Episode One: Pilot _______ (Originally Aired 9/25/1999)

The show is set in a Michigan suburb, circa 1980. In this first episode we are introduced to brother and sister Sam and Lindsay Weir. Sam is a small, geeky freshman trying to cope with high school, while Lindsay is a former mathlete trying to join in with the outcast, freak crowd.

This episode basically outlines the usual high school life. Sam is being pursued by a bully named Allan. Allan threatens Sam and his geeky friends Neil and Bill throughout the episode. The geeks also have to endure a nasty dodgeball game which ends up with Sam being the only geek left and getting bombarded with balls by much larger bullies. Eventually, a fight gets planned between Sam and Allan. At the same time, Sam has a crush on a popular cheerleader named Cindy. He asks her to the homecoming dance and she already has a date but she tells Sam she'll save a dance for him. While Sam is busy chatting with Cindy, his geek pals, Neil and Bill meet up with Allan and try to fight him. They tumble around with Allan and rip his shirt but no one is really hurt. Sam, then shows up after Allan has gone and tells his friends about his encounter with Cindy.

Meanwhile, Lindsay is trying to disassociate herself from her old mathlete crowd and be accepted by the freaks. She starts hanging out with freaks Daniel, Nick, Ken, and Daniel's on and off again girlfriend Kim. The guys accept her but Kim hates her and is constantly making fun of her and trying to humiliate her. Lindsay also tries to do a good deed by asking a mentally retarded boy, Eli, to the homecoming dance but after she tries to defend him in front of some cruel classmates on the bleachers, Eli gets upset and falls off the bleachers, breaking his arm.

The episode come to a happy close, though, with Sam and Lindsay both attending the homecoming dance, where Sam gets his dance with cheerleader Cindy and Lindsay makes good with Eli.