Buzz
After Freaks and Geeks was destined to leave behind a lasting legacy, Judd Apatow, the show's executive producer, decided to venture into network television once more and create Undeclared. The series, which debuted on September 25, 2001, followed a group of freshmen at the made-up University of Northeastern California, focusing especially on the struggles of the socially awkward and overly kind Steven Karp (played by then-newcomer Jay Baruchel).
While Steven contends with his recently divorced and lonely father Hal (Loudon Wainwright III), he must also manage his feelings for his neighbor Lizzie (Carla Gallo), the fellow freshman with whom he shared his first sexual experience, and navigate his relationships with his roommates, including Ron Garner (Seth Rogen) and Lloyd Haythe (Charlie Hunnam). The show featured a notable cast of future stars, such as Amy Poehler as the head RA Hillary, Jason Segel as Lizzie's possessive ex-boyfriend Eric, and Kevin Hart as the devout Luke. To mark the series' 15th anniversary, here are 15 key facts about Undeclared.
1. JUDD APATOW CAME UP WITH THE CONCEPT TO ENSURE THE FREAKS AND GEEKS CAST AND CREW STAYED EMPLOYED.
"I had such a great time with my writing and production teams that I simply wanted to keep everyone employed," Apatow explained about Undeclared's creation. "So we thought, what kind of show could we make that would allow us to hire many of these same people and bring back many of the same actors? We figured, by the time we get this show going, most of the Freaks and Geeks cast would be in college, so why not do a college-themed show? It was honestly that simple."
2. APATOW CAST THE ACTORS BEFORE WRITING THE SCRIPT.
Fox commissioned six episodes without even reviewing a script, giving Apatow the opportunity to chat with the actors about their experiences as college freshmen. He then developed the characters based on their stories. The actors were also encouraged to improvise and have fun with the dialogue.
3. JASON SEGEL WAS FIRST CHOSEN TO PLAY STEVEN KARP.
However, Fox didn't think Segel was underdog enough for the role. Instead, Apatow cast the Freaks and Geeks actor in the recurring part of Eric, Lizzie's obsessive ex-boyfriend.
4. JAY BARUCHEL WON THE LEAD ROLE OVER A REALITY TV STAR.
Colin Mortensen from Real World: Hawaii auditioned for Steven. "Thank goodness you beat that guy," Rogen told Baruchel during the 2011 PaleyFest reunion.
5. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III WAS RELUCTANT TO AUDITION.
The musician/actor disliked auditions, and the idea of performing in front of network executives was particularly stressful for him. So, Apatow simply told Fox that Wainwright was out of town. Instead, he presented the network with a tape of Wainwright's performance. "I spared him the hassle, even though he was just five minutes away at the time," Apatow confessed.
6. IN A WAY, IT PLAYED A ROLE IN KICKSTARTING DANNY MCBRIDE'S CAREER.
Timm Sharp, who portrayed Steven's suitemate Marshall Nesbitt, had to pull out of David Gordon Green's All the Real Girls (2003), where he was cast as "Bust-Ass." Danny McBride eventually took over the role, marking his feature film debut.
7. TOM WELLING AUDITIONED, BUT APATOW FELT HE WAS TOO HANDSOME.
“I had Tom Welling come in to audition for Undeclared, and he was fantastic, but just too good-looking,” Apatow shared with The New York Times in 2007. “We gave him a small role as a frat brother in the first episode. I’d tell people, 'That’s the next Tom Cruise.' Six weeks later, he landed the role of Superman in Smallville.”
8. APATOW IMPLEMENTED A "NO NAPSTER JOKES" POLICY.
"I wanted the show to remain somewhat timeless," Apatow explained in October 2001, shortly after the series premiered. "I didn’t want to make countless Napster jokes, and then have Napster shut down, making my show look outdated in reruns years later. I aimed to create a show that would hopefully still make sense in 10 years, even if some references change."
9. A WHOLE STORY ARC FEATURING TED NUGENT WAS REMOVED AND REPLACED IN THE SECOND EPISODE.
In "Oh, So You Have a Boyfriend", the main plot focused on Steven and Lizzie attending a campus screening of American Pie (1999). In the original version, which was ultimately never aired and titled "Full Bluntal Nugety," their first date took them to a Ted Nugent lecture, where the man himself made a cameo. Fox decided that the inclusion of Ted Nugent might be "too obscure."
10. KEVIN RANKIN REMEMBERED AMY POEHLER FEELING INSECURE.
Kevin Rankin, who played RA Lucien, compared Amy Poehler—who officially joined SNL a few weeks into Undeclared's run—to a Beatle in 2010. "She's like John Lennon in her comedic genius," he recalled. "She was so insecure; after each take, she would say, 'That wasn’t funny.' I'd reply, 'No, you’re doing great,' not fully realizing who she really was at the time."
11. MENTIONING TOPHER GRACE LED TO A FEUD.
Mark Brazill, co-creator of That 70s Show, was furious when he found out from a third party that Apatow wanted to bring Topher Grace, the star of his show, to guest star on Undeclared. In a heated email exchange that was later made public, Brazill accused Apatow of stealing a concept he intended to use for a new series idea for a sketch on The Ben Stiller Show.
12. FOX DEMANDED A LAUGH TRACK.
Baruchel recalled that during the show’s production, the cast and crew always felt as though a "sword was hanging over our heads"—the constant threat of cancellation. "They thought we needed a laugh track, as if the audience wouldn’t know when to laugh otherwise," Baruchel explained. "We’d receive notes like, 'We want it to feel more like Road Trip,' whatever that even means."
13. APATOW DIDN'T HANDLE THE PENDING CANCELLATION WELL.
Apatow framed a glowing review from TIME magazine of Undeclared and sent it to the Fox executive about to cancel the show after only 17 episodes. Attached was a note that included some colorful language.
14. BOTH SUPERBAD AND ADVENTURELAND HAD THEIR ORIGINS ON THE SET OF UNDECLARED.
Seth Rogen’s television writing career began with Undeclared, where he showed Apatow a script he and his friend Evan Goldberg had written called Superbad. Apatow organized a table read with Rogen and Segal as the leads, David Krumholtz and Kyle Gass—who both played Rogen's friends on the show—as the cops, and as Superbad director Greg Mottola later recalled, the rest of the Undeclared cast reading the other roles. Mottola, who directed five episodes of Undeclared, immediately asked Apatow to keep him in mind if the movie ever came to life.
Mottola would later go on to write and direct Adventureland (2009), a project that began after a night of drinking with the Undeclared writers. "One evening I was having drinks with the writers of Undeclared, and we swapped stories about the worst jobs we'd ever had. I shared a story about working at an amusement park on Long Island in 1985, the kind of place where someone might pull a knife if they were trying to get a better prize," Mottola recalled. "At some point, Jenny Konner, one of my friends and a writer on the show, suggested, 'You should write about that.' I had already begun outlining a young-love story, and I realized, 'That fits perfectly.'"
15. A FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL DVD EXTRA REVEALED THE FATES OF STEVEN, LIZZIE, AND ERIC.
Segel explained that nothing significant came of Steven and Lizzie’s relationship; years later, Eric and Lizzie had a one-night fling, but Eric was still hung up on her. When Carla Gallo was asked about her character’s future, she suggested that Lizzie would likely still be single. "I imagine she’s out there, still annoying everyone with her peppy attitude," Gallo mused. "Maybe she’s still living with Rachel. They’d still be single women, going out and trying to find a man."
