My So-Called Life

My So-Called Life is one of those instant classics. A brilliant show, it just came along at the wrong time and was subsequently canned after one season. But that only adds to it's legend and in a small way makes the series even more enjoyable now on DVD. The writing never got a chance to waiver. There was never really a bad episode. The cast never had to grow up and face "the college years" or even prom. Instead we are left with this one season, this one year of high school, with a brilliant group of characters who are locked forever in youth.

The shows are great. Claire Danes took the Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy. And when you compare this one series with two High School dramas it was sandwiched between; the richy richy farce of the early 90s' Beverly Hills 90210 and the glossy junk of the late 90s' Dawson Creek, you see how true, poignant and amazing these 19 hours My So Called Life truly are.

This was a real classic. That it was canceled so quickly only proves Networks know NOTHING about quality.

When seen in order, these 19 episodes form an amazingly rich chronicle of a year in the lives of Angela Chase, her high school friends and the adults in their lives. Writing this great rarely makes it into series television. As disappointing as it was when the show was cancelled after one year, the result was a self-contained almost novelistic tapestry of interwoven stories that stands alone as one of the finest depictions of adolescence and parenthood ever created for the screen.

One of the most distinctive threads that runs through the series is the way both children and adults deceive themselves about what they really want and need out of life. The drama and humor of the series often revolves around the struggle of the different characters to break through to their genuine selves.

Among many fine story lines, one standout is that of Rickie Vasquez, probably the first depiction of a gay teen on series television, and if not the first, certainly the most unapologetic. I could go on way too long about all the other moving, surprising, heartbreaking and ironic story lines, about the way characters are always surprising us with unexpected depths or insights or abilities, about the use of music, about the incredibly honest and unexploitative depiction of teenage sexuality, and about the performances, which are uniformly superb, even in the smallest roles. Best of all the show is so rich and crafted so brilliantly that it rewards repeated viewing.

Just watched the show again, for the first time since it was cancelled. (Thanks Hulu.) Wanted to weigh it with this: I was a man in his early 30s in 1995, and I loved this show. I'm still a man now, and in my early 50s, and I still love this show. One of the things that tubed it back then was that the network (and apparently the public) couldn't understand that a show _about_ teenagers isn't automatically a show _for_ teenagers. Missing from many reviews is the fact that a good chunk of every episode was actually about the parents' lives away from their kids. And that part was just as cutting-edge, and just as good.

The casting was razor-sharp. In 1995 I was just coming to grips with the fact that 1.) lots of people are gay and 2.) that's not a problem. Wilson Cruz was a major part in that belated growing-up. The kid was brilliant. Tom Irwin did the best job of portraying an actual middle-aged man I've ever seen. Just a guy trying to meet his responsibilities, _and_ be happy. This is a lot harder than TV usually makes it out to be, and Tom did a fantastic impression of that high-wire act.

And Claire. Sometimes I wanted to shake her character. Sometimes I wanted to hug her. I knew that girl, when I was a teenager. I knew Brian Krakow, too. (Alright, I _was_ Brian Krakow. Sue me.) They were all great, even the bit parts, even the walk-ons.

My point is that My So-Called Life is not a "kids' show." If ABC had understood that, maybe things would have been different.

Great, history-making television, up there with Lucy and The Honeymooners and Star Trek. See it.

Remember the first time you said goodbye to someone and you knew you would never, ever see them again? Remember how that felt? If you do, then you know Angela Chase and her family and friends on "My So-Called Life", a simple show about a group of people at a specific time in their lives that is like the fly stuck in amber.

There are only nineteen episodes of this most compelling of programs, then it is done. As the nineteenth episode ends, you are left with a painful feeling deep inside. You have come to care for these people and now they are gone. The next day, the rerun cycle will begin again and you will watch, entranced, as Angela and Rayanne and Rickie and Jordan and Brian and Sharon and Patty and Graham and Danielle travel through the same nineteen hours again, as you sit back, longing for that nineteenth episode to be followed by episode twenty. But it never comes. It's cruel.

"My So-Called Life" is a good argument to never watch television again. And a great argument to say you're glad you did. It's not simply a show about angst-ridden mid-ninetees teens. It's much more.

You owe it to yourself to watch these nineteen episodes, to get a glimpse at what a five-star television series looks like...and how wrong it is when a television network takes it away.

Kudos to all involved.

This series is required viewing.

The best show I've seen in years, though that wasn't my first opinion of it, as probably the same for other fans of the show. Give the show a chance!

This will comfort and encourage teenagers. It's so real, and anyone who's watched more than a couple episodes will agree! Angela, Ricki, and Rayanne are the typical teens. Even though it was made in 1994, you'll find that Angela's mind works like it's in this time period. You'll laugh, you'll cry (I should know)and you'll feel much better about life in general. Watch it, and you'll be transfixed on the show. I rate it four stars!