Undeclared
Fox

For those 25 of us who were intense fans of NBC's short-lived "Freaks and Geeks", watching "Undeclared," the new series on Fox from F&G; executive producer Judd Apatow, is like having sex on the rebound.

It's somewhat fulfilling, it's better than nothing, but it's just not the same. It's not you, Judd, it's me. Or maybe it is you. I don't know. I'm just so confused right now.

It's been almost two years since its cancellation, so we F&G; fans should get over it. "Freaks and Geeks" was a one-of-a-kind event, a way-too-close-to-home examination of high school that was funny, sad, cringe-inducing and compelling, sometimes at the same moment. If you want to know what I'm talking about, watch the repeats still running on Fox Family Channel. So now we move on to "Undeclared," which instead of taking place in high school in 1980 is set in a college at right this very moment.

Like F&G;, Undeclared is supposed to lay bare those strange, awful, exhilarating moments of higher education, with humor but no laugh track.

The center of the series is Steven Karp, an 18-year-old freshman who had a seven-inch growth spurt after graduating high school and expects that to translate into studmania for his freshman year at his hometown University of North Eastern California. In a casting coup, Apatow got an actual 18-year-old (Jay Baruchel) to play him.

Baruchel's suitemates in his dorm include Lloyd (Charlie Hannum of the British "Queer as Folk"), a suave blonde ladies man, Marshall (Timm Sharp), a music major who seems perpetually stoned, and Ron (Seth Rogan, Ken the Freak from "Freaks and Geeks"), the studious yet most beer-oriented member of the crew.

Across the hall in the coed dorm are Rachel (Monica Keena of "Dawson's Creek"), a hottie prone to Tony Soprano-style panic attacks, and Lizzie (Carla Gallo of "Spanking the Monkey"), whose dorm, right down to her pillowcase, is decorated with pictures and collages created by her obsessive boyfriend (Jason Segel, Nick the Freak from F&G;).

There were some great moments in the first two episodes, like the resident advisor trying to calm down Rachel by telling her, "I've been here for six years and I get nervous, too." But there's not much that seems to be building toward a cohesive whole. One problem may be that the show is only 30 minutes, unlike the hour-long F&G;, just not enough time to build up a deep story. That could be one reason why the main characters' world seems hermetically sealed in the dorm.

And a big bowl of nothing so far has been the character of Steven's dad, played by troubadour Loudon Wainwright III — Rufus' father. He finds out his wife is dumping him and parties with the boys in the dorm for solace. The character was OK for the pilot episode, but what else do you do with him? It may have been better to make him some sort of wacked-out professor. That also would have given the characters someplace else to go.

Still, "Undeclared" is eminently watchable and better than probably 95 percent of what's on network television. However, there are signs already that Fox is following NBC's lesson in How to Short-Circuit an Apatow Show. The second episode, shown on Oct. 2, was supposed to be the fourth.

The actual second episode involved Steven trying to make Lizzie his girlfriend after a one-night stand prompted by a fight she had with her boyfriend. The second episode that aired showed Steven helping the boyfriend get back together with Lizzie after she dumps him, apparently for good. Huh? Now when the real second episode airs, it will make no sense.

According to one TV site's interpretation, Fox apparently panicked after seeing the premiere's low ratings and decided to rejigger the episode order, much like NBC did with F&G.; (NBC also almost never kept F&G; in the same time slot for two straight weeks.) It makes you wonder why Apatow didn't pitch his series straight to HBO, his employer as a producer on "The Larry Sanders Show," and avoid the commercial television wringer.

Maybe Apatow's on the rebound, too.

— Bob Cook (bobc@flakmag.com)