It's a project that almost didn't happen, largely because of the sizable clearance fees that had to be coughed up for every last Styx and Joan Jett song featured in the original shows. "We had to find a distributor who was willing to pay for the music, because it would cost over a million dollars for the rights," says Apatow. "We won't make any money on this-we just love the show and want people to be able to get it."

With the help of some equally devoted fans, Apatow and cocreator Paul Feig also produced a limited-edition eight-disc set, designed especially for hardcore Freaks and Geeks viewers. "We hired people we met through our website to work on it," says Apatow. "There is this woman named Tammy who came to my office every day to watch every piece of film." The efforts of Tammy and others yielded hours of unaired footage, filmed table readings, and even a live performance by Feedback, the fictitious rock band fronted by the show's guidance counselor, Mr. Rosso. The deluxe package also offers an 80-page "yearbook" compiled by the Freaks players and producers and, in Apatow's words, "way too many" audio commentary tracks, including one with the cast members' actual parents, "which is humorous if you like hearing parents say, 'Oh, look how handsome he is!'"

By now, Apatow is used to seeing his TV programs smothered in their infancy (his other short-lived series include The Ben Stiller Show and the post-Freaks college sitcom Undeclared), but he's comforted-slightly-by the digital immortality that a DVD collection provides. "I never want to do stupid things that I think would grab people's attention, because I know that I'm going to see the show forever," he says. "If I'm not proud of it, I'm really going to hate myself."