The Big Picture
- Joe Flaherty’s portrayal of Mr. Weir set a high standard for tough-loving fathers on TV.
- Many of Flaherty’s best moments as Mr. Weir occurred at the dinner table.
- Flaherty’s performance in
Freaks and Geeks
remains a timeless classic and a cult-classic staple.
There will be no Grateful Dead played in his house; it leads to sex, drugs, and death, obviously. But because it was Mr. Harold Weir, played by the bright, big-hearted Joe Flaherty, we’ve let it slide for all these years. A prominent Canadian comedian, Joe Flaherty is known for his work on the Canadian comedy series, SCTV, and as the oddball heckler yelling at Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore. His performance as Harold Weir in the cult-classic series, Freaks and Geeks, has become another one of his defining roles, and while the show was a fleeting moment in pop culture and lasted only one season, it’s legacy and Flaherty’s portrayal of a straight and arrow father trying to understand his teenage children will last forever.
Debuting on Fox in 1999, Freaks and Geeks was created by Paul Feig; Judd Apatow came on board to executive produce alongside Feig, and the series is now considered to be a cult-classic masterpiece. It launched the careers of Linda Cardellini, Jason Segel, James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Busy Philipps, while also revitalizing Flaherty’s career and introducing him to a new generation of audiences.
Freaks and Geeks
A 16-year-old high school student leaves behind the mathletes for the burnouts instead, and turns her and her family’s lives upside down.
- Release Date
- September 25, 1999
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Seasons
- 1
What Is ‘Freaks and Geeks’ About?
Freaks and Geeks is a 1980s period piece set at the fictional William McKinley High School in suburban Michigan, starring Cardellini as 16-year-old Lindsay Weir, a blossoming burnout, who leaves the mathletes behind to hang out with the stoners under the bleachers, instead. On the other side of the bleachers were the geeks, led by Lindsay’s little brother, Sam (John Francis Daley), who sets off rockets, fends off bullies, and tries to talk to girls with his two best buddies.
Flaherty enters the screen as Mr. Weir, a no-nonsense father running the local hardware store who is the epitome of a classic American dad in the 80s. A Second City alum, Flaherty collaborated with the likes of John Belushi and Bill Murray, making his own mark on 1970s and ’80s comedy with his straight-edged, deadpan comedy. As Lindsay continuously veers left instead of right as the series continues, Mr. Weir enters the driver’s seat and tries every way to get her back on track. Mrs. Jean Weir (Becky Anne Baker) had the perfect softness to Flaherty’s hard edges, and they became an imperfect parenting team whose imperfections made them so real.
Most of Joe Flaherty’s Best Moments Came at the Dinner Table in ‘Freaks and Geeks’
Flaherty set the bar high for tough-love fathers on television. Mr. Weir is a wary, rock and roll-hating baby boomer who despises what the youths are getting into these days. While many famous fathers on television are known for their toughness, Flaherty also gives warmth as a tough-loving father. Thanks to his prolific comedic background, he was able to spin every punishment and piece of advice into a joke, and the series was better for it. Memorably, in one scene, he listens to an entire Grateful Dead record before giving Lindsay permission to go see them in concert, becoming disturbed by the potential profanity behind the lyrics, allowing his imagination to run wild. Feig was clearly winking at the audience, as the co-founding member of the Grateful Dead was named Bob Weir.
Joe Flaherty is given a great introduction in the pilot episode at the dinner table, the place that would become the most important location to teach his kids. No dad has had a better opening scene, as he angrily eats spoonfuls of a delicious dinner made by his charming wife, Jean. Dealing out wisdom while scooping up the peas on his plate, he tells Lindsay, “You know, I had a friend who used to smoke. You know what he’s doing now? He’s dead. You think smoking makes you look cool? Let’s dig him up now and see how cool he looks.” That’s some parental wisdom that’s bound to stick, and it has for many fans of the series as that speech has become famous.
Everything is a conspiracy for Mr. Weir, and everything bad leads to death, which becomes a running gag in the show. That first dinner table scene is an iconic moment for Flaherty, and Mr. Weir continued to have his best moments at the dinner table, whether he was hanging around in his boxers or aiming fire at Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin for being dead. Flaherty’s comedic timing was always spot-on, and he becomes increasingly involved with Lindsay and her fellow burnout friends in attempts to steer them away from debauchery.
Mr. Weir Gave Lots of Memorable Advice, Particularly to a Young Jason Segel as Nick
Mr. Weir was not only just a wisdom-imparting father to Lindsay and Sam, as he also became a father figure to several of the aimless teens in the series, most of them uncaring in their dismissal of the future. Yes, much of Flaherty’s time on the series was filled with jokes about dead rockers and the perils of smoking, but he also had a touching, sympathetic side as Mr. Weir. Later on in the series, he gives some of his best advice to the meandering Nick Andopolis, played by Jason Segel. An aspiring drummer who spends more time getting high than practicing, Nick gets in one too many fights with his father and winds up at his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Lindsay’s, house. To everyone’s horror in the family room, Nick begins blasting “Tom Sawyer” by RUSH and then prepares for a fight as Mr. Weir enters his room.
Instead of a fight, Mr. Weir passionately gives Nick some hard truths about growing up, and it’s some of Flaherty’s best acting in the series. As Nick makes up stories about his lack of trying, Mr. Weir refuses the excuses: “You can’t be that easy on yourself, Nick. Push yourself. You’re a smart kid.” It’s a memorable line of dialogue that goes on to symbolize much more than just the scene at hand. For a series about growing up and the resistance many of the teens put up with doing so, Flaherty recites a crucial lesson that reflects what a powerful series Freaks and Geeks was. As “Tom Sawyer” blares, Mr. Weir has both never been more connected to the younger generation and a more grounding father figure.
Thank God We Never Got ‘Freaks and Geeks’ Season 2
“’Cause freaks go all the way.”
The music itself of Freaks and Geeks is a character, as every teen identifies themselves with their favorite band, whether it’s Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd. The fact that much of Harold Weir’s character is based off his distrust of that music is not a mistake, but a fantastic irony that Flaherty took in stride. Mr. Weir symbolized the disconnect between two generations; they may have been seated next to each other at the dinner table, but him and his children couldn’t have been more miles apart. Flaherty was given the opportunity to portray the comic helplessness of parents realizing that their kids are becoming their own person, and his frustrated, unconditional love is tangible. Though we may always be left wondering what happened to everyone at McKinley High, we won’t be left wondering if Mr. Weir kept on hating rock music—Flaherty fully convinced us of that.
Freaks and Geeks is available to watch on Hulu in the U.S.
Watch on Hulu
