Seth Rogen Calls Out TV Executive Responsible for Cancelling ‘Freaks and Geeks’

Seth Rogen turned on the TV executive who cancelled his cult TV series Freaks and Geeks after coming face to face with him at the weekend.

The tv series, which launched the careers of Rogen, James Franco, Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini and Busy Philipps, was taken off the air 14 years ago, but Rogen still holds a grudge against Garth Ancier, the NBC boss who shut down the series.

And on Saturday, he got the chance to vent his frustration.

Rogen took to Twitter on Sunday and wrote, “Last night I was in a room with the dude who cancelled Freaks and Geeks. And yes, I did totally call him out on it.”

Last night I was in a room with the dude who cancelled Freaks and Geeks. And yes, I did totally call him out on it.

— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) October 12, 2014

And during an interview with the Huffington Post on Tuesday, Rogen detailed the meeting and added, “I was at Saturday Night Live watching backstage… and I overheard someone say the name of the guy who cancelled Freaks and Geeks. I know his name, obviously, because we’ve talked about how stupid he was for the last 15 years.”

When asked if he received an apology from the executive, Rogen replied, “No. He was like, ‘You know, I kept telling (show creator) Judd (Apatow), give them a victory, give them a victory’, and I was like, ‘The whole show was about how, in high school, you always lose all the time and that’s it!’ He went to a private school and was very rich as a child.'”

Ancier gave his side of the story on his Facebook page shortly after catching up with Rogen, and wrote, “In the writers room at SNL tonight, still taking some mild abuse for cancelling Freaks and Geeks 14 years ago… once again, Judd Apatow and cast, sorry!”

After Rogen went public with their confrontation, Ancier added, “I absolutely hated canceling this particular show. It was clear from the very beginning that Freaks and Geeks had great writing from Judd and Paul Feig, and a tremendous cast. This was an awful decision that has haunted me forever.

“For what it is worth, I have watched all of the episodes over and over again on Netflix, and asked myself what I could have done better to save it.

“To be honest, I thought we had a nice conversation that evening. I have a strong feeling that the tweet was on behalf of Freaks and Geeks fans. After all, he and his co-stars (James Franco, etc.) have all become movie stars, and had the show continued…”

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