“Undeclared” is a Judd Appatow–produced sitcom that follows protagonist Steven Karp (Jay Baruchel), his three suitemates and their two female neighbors at the start of their freshman year. The show also features Steven’s dad, who lives near campus and announced his divorce to Steven and his friends on move–in day.
Between the regulars and the guest stars, “Undeclared” has a cast packed with true comedy all–stars: Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Amy Poehler, Kevin Hart and Busy Phillipps—just to name a few.
The group tackles typical freshman issues ranging from comedic to serious. Steven’s suitemate Marshall struggles with not falling asleep in class. Neurotic Rachel tries to control her panic attacks. Lizzie deals with her obsessive boyfriend from home. Steven copes with his parents’ split while finding a way to force Lizzie into a breakup of her own. Ron looks for every container in which he could possibly store beer. And Lloyd finds himself lying about having herpes to avoid hooking up with the RA, who is very interested in him and his Australian–sounding British accent. But even with all of their problems, they are so excited to finally be in college, “a place where we can stay up ’til 11, pierce whatever we want and eat candy all day.”
As easy as it is to laugh at the characters, they are also quite relatable; even 12 years after the show aired, these characters still feel real enough to be your friends (granted, friends that desperately need to update their wardrobes). The show has some moments that feel a bit dated, but the elements that are so 2001 make it even funnier. It’s hard not to laugh at college students playing beer pong with actual ping–pong paddles, or the boys putting a blue scrunchie on the doorknob to signal an “occupied” room.
For reasons unbeknownst to a superfan like me, the show only aired for one season. These 17 episodes, at about 22 minutes each, make for an easy but worthwhile Netflix commitment. All in all, “Undeclared” is highly recommended for anyone who loves “Freaks and Geeks” (another worthy Netflix endeavor) or anyone who likes to laugh and remember the moments when you, too, were an awkward freshman.
Best for: Quad hall reunions
Worst for: SWUGs
