Discos and Dragons (8 Jul. 2000)

Nick explores disco, Lindsay listens to the Grateful Dead, and Daniel tries something new. What's cool? Friendship.

Director:

Paul Feig

Writers:

Paul Feig (creator), Paul Feig

Stars:

Linda Cardellini, John Francis Daley, James Franco

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Linda Cardellini	...	Lindsay Weir
John Francis Daley	...	Sam Weir
James Franco	...	Daniel Desario
Samm Levine	...	Neal Schweiber
Seth Rogen	...	Ken Miller
Jason Segel	...	Nick Andopolis
Martin Starr	...	Bill Haverchuck
Becky Ann Baker	...	Jean Weir
Joe Flaherty	...	Harold Weir
Busy Philipps	...	Kim Kelly
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dave Allen	...	Jeff Rosso (as Dave 'Gruber' Allen)
Samaire Armstrong	...	Laurie
Steve Bannos	...	Frank Kowchevski
Michael Beardsley	...	Humphries
Trace Beaulieu	...	Hector Lacovara

Storyline

The school year is ending. Over Ken's objections, Nick joins his new girlfriend, Sara, at the bowling alley's disco night. Lindsay receives an unexpected academic honor that puts her in a funk, so Mr. Rosso loans her the Dead's "American Beauty" to clear her head. Rosso punishes Daniel, who was about to break the law, by assigning him to the AV unit, where the geeks hang out; they resent the intrusion of someone cool, and Daniel is convinced he'll never do anything well. Sam wants to stop doing geek things, so he's crossing Dungeons and Dragons off his list. Where does friendship fit?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 July 2000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Apatow Productions, DreamWorks Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

44 min 43 min 44 min (17 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lindsey drives off in a "Dead Head" van with a picture of the "Cosmic Cutie" from 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' painted on the side with the words "Stay calm", a play on the Guide's catchphrase: "Don't panic."

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Goofs

When Daniel is setting up the movie in the English class, the poster of books behind him shows "The Color Purple". This book wasn't written until 1982.

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Quotes

Daniel Desario: Greetings Princess. It is I, Carlos the Dwarf. The dragon has been slain and you're free to rule your kingdom.

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Connections

References Hemo the Magnificent (1957)

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Soundtracks

"Box of Rain"
(uncredited)
Written by Robert Hunter and Phil Lesh
Performed by The Grateful Dead

User Reviews

It wasn't planned, but this was a great way to end the series

Kind of shocked there aren't any user reviews of what ultimately turned out to be the last episode of the greatest "one-season" show in TV history. I guess I'll just have to crank one out.

I caught it again last night on The Sundance Channel, and it pretty much encapsulates all of which was great about this show (i.e. excellent period re-creation, and cringe-worthy laugh out-loud dialog set to a great soundtrack).

The geeks hold their famous Dungeons & Dragons game, and somehow rope James Franco (as the coolest freak Daniel) to show up, who they met in the A/V club, where Dan was serving detention. Amazingly, Daniel seems to have fun bonding with the geeks and tells them so, even though they're nursing diet Faygo soda as the night's drink of choice. The geeks take this as a plus, and they just might be getting a teeny bit cooler (in their minds, anyway).

Meanwhile, Jason Segel as Nick has quit smokin' weed, and has hooked up with a new babe (Lizzy Caplan's Sara) but still pines for Lindsay. Sara has got him entering a dance contest at the local bowling alley/disco club, which fortunately was a short-lived phenomenon of early-80's suburbia. Even though Nick can't come close to competing with a disco dancing magician, he gives it his best shot in a dance which gets more painful each time I view it. Of course, Seth Rogen as Ken (sporting some bitchin' sideburns he seemed to have copped from Springsteen's "The River" album cover) shows up to heckle all that was disco, including Joel Hodgson reprising his role as the smarmy mall store manager, now moonlighting and spinning Gloria Gaynor records.

Finally, Linda Cardellini as Lindsay has duped her parents into thinking she's heading to an academic summit in Ann Arbor when summer starts, when in fact she gets off the bus at the Univ. of Mich. terminal and quickly hops into a late 60's VW van, heading out on The Golden Road to follow The Grateful Dead on tour with Kim and another couple, all to the calming tones of Jerry G. crooning Ripple off "American Beauty". It was enough to get a cynical, middle-aged guy a small lump in his throat.