Undeclared 

College freshman Steve Karp, his girlfriend and their fellow dormmates embark on one the greatest experiences of their lives. Unfortunately for Steve, his lonely and recently divorced father is tagging along for the ride.

Creator:

Judd Apatow

Stars:

Jay Baruchel, Carla Gallo, Charlie Hunnam

Cast

Series cast summary:
Jay Baruchel	...	Steven Karp 18 episodes, 2001-2003
Carla Gallo	...	Lizzie Exley 18 episodes, 2001-2003
Charlie Hunnam	...	Lloyd Haythe 18 episodes, 2001-2003
Monica Keena	...	Rachel Lindquist 18 episodes, 2001-2003
Seth Rogen	...	Ron Garner 18 episodes, 2001-2003
Timm Sharp	...	Marshall Nesbitt 18 episodes, 2001-2003
Christina Payano	...	Tina Ellroy / ... 12 episodes, 2001-2003
Loudon Wainwright III	...	Hal Karp 12 episodes, 2001-2002
Jarrett Grode	...	Perry 11 episodes, 2001-2003
Leroy Adams	...	Adam / ... 8 episodes, 2001-2003
Jason Segel	...	Eric 8 episodes, 2001-2003

Storyline

Misadventures of college freshman Steven Karp, his fellow freshman and first ever girlfriend Lizzie Exley, Steven's self-confidant sophisticated womanizing British college roommate Lloyd Haythe, Lizzie's endearing college roommate with a wild side Rachel Lindquist, Steven's chubby happy-go-lucky college roommate Ron Garner, Steven's weird college roommate Marshall Nesbitt, Lizzie's loving but obsessive ex boyfriend Eric, and Steven's sympathetic geeky dad, who's just been dumped by Steven's mom which triggered his midlife crisis.

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Plot Keywords:

college | college roommate | college freshman | misadventure | british | 

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Taglines:

Forget about home. There's no place like a co-ed dorm.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Campus - Reif für die Uni?

Filming Locations:

UCLA, Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Apatow Productions, DreamWorks Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Judd Apatow wanted Jason Segel to play the lead role of Steven, but FOX rejected the idea, so Segel ended up in the supporting role of Eric instead.

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Goofs

The exterior shot of the dorm the characters reside in is only 3 stories high, yet the characters live on the 4th floor and Hillary lives on the 10th floor.

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Quotes

[Lloyd thinks life is meaningless]
Perry: Oh, what's the matter, dollface? Down in the dumps? Sucks to be you, huh? What's the matter, Lloyd's of London? You take one "mind-blowing" philosophy class, and all of a sudden you're Jean-Paul Sartre? Oh, so now you've got this existentialist-hook-thing too? Well, that's great, because all you need is a little more mystique! Now you've got a chance with all the freaky chicks I was gonna get! I've taken so much acne medication, MY LIPS ARE SPLITTING IN HALF! ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Each episode has a scene or outtake during the end credits.

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Connections

Referenced in This Is Comedy (2014)

User Reviews

No Freaks and Geeks, but it was good (and getting better every episode)

Apatow's followup to Freaks and Geeks was this Fox series, about college freshmen living dorm life. Watching this after F&G was probably a mistake, because it pales in comparison. Or at least it seems to at first. It's more sit-commy, and at only a half-hour, compared to the full hour of the earlier show, it doesn't seem to have the time to develop its characters. Over the first half of the episodes or so, I was thinking it was okay, but not too much over mediocre. But then I started to latch onto it, started to like its quirky sensibilities. It may be closer to a sit-com than F&G, but it's no Home Improvement or Full House. The show stars Jay Baruchel as Steven, a skinny, geeky kid who is attending a college so close to home his dad (Loudon Wainwright III) pops in to visit him frequently, much to his mortification. Lizzie (Carla Gallo) is the girl whom Steven falls for right off the bat, and who quickly submits to his advances to spite her obsessive, 25 year-old boyfriend, Eric (Jason Segel, who isn't a regular but pops up every couple of episodes). Lloyd (Charlie Hunnam) is Steven's British roommate who can bed pretty much any girl he sets his eyes on. Their neighbors are Ken (Seth Rogan) and Marshall (Timm Sharp), while Rachel (Monica Keena) rooms with Lizzie. Several famous guest stars pop up in the series, including Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler and Ben Stiller, all of whom are hilarious. A lot of the actors from F&G also appear, and it's a delight every time they do. Even though I did eventually like the show, I had problems with it. I really disliked the British kid, whom, for the longest time, I thought wasn't British but just feigning an accent. Turns out he really is British, but he's still mostly insufferable. The Rachel character was also pretty boring. Apatow's movies have been frequently criticized for lacking strong female characters, a criticism I do actually agree with. Freaks and Geeks, despite only having two major female characters, doesn't fall into that criticism, but Undeclared does. Lizzie and Rachel are mostly there just for sex, while the guys are usually involved in much more interesting situations. The show is pretty sex-obsessed. Of course, college freshmen are, too, at least the guys, and definitely some of the girls. But, I don't know, when I was lived in the dorm, the existence of sex was taken mostly on hearsay. The couple of people I did know who got laid in the dorms were either total jerks or ended up living out their time there very awkwardly avoiding the person or persons they slept with. I think the Fox factor was working here (F&G was on NBC, fwiw). The best episodes are the ones with Jason Segel, who is often accompanied by his co-workers from the copy shop, David Krumholtz and Kyle Gass. Segel was one of the best actors in F&G, and he's extremely hilarious here, especially the episode where he discovers that Lizzie slept with Steven.