I Was A TV Baby: My So-Called Life

MY SO-CALLED LIFE (1994-1995)

It's time, 90's fans. It's time. It's time to talk about "My So-Called Life." No, no, stop crying, it'll be alright. Let's talk it out.

Why we aren't watching MSCL's lead character Angela Chase finish her doctorate, get married and have a bunch of kids in a suburb in Connecticut right now, I'll never know...

I watched the boxed set of this show a few weeks ago, which consisted of only a single season on ABC, and smiled inside at creator Winnie Holzman's appearance in the special features. She strikes me as that eccentric New Age neighbor lady with frizzy hair and Stevie Nicks capes that was always super-nice and introduced you to stuff like tarot cards and crystals. Kind of like Rayanne's mom Amber (played with gusto by Patti D'Arbanville Quinn, living up to her inspiration for the 1970 Cat Stevens tune "Wild World") did for Angela in the episode where Rayanne throws a huge party and OD's on ecstasy. Winnie's sweetly vulnerable but astute take on teenage life seared itself into my cerebral cortex, and I'm kind of scarred for life now.



Here's the most pertinent question when it comes to MSCL...are you a Jordan girl or a Brian girl? One of the central conflicts in Angela's 15 year old life was that she wanted painfully hot Jordan, who was nearly always emotionally unavailable to her, and she wanted nerdy and familiar Brian Krakow to stay away from her, although he loved her with the heat of a thousand suns and wanted to be her dog. Jordan or Brian? This is a decision every young girl needs to make.

I myself professed love for Jordan in the cafeteria at school, but was really a Brian girl at heart. I'm kind of married to a Brian now. I like smart, weird, socially awkward types, and Brian Krakow was manna from heaven to my kind of geek girl.

This show did an incredibly deft job of handling issues relevant to teenagers not only in the 90's, but teenagers yesterday, today and forevermore. Producers Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz were responsible for the hit TV show "thirtysomething" (1987-1991), and managed to more-than-successfully translate that formula to a often-contradictory Generation X audience. This show captures the ennui and apathy felt by that generation, as well as the genuine social concern, noncomformity and passion for change that they exhibited.


The other aspect of the show that I truly miss is the great ensemble cast and acting on display. Claire Danes, of course, gave her tour-de-force performance in MSCL, but all the other young performers, including Wilson Cruz as the fabulously in-the-closet Ricky Vasquez, the underrated Devon Gummersall as my beloved Brian, A.J. Langer as that self-destructive-but-incredibly-attractive-girl-we've-all-been-friends-with, Rayanne Graff, the underrated Devon Odessa who played good-girl and spurned friend, Sharon Cherski, and last, but not least, even Jared Leto felt his oats as "grunge" hottie Jordan Catalano, scourge of pubescent girls everywhere.

I've come to appreciate the older members of the cast very much in the years since MSCL was cancelled, especially Angela's parents Patti and Graham, played to perfection by Bess Armstrong and Tom Irwin. I really appreciate how well-drawn their characters are now, being a writer myself, from Patti's dominance in the household as mother and breadwinner (reflecting men's and women's shifting roles in the home at the time) to Graham's lapsed-hippie laidback-ness, sensitive creativity evidenced by his skill at fine cooking and proclivity for flirting and cheating with other women. It was like the producers were able to continue a version of "thirtysomething" through Patti and Graham's character arcs. Loved it.

My So-Called Life practically birthed the concept of "brilliant-but-cancelled" television (it was cancelled mainly due to low ratings and, possibly, Claire Danes's wish for a film career), and continues to influence TV writers and shows to this day. Even Joss Whedon admits that there's a lot of MSCL in his late-90's, early '00s powerhouse TV show "Buffy The Vampire Slayer." I will always hold a special place in my heart for a girl who was my same age, shared my name and wasn't too prudish to make out in a boiler room when she had to.

Enough out of me. Please check My So-Called Life out for yourself:













I could add MSCL videos all day. Love the hell out of this show.