[100 Things] My DVD Collection: Freaks and Geeks & Press Gang

 

Now here's an interesting pair of TV shows - my British friends probably never heard of F&G and my American friends won't have heard of PG, and yet there are striking similarities involved here!

Press Gang aired in the late 80s and early 90s in the UK. It concerned a bunch of teenagers writing their own newspaper, The Junior Gazzette, with the main focus on Lynda Day, who always had to be right and in charge, and Spike Thomson, who had to keep out of trouble or be expelled - the two had a serious love/hate relationship, and it was wonderful!

Freaks & Geeks was a short-lived American High School drama in 1999. Lindsey Weir was a good girl turned confusedly bad when she starts hanging out with pot-smoking, class-skipping, rock band freaks, whilst her little brother, Sam, is pure geek to the core. Both their journeys through High School could make you alternately laugh and cry!

What I like about both shows, is neither were afraid of facing big issues - PG had a physically disabled character, F&G a mentally disabled student; both shows dealt with drugs, and sex/relationships, and the peer pressure; there were bullies in both; there were teachers you could turn to for help, and those that had their own issues.

Both were excellent High School shows with a good helping of reality in there, and I think thats what I like best about them both.