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Neal Schweiber
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Actor
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Gender
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Male
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Affiliation
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Occupation
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Student
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Family
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Friends
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Romances
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First appearance
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"Pilot"
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"Oh my God, she's running to get to us."
Neal Isaac Schweiber is a geek in the ninth grade at McKinley High School. He's friends with Sam Weir and Bill Haverchuck. He lives in a Jewish household with his parents and has a brother who is in college. Portrayed by Samm Levine, he appears in all 18 episodes as one of the leading roles.
Character[]
Neal has ambitions of being a comical, unathletic figure, who often does impersonations. Unlike the other geeks, Neal is confident and (blindly) sees himself more as of someone who is misunderstood. He considers himself to be a handsome young man who is an expert on various subjects, which he actually knows little about. He also has a long crush on the older sister of Sam, Lindsay Weir, confessing to her that he's had feelings for her since he was five years old.
Throughout the Series[]
Episode 1: "Pilot"[]
The audience is first introduced to Neal right outside McKinley high school doing Caddyshack impressions with his two best friends, Sam and Bill. They are interrupted when their bully, Alan harasses Sam, causing Neal to flee the scene. Throughout the episode, the trio--particularly Sam--continue to get picked on. After Neal is criticized for not sticking up for his friends, they ask another friend, Harris, for advice. Initially, Neal thinks it's a bad idea to have a physical fight with Alan and sarcastically jokes about cutting his legs off. However, he decides to go to Alan's neighborhood for a fight anyway. Even though Sam has not yet arrived to the site, Neal, Bill, and another student, Colin, proceed to beat up Alan.
Episode 2: "Beers and Weirs"[]
In the second episode, it is revealed that Neal has a crush on Sam's sister, Lindsay. He and his best friends become concerned when learning about her plans to throw a keg party while her parents are out of town. They plan to secretly replace the keg with non-alcoholic beer, but they recognize it is going to be costly. Though he is trying to save his bar mitzvah money to go backpacking across Europe, he gives up a portion for the sake of Lindsay. Once they purchase the new keg and bring it to the Weir house, Neal distracts Lindsay in the kitchen while Bill tells Sam all about Neal's crush on her as they are swapping out the beers. When the party is going on, Neal finds Lindsay crying in her parents' bedroom, disappointed about how party turned out. He tries to comfort her, but ends up accidentally making her uncomfortable when mentioning his love for her. He calls the police to pretending to be an old man from next door complaining about the party, getting the crowd to leave. Lindsay kisses him on the cheek to say thank you.
Episode 3: "Tricks and Treats"[]
It is Halloween and Sam wants to go trick-or-treating. Neal is hesitant to go as he believes they are too old for the tradition, but he gives in when he is reminded that he would get to dress up as Groucho Marx. When the group goes out in Sam's neighborhood, they are faced with stares and harassment. After Sam get's egged, Neal lashes out at him for thinking trick-or-treating was good idea. He and the others go back to their homes before the sun has even set. In this episode, the audience learns that Neal cares about his image. Yet, he deeply desires to grow up, there are some aspects of his childhood that are difficult to move on from.
Episode 4: "Kim Kelly Is My Friend"[]
In episode 4, Neal witnesses Sam being bullied yet again, this time by an older student named Karen Scarfolli. At one point, Neal is briefly targeted as well when he gets compared to Bilbo Baggins. Overall, Neal does not express concern or provide emotional support over the issue. When Sam writing a 500-word paper upon being blamed for vandalizing his own locker, Neal only makes it worse by playing with his chemistry set with Bill. Sam becomes frustrated by their distractions, and claims they are too old to be playing with chemistry sets. Neal snaps back at the insult by mentioning that Sam still owns tonka trucks. They then argue about who is the biggest geek, ultimately ending in a physical fight. By the end of the episode, it appears they have moved on from the incident.
Episode 5: "Tests and Breasts"[]
In health class, the geeks are in the sex education unit, where Sam falls behind academically. He spends time at home studying and expresses his struggles to Daniel, who tells him he knows of a better way to learn about the subject. The next day at school, Daniel gives Sam an old pornographic film. The only person who is interested in it is Neal and wants to watch it on a projector at his house. While Sam and Bill are disturbed, Neal enjoys the movie. Though it did not provide any academic support, Neal is now able to understand the comedy behind dirty jokes.
Episode 6: "I'm with the Band"[]
Couch Fredricks announced that there is a new district policy for all students to shower after gym class, which makes Sam very concerned and he refuses to do so. At first, Neal agrees with him and uses water from the sink to make it look like he cleaned himself. He quickly changes his mind, upon being scolded and realizing that physical education makes him sweaty. Bill agrees with him, and Sam is left to avoid the showers by himself. As Neal and Bill walk through the locker room, the other boys whip them with towels. However, Neal is proud to show off his chest hair, and even claims he is going to take off his shirt when miking out with his future girlfriend.
Episode 7: "Carded and Discarded"[]
The geeks are all immediately lovestruck when Maureen--a new transfer student from Florida--walks into their biology class. They are even more moved when they find her sitting at their usual lunch table and are more than happy to welcome her. They bond with her quickly and even launch model rockets with her and take her to the all-you-can-eat buffet at Iron Horse. The boys decide to draw a name out of a hat to determine who gets to date her. Bill wins, though he clearly cheats. Before he gets a chance to ask her out, Neal expresses concerns about how she is talking to a cheerleader, Vicki. He claims that she will get sucked into the cheerleading squad and no longer want anything to do with the three of them. Neal makes his friend, Eli, interrupt their conversation, so they can continue bonding with her. However, they cannot prevent her from meeting other students, so they eventually have to learn to allow her to expand beyond their group.
Episode 8: "Girlfriends and Boyfriends"[]
Coming
Episode 9: "We've Got Spirit"[]
Coming
Episode 10: "The Diary"[]
Coming
Episode 11: "Looks and Books"[]
Coming
Episode 12: "The Garage Door[]
Coming
Episode 13: "Chokin' and Tokin'"[]
Coming
Episode 14: "Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers"[]
Coming
Episode 15: "Noshing and Moshing"[]
Coming
Episode 16: "Smooching and Mooching"[]
Coming
Episode 17: "The Little Things"[]
Coming
Episode 18: "Discos and Dragons"[]
Coming
Character Quotes[]
- "The dance is tomorrow. She's a cheerleader. You've seen Star Wars 27 times. Do the math."
- " I can’t believe the Hot Dog-On-A-Stick girls saw us. That’s months of work down the drain."
- "Cheerleaders have to date athletes. It’s the law."
- "When I get married, I’m never going to cheat on my wife. Even if she gets old and fat."
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- When Neal was in 6th grade, his mother tried to throw him a surprise party, but the only people who showed up were Bill and Sam.
- He has a skin condition called psoriasis.