I just got my 8-disc limited edition DVD set of Freaks and Geeks, which I have decided is my favorite TV show ever. That’s saying a lot. It’s like Fast Times at Ridgemont High in many ways, and not just because it takes place at a high school in the early ’80s — it deals with recognizable types who are also almost universally convincing as real people. And it nails everything, delivering on every level.

As much as I love The Simpsons and South Park, Family Guy and everything coming out of Williams Street, even Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gilmore Girls, I think Freaks and Geeks edges them all out. Slightly.