Freaks and Geeks has become a TikTok sensation among Gen Z teens

Esquire

"According to TikTok’s view counts, videos under the '#lindsayweir' tag have a collective 3.1 million views and counting," says Anna Grace Lee, who started watching the classic teen comedy when she was 14 in 2012. "Videos tagged '#freaksandgeeks' have over 24.1 million views (though they’re not all about the show, many are). In the time since the show hit Hulu, more videos have been popping up, with seemingly more and more views, engagement, and comments from users extolling the show, celebrating its new availability, and lamenting its cancellation. A modern youth audience for a 22-year-old show brings an updated perspective. On TikTok, some imagine how each character would reply when asked what pronouns they use. Some imagine the characters' astrological charts. In one video, a fan-edited supercut of Lindsay moments focuses on her feminist messages and sets them to Grimes’s 'Oblivion.' One of the top-liked comments on it reads, 'No wonder it got cancelled. She was telling the truth lol.' In another, a user sets shots of Lindsay, Daniel, and Kim Kelly (Busy Philipps) to Olivia Rodrigo's 'Drivers License' and a commenter remarks, 'This song is literally about them.' One video jokes that Nick is the younger, "sandwich"-eating stoner version of Marshall Eriksen (Segel's character in How I Met Your Mother). In other videos, users faithfully recreate the Freaks and Geeks intro. One TikTok user's intro recreation caught the attention of Seth Rogen, who retweeted it, celebrating the enduring love for the show."