Undeclared is the best show about school ever made. Cliqueclack Flashback = DONE.
Judd Apatow‘s quickly-canceled college follow-up to his quickly-canceled high school series, Freaks and Geeks, was released my junior year of college. I hadn’t seen Freaks and Geeks at the time, so I had no idea who Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, or any of the other now-familiar faces in the cast were. I just knew that it was the funniest and most painfully-realistic portrayal of college life that I had ever seen.
The cast looked, dressed and sounded like actual college students– not 30-year-old hookers, which is a feat that has not been accomplished since. The guys were odd looking– a fact that was freely mentioned, and even the hot girls looked like normal hot college girls, not model/actresses. It was this realism that allowed the writing to shine and allowed the viewers to identify with every single thing these people were going through.
After all, who hasn’t had embarrassing singalongs with their friends after they’ve talked you into letting them give you ill-advised highlights?
(The beauty starts at about 5:15)
Even in the pilot episode, when we first meet the characters and there’s Steven, the adorable dork, and Lizzie, the cute girl with the inappropriately older boyfriend she’s been dating for years, it’s painfully obvious that Steven is going to fall in love with her. While 99 out of a 100 TV shows would use this as a plot device that stretches over a season or four, Apatow and company go a different way: Lizzie and Steven sleep with each other in the pilot episode. The nerd actually gets the girl in the pilot.
Of course, that’s not to say they live happily ever after– Jason Segel plays Lizzie’s boyfriend Eric, after all, and he certainly isn’t going to go quietly. In fact, when he finally finds out that Lizzie and Steven slept together, he drives down to the school to fight Steven. My favorite thing about the fight scenes in Undeclared is just how real and awkward they are. Not everyone can be Ryan Atwood.
One of the things that was the most fun for me was seeing unexpected people show up on the show. Amy Poehler, Ben Stiller, and Will Ferrell all made appearances, as did a just-starting-out Jenna Fischer with a crazy red perm.
Even Adam Sandler appeared as himself, in a surreal episode that basically seems like a script treatment for Funny People.
And I’m not sure, but the roommate who is moving out in this scene sure looks like Felicia Day to me. Am I out of my mind? There’s no mention on IMDb of her being on Undeclared, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not her, right?
In all, watching the first and only season of Undeclared for the first time since it originally aired was more fun than I ever imagined it could be. There are few shows that are as funny and just as honest as this show is. If you ever went to college, or hell, even if you didn’t and just want to know what the experience is like, there isn’t a better example of college life than Undeclared.
Clacked by Kona Gallagher 
on Nov 04, 2009 @ 14:31 EST5EDT
It was a good show, although I think I’d go with “Freaks and Geeks” as a better series.
One objection/correction: “The guys are odd-looking.” Charlie Hunnam (Lloyd) definitely wasn’t!
*POST AUTHOR*
Having seen both now, I really think I like Undeclared a little bit more– although F&G is amazing as well.
You are absolutely right about Lloyd though, but the extent to which he resembles 10 Things I Hate About You-era Heath Ledger is kind of creepy.
Lloyd was the one good-looking guy in every dorm, and the fact that he was hotter/cooler than all the others was frequently commented upon and drove storylines, so it wasn’t objectionable.
I can’t think of any additional praise to lavish upon this show. The OP encapsulated the appeal and quality of the show perfectly.
I just watched the series on DVD a few months ago and I loved it. I had decided to check it out after hearing the comparisons to Freaks & Geeks (which I also recently discovered and it quickly became one of my favorite shows). This series, although still very realistic, doesn’t have the same cringe-worthy scenes that you tend to get from F&G. It’s lighter (falling more into the the comedy category), but still very relatable. I too loved seeing these actors when they were so young. The guest stars just made it better too (especially F&G alumni – Busy Phillips, Martin Starr, Jason Segel, Samm Levine). Another show that didn’t get the respect it deserved…
Yay on covering Undeclared. I thought it was incredibly well-written and humorous. Although I secretly wished Busy Philips and Linda Cardellini could replace Monica Keena and Carla Gallo, I loved watching Jason Segel and Seth Rogen, as well as Timm Sharp, particularly towards the latter half of the series when they clearly clicked moreso with their characters.
I vaguely remember watching this a year or so ago. I remember the Adam Sandler ep tho. Guess I’ll have to find that DVD that has all the eps on it & rewatch again.