where many artists who find fault with Israel have, since Oct. 7, faced an increasingly hostile environment and accusations of antisemitism.“Lebanon was home, then Berlin was home for a decade,” Majdalanie said. “Now, every day, we ask ourselves: Where to go now? Because we don’t know where home is anymore.”For the next three months, they will have a temporary refuge in France. Through December, the Festival d’Automne à Paris, a long-running multidisciplinary event, is hosting a retrospective that showcases Majdalanie and Mroué’s longstanding commitment to grappling with contested political narratives.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Desi Lydic: Donald Trump ‘Really Knows How to Flatter a Lady’

    The “Daily Show” host said the former president had been so unpopular with women that he was now trying to turn on “the old Trump charm.”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.‘The Old Trump Charm’Former President Donald Trump continued to relay his plans to “protect” women at a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday, saying that women are “poorer” and “more stressed and depressed” than they were four years ago.On Tuesday’s “Daily Show,” Desi Lydic said that Trump had been so unpopular with women that he now had to turn on “the old Trump charm.”“Maybe it’s because of his legally adjudicated record of sexual assault; maybe he forgot their birthdays — it’s hard to say.” — DESI LYDIC“Oh, that is the perfect way to appeal to any woman. There’s no better way to start a first date than saying: ‘Diane, I am your protector. I want to be your protector. You will no longer be abandoned, lonely or scared. I will be with you 24 hours a day, seven days a week, looking at you. I’ll never let you out of my sight. Oh, you need to go to the bathroom? OK. I’ll wait. Waitress? I want to protect you.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Uh, I’m actually meeting someone here. I have a boyfriend. Thank you so much, though.” — DESI LYDIC“I love how he’s acknowledging that we’re stressed out, as though he’s not the one stressing us out. This is like Boeing being like, ‘Weird how people seem so freaked out about air travel these days.’ “ — DESI LYDIC“You really know how to flatter a lady. Please tell me more about the bags under my eyes.” — DESI LYDIC“Although, it’s not true that all women are poorer. E. Jean Carroll seems to be doing pretty well.” — DESI LYDIC“But Trump is a master marketer. That’s how you sell things to women: You convince them they have a problem, and then you say, ‘Here, buy these vagina gummies.’ And yes, in this analogy, Trump is the vagina gummy.” — DESI LYDICThe Punchiest Punchlines (Biden’s Last Stand Edition)“Earlier today, President Biden attended the General Assembly and delivered his final U.N. address. Biden called on nations to band together amid world conflicts and growing concerns over China’s influence. Then he added, ‘Or do whatever you want. What the hell do I care? I don’t care anymore.’” — JIMMY FALLON“He warned his fellow leaders to ‘never forget some things are more important than staying in power,’ which got a huge laugh from the Russian delegation.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Biden’s address was a big deal. It’s the most important speech he’s delivered in front of a 1990s kitchen backsplash.” — JIMMY FALLON“Well, New York City officials actually said drivers should expect the slowest traffic of the year. Yeah, you know traffic is slow when even Biden is like, ‘You know, I’m just going to get out and walk.’” — JIMMY FALLONThe Bits Worth WatchingWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Review: What’s Eating Trump? The Singing ‘Ghost of John McCain’

    The former senator haunts the former president, or vice versa, in this sophomoric musical satire.Usually, critics wait until a show is running to slam it, but Meghan McCain broke the embargo. By more than five months.“This is trash,” she posted on social media on April 2. “Nothing more than a gross cash grab by mediocre desperate people. I hope it bombs.”Perhaps she can be forgiven her haste for distaste. “Ghost of John McCain,” the show she was pre-emptively attacking, is about her father, who died in 2018. A musical satire that pictures him in purgatory — bedeviled by Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton and a pole-dancing Lindsey Graham in a studded pink dog collar — probably seemed unlikely to be reverent.If only irreverence were the problem! But the show that opened on Tuesday at SoHo Playhouse turns out to be, in its muddled way, something of a love letter. It’s just a bad one.Start with the title, which promises a posthumous haunting of America by the former Arizona senator but mostly delivers a familiar and unfunny indictment of Trump. McCain and the other characters are figments of 45’s fevered imagination, imprisoned in his brain (depicted as a three-star hotel) until they admit that he is “the greatest president who’s ever lived.” For McCain that means abandoning what he considers his legacy as a principled politician and maverick Republican.This baroque and entirely internal conflict puts the title character in a dramaturgical purgatory even worse than the theological one. He’s essentially stuck playing Trump’s game, with no agency of his own. It’s Trump who thus scores the few smart zingers in Scott Elmegreen’s unruly book: “You started Trumpism,” he tells McCain. “When you picked Sarah Palin.” Palin, McCain’s running mate in the 2012 presidential election, then shows up shooting an already dead wolf at close range with a shotgun.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More