Ooooh hey, IFC has picked up the brilliant-but-canceled “Freaks and Geeks” and the first episode airs tonight (that’s Friday) at 11 p.m.

The coming-of-age high school dramedy is one of the best series made in the past 15 years, and developed a cult following after being canceled prematurely by NBC in 2000. It follows a group of social outcasts — freaks and geeks — coping with high school and their home lives in 1980, and it’s consistently smart, touching and hilarious.

If for no other reason, it’s worth checking out to see how a ton of current Hollywood favorites got their start — producer Judd Apatow, Linda Cardinelli (“ER”), Seth Rogen (“Knocked Up”), Jason Segel (“How I Met Your Mother”), James Franco (“Spider-Man”), Busy Phillips (“Cougar Town”), Martin Starr (“Party Down”) and a ton more whose names you might not know but whose faces you’ll recognize.