List of Freaks and Geeks characters

Lindsay Weir, played by the American actress Linda Cardellini, is the elder of the two Weir siblings and serves as the protagonist of the series Freaks and Geeks. In the show, she was a precocious teen who had a strong bond with her friend Millie Kentner. She pursued her scholastic career at McKinley High School with vigor and quickly established herself as a bright and thoughtful student, with exceptional academic achievements garnering recognition from her peers and teachers as well as being a standout member of the Mathletes.

After her grandmother's death, whom she considered the most upstanding and kindest person she had ever known, Lindsay begins to feel adrift, questioning the accepted norms of religion and social structures, which had previously given her a sense of purpose and security. She became an atheist after the last words her grandmother were that she saw "nothing” and that she was unhappy and afraid of dying.

According to her brother, not long after this Lindsay started hanging out with the "burnouts" or "freaks," who are known for being rebellious and less academically focused, a far cry from the expectations of her family and old friends, including her friend Millie.

She starts out being intimidated by the group, seen as a poser by Kim Kelly and pushed into more and more risk taking by the rest of the group. Lindsay grows to understand their motives and how to stand up for herself and set boundaries while staying friends. Despite the drastically different lifestyle from what she was used to, she strives to remain the same person: intelligent, thoughtful, and resilient. Although her good intentions do not always turn out for the best, especially when Lindsay is out of her depth and does not first listen to those she wants to help. Throughout the series, she continues to challenge the status quo and find her place in the world.

Samuel Harold Weir, portrayed by the American actor and film producer, John Francis Daley, is Lindsay Weir's younger brother. He is shorter and less physically developed than many of his peers and is often shy and timid when socialising with anyone other than his two closest friends and his family. With only a few exceptions, Sam usually sticks to manners and expectations that are consistent with the conventional middle class American values held by his family.

He finds solace in the common interests he has with his close friends Bill and Neal. They enjoy the comedy of Bill Murray and Steve Martin and TV shows like Saturday Night Live together and debate the merits of different science fiction universes. These interests combined with difficulty with social interaction has left Sam and his friends being labelled as "geeks."

Even though Sam enjoys his friends and the acceptance they give him, Sam yearns to be seen as something more than a geek and to be respected by the popular kids. He struggles to get rid of his geeky persona while trying to impress his school crush, Cindy Sanders. Even when his efforts are successful, it is usually short-lived and at a cost to his personal integrity and long standing friendships.

Sam and his friends are often bullied by other students like Alan White and his friends, Karen Scarfolli, and for a time Kim Kelly.

Sam was selected as the son for "The Perfect TV Family" by Entertainment Weekly.

Harold “Fiscal” Weir—played by Joe Flaherty—is the head of the Weir household. Harold is usually stern and strict but is also a loving father who intends to look out for the best interests of his children.

Though Harold is frequently yelling at the dinner table about bad role models and dealing out sometimes unreasonable punishments, he has a good sense of humour and enjoys seeing his family happy.

He owns and works at A1 Sporting Goods store, a small local business. Business is generally good, but he is worried about the possible impact that megastores will have.

Harold's biggest concern is with his children. He believes Lindsay is falling in with a bad crowd, and he has a strong distaste for her "burnout friends" although he later takes a shine to Nick after he gets kicked out of his house, by letting him stay at the Weirs' house and encourages him to practice drumming. Harold tells Lindsay that he is more helpful to Nick than to her because he expects more from her, and says that Nick's father is a "hard man" who reminds him of his own dad. It is also strongly implied that Harold's father physically abused him.

It is shown often that he is very proud of Lindsay for her intelligence and maturity and Sam for his kindness and morals. In the episode "Girlfriends and Boyfriends", Harold reveals to Lindsay that he lost his virginity to a prostitute while he was a soldier in Korea. Harold regrets that his first time was not special and comments that it was the "worst five dollars I've ever spent". He does not reflect on the feelings of the prostituted woman or girl in a nation at war, with a history of war-time sexual exploitation.

Jean Weir, portrayed by Becky Ann Baker, is a devoted mother and wife who often overlooks her own needs for the sake of the Weirs.

She provides for her family, especially when it comes to making meals and ensuring her kids' well-being, as well as giving them guidance and advice whenever they need it, even though sometimes she is oblivious to the issues her children are facing. They gather around the dinner table every evening and engage in meaningful conversation, something Jean cherishes deeply.

Despite rarely receiving the appreciation she deserves for her efforts, Jean is an incredibly kind and generous person who is always willing to lend a helping hand and show support for her family.

Although she is also concerned about the new friends Lindsay has made, she is tolerant and compassionate toward them. In particular, she allows Kim Kelly to stay over for dinner when it is clear Kim is emotionally distraught from her relationship problems and difficult home life.

Daniel Desario, played by James Franco, is a cool and charismatic burnout. Daniel is usually known at McKinley High School for two things: being with his girlfriend Kim Kelly and/or skipping class. He is somewhat selfish and very manipulative but often pulls through to help his friends, and is the leader of the freaks. Daniel hides the fact that he is eighteen years old and has been held back two grades in school. Also, Daniel plays guitar. His rebellious and anarchistic view of society often lead him into trouble. Though he is socially confident and acts apathetic towards his schoolwork, Daniel is secretly insecure about the fact that he does not do well in school, and doesn't think he is smart enough to succeed. Daniel has an older brother who is a drug addict, and lives with his two parents. He is taking care of his (never seen) father, who is unwell. His mother is seen to be over-worked and stressed, she also is shown to have little confidence in his scholastic abilities, once saying she wouldn't much mind if he dropped out of school altogether and began working a "crummy" minimum-wage job to bring cash home to the family.

Nick Andopolis, played by Jason Segel, is a member of the gang of freaks. He is friendly, mild-mannered, and kind, offsetting the somewhat caustic sense of humour that some of his friends share. Nick frequently uses marijuana; he was once a basketball player (a part of his backstory that comes from real life, as Segel was a star on his high school team) but was kicked off his team for drug possession. These days, Nick's overwhelming passion is music - more specifically, his 29-piece drum kit. Much to the objection of Nick's strict military father, Nick practices drumming frequently, usually neglecting schoolwork in the process. This leads to his dad to selling his entire drum set. Nick also has a tendency to smother his girlfriends with too much affection, which Lindsay Weir discovers firsthand after they begin dating.

Ken Miller, played by Seth Rogen, is wise-cracking and sarcastic. Whenever Ken opens his mouth, it is usually to let out a biting quip at the expense of someone around him. He has been friends with Daniel Desario since elementary school and later develops a relationship with Amy Andrews. He is very stubborn and doesn't back down from fights (in one episode, when asked if "he wants to go," he replies "I always wanna go!" as well as moshing enthusiastically in "Noshing and Moshing"). He is also seen to be intelligent, potentially more so than the other members of his friendship group. At the party in episode 2, he quickly catches on when the beer is switched with non-alcoholic beer, but instead of telling everybody, he decided to make some money in the game of quarters ($87.00, in total). He is shown to have a softer side in the later episodes of the series, particularly in his relationship with "tuba girl" Amy, who matches him wit for wit, prompting Ken to fall for her. In episode 17, it is revealed that Ken's parents are very wealthy and that he was raised by a nanny. He also says his post-high school plans involve inheriting his father's business when he dies, selling it off for a huge profit, and retiring to Hawaii.

Kim Kelly, played by Busy Philipps, is Daniel's on-and-off girlfriend throughout the series. Kim is a tough, short-tempered girl and is known by the other students for having sex, doing drugs and being tough in a fight.

She is often at odds with Daniel, usually accusing him of infidelity, sometimes with good cause, causing their relationship to be in constant disarray. However, despite their relationship troubles, over the course of the show the two stay together and demonstrate attraction and affection for one another.

Kim was originally dismissive and mean toward Lindsay and was reluctant to allow her to hang out in their group. She rightly notes that Lindsay is from a more affluent background than herself or Daniel, and is new to acting like a “freak” in terms of how she dresses and acts. Kim interprets this as Lindsay being a poser and untrustworthy. However, as the series progresses, the two eventually forge a strong friendship backed up by loyalty and empathy for each other. By the end of the series, Kim and Lindsay were best friends and spent most of their free time together.

Kim lives with her disapproving mother, her illiterate stepfather, and her brother, a peculiar young man named Chip who sleeps on the living room couch. Kim claims he has brain damage from having been attacked by police and clubbed in the head. He appears to sleep all the time. She doesn't get along with her parents, who criticize her for not getting good grades and for the company she keeps. Her parents frequently devolve into screaming matches with each other and Kim, often on edge from living in poverty in a house in a state of disrepair. One major conflict occurs when Kim’s parents try to take away her car. They view the car as belonging to the family, to let Kim use or sell if they want. Kim says her aunt — her mother’s sister — specifically gave it to her when she died of a cocaine overdose.

Bill Haverchuck, played by Martin Starr, is the geekiest of the geek gang. Bill is tall for his age, skinny and wears large glasses. Bill is unpretentious and somewhat immature, with an understated sense of humour. He remains the most mild-mannered and introverted of the three Geeks. He occasionally makes keen observations of other characters, usually in speaking to Sam and Neal. In addition to being a loyal friend, Bill is an avid fan of the television soap opera Dallas. He lives with his single mother Gloria “Glandeco” Haverchuck. He is extremely allergic to peanuts and almost dies after Alan White plants some of them in his sandwich as a prank in the episode "Chokin' and Tokin'". The reason for his serious medical problems is explained in the episode with his mother explaining how she used drugs and alcohol while pregnant with Bill.

Neal Schweiber, played by Samm Levine, is a self-proclaimed comic genius and ladies' man. Unlike Sam and Bill, Neal is usually very outgoing and often wants to be the centre of attention. He is Jewish, and humorously notes that he was once elected treasurer of his class when "I didn't even run!" He has an unrequited crush on Lindsay, and is dismayed (in Noshing and Moshing) when he sees her kissing his older, college-student brother Barry. He has an abundant amount of confidence and charisma, though it garners him no more respect or reputation than Sam or Bill. Neal is somewhat in denial that he is just as geeky as the rest of his friends. His father is a dentist and his mother a homemaker. His family is fairly well-to-do. Early in the series, Sam and Bill thought Neal's father was "cool" because he enjoyed the same TV shows they did and shared a similar sense of humour, but their opinions of him–as well as Neal's–changed when they discovered he was having an affair. He and Bill are supportive of Sam when he decides to break up with Cindy.