Freaks and Geeks/The Garage Door

The Garage Door
Season 1, Episode 12
Airdate	March 13, 2000
Production Number	111
Written by	Gabe Sachs, Jeff Judah, Patty Lin
Directed by	Bryan Gordon
← 1x11 Looks and Books	1x13 → Chokin' and Tokin'
Freaks and Geeks — Season One

The Garage Door is the twelfth episode of the first season of Freaks and Geeks. Sam finds out that Dr. Schweiber may be having an affair, and the Geeks attempt to find out for sure. Ken meets and falls for a cute band-girl. Daniel and Kim deal with unresolved issues, as do Lindsay and Nick.

Guest Stars: Sam McMurray (Dr. Schweiber), Jessica Campbell (Amy), Amy Aquino (Mrs. Schweiber), David Bowe (Salesman), Tava Smiley (Carol), Jody Jones (Cowboy), Jane Morris (Hygienist), Ben Hecht (Walter)

Plot Overview

The episode begins with Sam and the Geeks hanging out at Neal's place, where all of them are impressed by how cool Dr. Schweiber is. The next day, Neal has dinner at the Weir's because his mom is out playing tennis and his dad (who's a dentist) is performing surgery. Lindsay sneaks out of the house to meet up with the Freaks at a diner. There, Kim advises Lindsay to act coldly towards Nick to make sure he knows their relationship is over. Daniel tells Nick to do the same, but with the hope that it'll draw Lindsay to him. On the way out of the diner, the Freaks bump into Amy, a friend of Lindsay's who manages to one-up Ken with her sarcastic quips.

Sam and Mrs. Weir go to a department store after Neal's mom picks him up, where Sam sees Dr. Schweiber embracing a woman. Dr. Schweiber explains that he's there to buy Neal an Atari game system, and that the woman is actually an old school friend, but Sam remains dubious. The next day, feeling miserable about what he saw, he confides in Bill. Neal informs them that his dad bought him an Atari, and invites them over to play. In the evening, Sam and Bill end up telling Neal about what Sam saw. This angers Neal, who doesn't believe them at first; his suspicion is aroused, however, when he finds a garage remote controller in his dad's car. Nick suggests that the Freaks attend a laser show featuring Pink Floyd. Kim is annoyed by this because Daniel went to a laser show with another girl in the past, and because he's become non-confrontational with her. Ken is now fascinated by Amy, and Daniel offers to help out by asking Lindsay to talk to her on his behalf.

The next day, Lindsay invites Amy to the laser show while telling her that Ken likes her; to her surprise, Amy appears equally interested in Ken. Neal gets the Geeks to come along with him to find his dad's 'love nest' by cruising the streets looking for the garage door that responds to the remote controller he found. As night descends upon them, Sam and Bill pull out and head home, leaving an angry and frustrated Neal on his own. Neal eventually finds the garage door. When Sam gets home he finds that his parents have bought him an Atari. Having witnessed the emotions Neal was dealing with because of his dad's infidelity, this gesture causes Sam to break down in tears. At the laser show, Ken and Amy hit it off and Kim and Daniel settle their differences, leaving Nick and Lindsay looking on awkwardly.

Notes

Featured Music

• "25 Or 6 To 4" performed by McKinley High Marching Band
• "When The Saints Go Marching In" performed by McKinely High Marching Band
• "Go, Fight, Win" performed by McKinley High Marching Band
• "Beautiful Loser" by Bob Seger
• "Let The Good Times Roll" by The Cars
• "Karn Evil #9" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
• "Devil Went Down To Georgia" by The Charlie Daniels Band
• "Amie" by Pure Prairie League
• "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Dr. Schweiber's affair: Neal learns that his dad is having an affair.

• Lindsay and her parents: Since she was forbidden from hanging out with the Freaks, Lindsay now lies about where she's going to her parents in order to meet up with them.

• Nick and Lindsay: They're at an awkward stage where they both try to ignore one another for different reasons.

• Sam gets an Atari: Sam's parents buy him an Atari game console.

• Ken gets a girlfriend: Ken gets together with Amy, a tuba player from the school band.

Characters

• Neal: Has to deal with the fact that his perfect family life is an illusion.

• Ken: Has strong feelings towards a girl for the first time, and meets his match when it comes to sarcastic quips.

• Nick: Still has feelings for Lindsay, which he realizes are not reciprocated.

Referbacks

• Breaking up the Band & The Kiss: Ken insults Lindsay by sarcastically referring back to the time the Freaks' band broke up because of her, an incident that led to Lindsay kissing Nick. These events occurred in the episode I'm With the Band.

• Quitting Mathletes a Second Time: Lindsay mentions to Amy that she quite the mathletes twice - the second time was in the previous episode, Looks and Books.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Saturday Night Live: The Geeks are watching the comedy variety show 'Saturday Night Live' at the start of the episode, with Neal lamenting the loss of Bill Murray, who appeared in the show between 1977 and 1980.

• Ordinary People (1980): Neal asks Linday if she's seen 'Ordinary People', the 1980 drama directed by Robert Redford.

• Atari 2600: The Atari game console that is talked about in this episode is probably the Atari VCS (Video Computer System), later called the Atari 2600, which was released in 1977. The game the Geeks play, Asteroids, was an extremely popular arcade game that was in actual fact released on the 2600 in 1981, and was not available in 1980.

• Microwave Ovens: The salesman at the department store tries to demonstrate the wonders of microwave ovens to Mrs. Weir. The technology only started to take off as domestic products in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and were relatively new in 1980.

• Captain Kirk Impression: Dr Schweiber does an imitation of Star Trek's Captain Kirk when Sam bumps into him at the department store by speaking in the same way the Captain would have - with long, dramatic pauses between words.

• Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall Part Two (1979): Nick 'sings' the lines "If you don't eat yer meat, You can't have any pudding" from the Pink Floyd song.

• Stanford and Son (1972-1977): Bill quotes the 1970s TV series when Neal mentions he almost had a heart attack by saying - "It's a big one! Elizabeth, I'm coming to join you honey!"

Memorable Moments

• Ken meets his sarcastic match when the Freaks bump into Amy.

• Daniel confronts Ken about his crush on the 'tuba player'.

• Sam and Lindsay discuss the possibility of Mr. Weir having an affair and burst into laughter.

• Sam has an uncomfortable dental checkup with Dr Schweiber.

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