the first wave of what we now have, remarkably specific niche programming. >> "freaks and gks" rely sympathized with the losers and had great empathy for its characters. ♪ go ahead and laugh at me because you don't see ♪ ♪ i got something going on right here ♪ >> "freaks and geeks" breaks my heart every time i think about it. >> i'm sorry. did i crush your twinkies? >> it lasted 18 episodes. and they're perfect 18 episodes but nbc hated it so much. >> roll down the windows because i gots a big one a-brewing. >> they thought it was a show by losers, about losers for losers. they hated it. they wanted no part of it. they killed it. >> at the end of the '90s, the jig is starting to be up for the networks. basically quality migrates to cable.