Comedy mensch Mike Sacks wrote a book called Poking a Dead Frog: Conversations With Today’s Top Comedy Writers that’s coming out next week. In it, he speaks to pretty much all of your favorite funny people, including Amy Poehler, Mel Brooks, Bill Hader, Patton Oswalt, and even he got Paul Feig to contribute the “Character Bible” he used for the late, great Freaks and Geeks. It’s fascinating for fans of the show, and incredibly detailed. (I imagine the 2 Broke Girls Bible is written on a Denny’s napkin). You can check out an excerpt here, but my favorite passage is “What They Listen To,” which collects “the bands that the freaks and geeks would be listening to in the Midwest in 1980.”
The Cars—geeks
Chicago—geeks
Asia—geeks, some freaks
Bee Gees—geeks
Black Sabbath—freaks
Blue Oyster Cult—freaks
Blood, Sweat & Tears—geeks
Eric Clapton—freaks, some geeks
Alice Cooper—freaks and geeks
Cheap Trick—freaks and geeks
Doobie Brothers—freaks and geeks
John Denver—geeks
Eagles—geeks, some freaks
ELO —geeks
Fleetwood Mac—geeks, freak girls
Foghat—freaks
Peter Frampton—freaks and geeks
Foreigner—freaks and geeks
Genesis—freaks
Jimi Hendrix—freaks
Iron Maiden—freaks
Elton John—geeks
Journey—freaks and geeks
Judas Priest—freaks
Kiss—geeks
John Lennon—freaks and geeks
Lynyrd Skynyrd—freaks and farmers
Marshall Tucker Band—freaks and farmers, some geeks
Meat Loaf—geeks
The Steve Miller Band—freaks and geeks
Van Morrison—nobody
Moody Blues—geeks
Tom Petty—geeks, some freaks
Prince (early)—nobody
Rolling Stones—freaks for early stuff, geeks for Some Girls
Rush—freaks
Roxy Music—nobody who’d admit it
Santana—freaks and geeks
Carly Simon—teachers
Simon & Garfunkel—teachers
Patti Smith—Creem-reading freaks
Bruce Springsteen—not very big in Midwest, some cooler geeks
The Police—freaks, a few geeks
Supertramp—geeks, some freaks
Jethro Tull—freaks and geeks
Queen—freaks and geeks
James Taylor—geeks, some freak girls
Jackson Brown—geeks, freaks who smoke lots of pot
Van Halen—freaks
Paul McCartney and Wings—geeks, some freaks
Yes—freaks, some geeks
ZZ Top—freaks, some geeks
Frank Zappa—only the coolest of freaks
Billy Joel—geeks
Bob Seger—geeks, some freaks
J. Geils Band—freaks for early stuff, geeks for “Centerfold” era
Led Zeppelin—freaks
April Wine—freaks, some geeks, lots of Canadians
Jeff Beck—cool freaks
Robin Trower—freaks
Three Dog Night—geeks
B-52s—nobody
Devo—very cool geeks
Elvis Costello—moody geeks, some freaks
Talking Heads—some geeks, some freaks, mostly no one
The Romantics—geeks, a few freaks
Sex Pistols—no one knows about them
The Ramones—them either
Jeez, what’s a Pure Prairie League gotta do to get some respect?
