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Friendly faces at TV Land Awards

Paul Feig shoots down Freaks and Geeks reboot rumours; The Wonder Years cast reassembles.

"I think TV Land is so awesome because it’s like going back home to something comfortable,” Marie Osmond said on the red carpet for the TV Land Awards in Beverly Hills on Saturday night. “It’s a friendly place in this crazy world.” As Osmond forecasted, the evening was full of friendly faces from beloved TV series.

Host Terry Crews was particularly excited to fete Betty White with the Legend Award. “She’s part of everyone’s life,” Crews said of White. “Everyone, the oldest and the youngest, know and love something that Betty White has been in.”

Also being honoured at the ceremony was cult hit Freaks and Geeks, the short-lived Paul Feig and Judd Apatow outing that was cancelled after one season in 2000. The show’s 15th anniversary was commemorated through reassembling the now all-star cast, with Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini, Martin Starr and Busy Philipps all in attendance. Feig attributes the show’s continuing popularity to its relatability. “We spent all of our time concentrating on the human emotions,” he said. “It wasn’t about references to the ‘70s and the ‘80s, it was really about the human condition at that time of your life. I think those emotions are the same two thousand years ago as they are two thousand years from now. I think that’s why it hasn’t gotten dated.” Despite mounting fan pressure to reboot the series or turn it into a movie, Feig doesn’t have plans to revisit the gang from McKinley High. “I think Freaks and Geeks may just be set in amber for now,” he said. “I don’t think I could afford the cast. They’re all too big now.”

The cast of The Wonder Years reassembled to receive the Impact Award. Fred Savage and Danica McKellar were on hand to discuss the show’s unique point of view. “So many shows are about adults, and then the kids are there too. They’re an afterthought,” she said. “The Wonder Years was the first show to honour all the crazy emotions we have when we’re growing up.”