Fall TV 2005: Undeclared
Before I get in to some of the newer shows this season, I thought I'd make a comment on one of the best fall shows of the past few years. The show was Undeclared and it has recently debuted on DVD with a set that is the very best I've seen for a TV collection yet. It came from the creative mind of Judd Apatow, who was responsible for the similarly short-lived gem Freaks and Geeks. Despite only lasting 17 episodes, Undeclared was one of the most endearing and original TV comedies I've seen.
Undeclared was a single camera comedy about life in a college Freshman dorm. Apatow's wonderful ability at creating characters and finding the perfect people to play them was once again evident from the very beginning of this show. Jay Baruchel was perfect as the awkward, rail-thin, extremely uncool Steven. Freaks and Geeks vet Seth Rogen is as good at ad-libbing as anyone (he was also one of the show's writers) and came up with some of the best off the wall one liners. Monica Keena had the best role of her career as the sexy, but often panicked Rachel. Timm Sharp was a bizaare, but brilliant addition as the goofy, sadsack Marshall. Also on board were Carla Gallo as the unbearable perky Lizzie, Charlie Hunnam as the womanizing Lloyd, Christina Payano as the sassy Tina, and Loudon Wainwright as Steven's bitter, recently divorced father Hal.
The concept behind Undeclared is extremely simple. It's certainly not the first show about college life. But Judd Apatow (as he also demonstrated in this year's film The 40 Year Old Virgin) is a genius at lowbrow comedy. Undeclared had plenty of outrageous moments, especially things that were done to Steven while he was a Fraternity pledge. However, what made the show truly excel were the little bits of genuine emotion that were sprinkled throughout each episode. Even as you laughed at how pathetic and vulgar these characters were, you were still also rooting for Steve to win over Lizzie, for Marshall to win Rachel, for Ron to win anyone, and for the entire gang to defeat the frat house.
The DVD set is truly something to behold. There is audio commentary on all 17 episodes, and every single member of the cast gets to participate, including most of the writing staff and a few of the guest stars. The commenataries often stray from actual discussion of the episode, but are extremely entertaining. Each episode comes with three to four deleted scenes, many of which show several different takes that give you some insight into the influence of ad-libbing in the show's creative process.
Undeclared was cancelled after only 17 episodes, an all too brief run for such a promising show. While the show did get very low ratings, part of this can be attributed to an insane timeslot (Gilmore Girls and Buffy both on at the same time) and network idiocy (changing the order of episodes). FOX's mismanagement may have prevented you from seeing this show the first time around, but now there is no excuse. You absolutely must grab this excellent DVD set.
Undeclared was a single camera comedy about life in a college Freshman dorm. Apatow's wonderful ability at creating characters and finding the perfect people to play them was once again evident from the very beginning of this show. Jay Baruchel was perfect as the awkward, rail-thin, extremely uncool Steven. Freaks and Geeks vet Seth Rogen is as good at ad-libbing as anyone (he was also one of the show's writers) and came up with some of the best off the wall one liners. Monica Keena had the best role of her career as the sexy, but often panicked Rachel. Timm Sharp was a bizaare, but brilliant addition as the goofy, sadsack Marshall. Also on board were Carla Gallo as the unbearable perky Lizzie, Charlie Hunnam as the womanizing Lloyd, Christina Payano as the sassy Tina, and Loudon Wainwright as Steven's bitter, recently divorced father Hal.
The concept behind Undeclared is extremely simple. It's certainly not the first show about college life. But Judd Apatow (as he also demonstrated in this year's film The 40 Year Old Virgin) is a genius at lowbrow comedy. Undeclared had plenty of outrageous moments, especially things that were done to Steven while he was a Fraternity pledge. However, what made the show truly excel were the little bits of genuine emotion that were sprinkled throughout each episode. Even as you laughed at how pathetic and vulgar these characters were, you were still also rooting for Steve to win over Lizzie, for Marshall to win Rachel, for Ron to win anyone, and for the entire gang to defeat the frat house.
The DVD set is truly something to behold. There is audio commentary on all 17 episodes, and every single member of the cast gets to participate, including most of the writing staff and a few of the guest stars. The commenataries often stray from actual discussion of the episode, but are extremely entertaining. Each episode comes with three to four deleted scenes, many of which show several different takes that give you some insight into the influence of ad-libbing in the show's creative process.
Undeclared was cancelled after only 17 episodes, an all too brief run for such a promising show. While the show did get very low ratings, part of this can be attributed to an insane timeslot (Gilmore Girls and Buffy both on at the same time) and network idiocy (changing the order of episodes). FOX's mismanagement may have prevented you from seeing this show the first time around, but now there is no excuse. You absolutely must grab this excellent DVD set.
posted by Larry McGillicuddy at
12:17 AM
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