Intellectual siblings Lindsay (Linda Cardellini) and Sam Weir (John Francis Daley) attend McKinley High School in a fictional suburb of Detroit, Michigan called Chippewa. After the death of her grandmother, Lindsay begins to question her straight and narrow lifestyle. She leaves her longtime friend, religious Millie Kentner (Sarah Hagan), and starts hanging out with the school’s “freaks” like brooding Daniel Desario (James Franco), sarcastic Ken Miller (Seth Rogen), drummer Nick Andopolis (Jason Segel), and misunderstood Kim Kelly (Busy Philipps).