Pop Culture Retrospective Episode #3 - My So Called Life: A short-lived TV show from the 1990s, with a long-standing impact

Growing up, my sister Rebecca, always went by the shortened version of her name, Becky.  Every once in a while, I would ask her - “do you think you’ll ever go by Rebecca?”  She would always tell me that she didn’t think she would ever go by that name, after all, she was named after one of my Mom’s closest friends, Becky (who we grew up visiting all the time and who we really enjoyed spending time with).  When my sister moved to California in her late 20s, everyone she met from that point on would know her as Rebecca.   I knew it!  I told her. 

Also, in the mid-1990s my sister, sort of out of nowhere dyed her hair red.  For years and years afterward I asked her if she dyed her hair because of the show “My So Called LIfe” which she was really obsessed with and she strongly denied my accusation.  Finally, when we reached adulthood I once again asked her - “did you dye your hair red because of My So Called Life?” to which she replied - “Of course I did!! Wasn’t that really obvious?” 

On today’s show, we will be discussing the cult tv classic- My So Called Life. We will discuss the premise of the show, the characters on the show (both on and off the screen) and we will learn  about the plot of a pretty horrible movie that one of the stars was in just prior to the show.  I’ll give you a hint, two words:  Skateboard and Magical.

So put on your corduroy overalls and Doc Martens, here we go! 

Episode #3:  My So Called Life

• Premiered on August 25, 1994
• Before we get to the show
  • Fall 1994 TV shows:
    • Coach, Murphy Brown, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Blossom, Party of 5, Full House, Roseanne, Home Improvement, Frasier, Grace Under Fire and All American Girl 
  • Music releases in Fall of 1994:
    • Jeff Buckley- Grace, Boyz II Men II, Usher- Usher (first album), Ready to Die (BIG) and Under the Table & Dreaming (DMB) - Cali. road trip 
• Only ran for 19 episodes

Was created by Winnie Holzman - she is a producer and writer, known for

• Jerry Maguire 
• 30 something - 
• wrote Wicked

• Produced by Edsward Vick and Marshall Hoskavitz - films Legends of Fall, Last Samurai, and Blood Diamond 

Characters:

• Lead Role of Angela Chase was played by Claire Danes who was 15 when the show premiered.
  • Born in Manhattan, NY, parents with both artists when she was little
  • Has older brother
  • Started dancing at age 6, focused on acting by age 9
  • First major role was when she was 13 on Dudley Moore’s TV sitcom, Dudley, short-lived, also starred on L & O, HBO Miniseries 
  • Before MSCL she starred in an episode of Law and Order and some other film and television shorts. Later in the same year that MSCL premiered she starred in Little Women on the big screen. 
  • Angela’s character:  teenager who is very introspective and perhaps a little bit lost.  She wants to break free a bit of who she was when she was younger - stops hanging out with her childhood friends as much, makes new ones
• Patty Chase, Angela’s Mom played by Bess Armstrong
  • Famous for her role in Jaws 3-D
  • Also starred in 1993’s the Skateboard kid, which, according to the website IMDB, is summarized as follows:  No one could be more bored than Zack, the new kid in town with no friends in sight. When a gang of hip, skateboarding thrashers start cruising his neighborhood, Zack hopes his luck will change. But they want nothing to do with him. Then Zack makes the discovery of his life: a talking wisecracking, magical skateboard. And suddenly, skateboarding rises to entirely new heights.  Fun fact:  The skateboard was voiced by none other than famed actor, voice over artist, chef and American treasure - Mr. Dom Deloise!
  • Patty is the breadwinner of the family and is a mother trying to balance a challenging career and parenthood.  She and Angela often butt heads as her Mom can sometimes be a bit high strung and worried, and her husband/Angela’s dad is more laid back.  Funny how I can now relate to her WAY more than Angela. Time sure does fly by! 

Graham Chase, Angela’s Dad played by Tom Irwin - fun fact, born in Peoria! 

• Attended Illinois State University 
• Extensive acting credits as well including TV shows like China Beach.
• Graham is a bit of a lost soul, he isn’t as career driven as his wife and he is much more laid back than she is.  He manages a lot of stuff around the house, like cooking and wallpapering

Rickie Vasquez, Angela’s friend was played by Wilson Cruz

• First major acting role, First openly gay character on a prime time TV show
• Came out to his parents when the show was picked up for a season
  • Father kicked him out
  • Father saw the show and they reconciled 
  • LGBT activist 
• Describe Rickie’s character:  sweet and loving character who’s life outside of school is very challenging.  He is kicked out by his parents due the fact that he is gay so he goes to live with his uncle, but the uncle unfortunately is abusive.  He eventually gets to live with his teacher, who is also gay, via fostering.  
• Rayanne Graff - played by AJ Langer
  • Born in Columbus, OH 
  • Has an older brother
  • Got the nickname when she was a kid - she played on a baseball team with primarily boys, so the gave her the nickname AJ as it was less feminine
  • Prior to MSCL she was on the Wonder Years and Drexell’s class
    • Drexell’s class was a short-lived TV series where the main character ends up becoming a teacher in a school without enough staff so he can pay back his taxes - Jason Biggs, Brittany Murphy and Matthew Lawrence also starred! 
  • Describe Rayanne’s Character- she is the exact opposite of Angela’s childhood friends.  She is a bit out of control, impulsive and a wild child.   
• Jordan Catalono, Angela’s love interest in the show as played by Jared Leto
  • Born in Louisiana - spent his younger years in the south.  His mother was very young when he was born.  
  • Parents divorced when he was young, he lived with his mother and grandparents
    • Has an older brother named Shannon
    • Moved around a lot 
    • Attend college and studied the arts 
  • Father died by suicide when he was 8
  • Was originally hoping to be a full time actor, he originally wanted to be a director 
  • Describe Jordan’s character:  his character is a bit lost.  He is a super, super senior and it’s later revealed (in a subtle way) that Jordan has a learning disability.  His affect is a bit flat, but he is actually pretty deep which we see in some of his music as he’s in a band.  
• Other regular characters on the show-
  • Brian Krakow played by Devon Gummersall - he is Angela’s childhood friend.  He is very academically gifted, but not in social situations.  He also seems to deal with anxiety which comes out through him often having upset stomachs, etc.Sharon Cherski played by Devon Odessa - another one of Angela’s childhood friends, she is a bit of a 
  • Little sister, Danielle played by Lisa Wilhout, quick witted, sarcastic little sister. 

First Episode - we are introduced to Angela, her family, her friends at the start of her sophomore year of high school.  We are also introduced to Angela’s on and off again love interest, Jordan Cattalano. 

• Her relationships with her family and friends are starting to shift - meeting new friends, pulling away from her parents, etc. 
• Angela dyes her hair red, friend Ray-Anne encouraged her to do so because her hair was quote “holding her back.” 
• Drops out of the Yearbook committee and we begin to see some of Angela’s profound thoughts:
  • And, I mean, this whole thing with the yearbook — it’s like, everybody’s in this big hurry to make this book, to supposedly remember what happened, but it’s not even what really happened, it’s what everyone thinks was supposed to happen. Because if you made a book of what really happened, it’d be a really upsetting book. You know, in my humble opinion.”

As the show carries on, we get to know the characters more in depth as well as their struggles and strengths.  Throughout the 19 episodes, we see why this show received so much Critical Acclaim: 

• Praised for on-going/realistic depiction of issues young people are dealing with
  • Best looking list
  • Aging parents
  • Labeling people
  • Substance use
  • Homelessness
  • Gun violence in schools - remember this was before Columbine which happened in 1999
  • Homosexuality 
    • Wilson Cruz did a PSA about homelessness amongst LGBT youth and coincidentally the storyline of the PSA was eerily similar to what he experienced in his own life.
  • Child Abuse
  • Learning disabilities 
  • Acne- one episode is called “The Zit” and how much it bothered Angela.  If the episode had me as the main character in my teenage years, it would have been called - Zits.  
  • Depiction of 90s dancing, scene with Ricky and a friend dancing at a school dance to Haddaway’s What is Love, which made me love the song.  Until a few years later when it became more well known for the SNL sketch with Will Farrell and Chris Kattan as the Roxbury Guys 
  • Etc. 
    • In an article in WIRED - the article, coincidentally written by a woman also named Angela (but not Chase, Watercutter) she encapsulated why the show as so good, she said quote: “Why it only got one season, we'll never know. MSCL was game-changing because it treated teenagers like people, not just stereotypes of people. Angela (Danes) fought with her parents, but was never overly condescending or shrill about it. Rayanne (A.J. Langer) had a substance abuse problem, but it wasn't only during the "very special episode"—it was a real struggle. And Rickie (Wilson Cruz) was a gay kid who didn't just swing in to help with make-up snafus—he experienced real dramas and did things besides just, y'know, be queer. (Every gay best friend on TV since him could've taken a cue.)  End quote. 
  • The writing and the dialogue of the show was outstanding.  Angela’s inner monologues sound like it was pulled right from the pages of an adolescent girl’s diary - maybe even my sisters! It’s fun to watch it through an adult’s eyes because I both remember a lot about adolescents and have spent the last 20 or so years working alongside them and it feels so accurate.  Here are some memorable quotes:
    • The Cafeteria is the embarrassment capital of the world
    • When someone compliments your parents, there’s like nothing to say.  It’s like a stun gun to your brain.
    • Sometimes I think if my mother wasn’t so good at pretending to be happy she’d be better at actually being happy.
    • Hatred can become like food it gives you this energy, you can like, live off it.
    • I cannot bring myself to eat a well-balanced meal in front of my mother, it means too much to her. 
    • When Jordan Catallono is being a little aggressive while kissing her- I don’t open that wide at the dentist!
  • In re-watching the episodes, I noticed there are 2 main ways many scenes at school are shot - it’s either slow motion of people walking down the hallway or someone, usually clutching textbooks, have their back against their locker watching said slow motion scene go by.  

End of the show

• Ended on January 26, 1995, ended with a CliffHanger as the hope was for the show to be picked up the following season but it was officially cancelled in May of that year
• Difficult to Market
• Time conflicted with FRIENDS! 
• One of the first fan lead internet campaigns to save a show 

After the show

• Danes was reluctant to do a second season, wanted to be in movies
  • Just a few days before the last episode ran, Claire Danes won a Golden Globe award for best performance by an actress in a television series 
  • Starred in R & J in 1996
  • She got married in 2009 and has 2 children 
  • Other acting credits include the movies- Shop Girl, Les Miserabe, Brokedown Palace
  • Homeland, tv show that ran from  put her back on the map
• Jared Leto
  • Successful movie and music career 
    • In 1998 he formed the band 30 Seconds to Mars with his brother, Shannon. 
    • Starred in movies such as:   Requiem for a Dream, Blade Runner 2049, and Dallas Buyers Club - for which he won an Oscar for Best supporting actor.  Beautiful acceptance speech dedicated to his mother and his brother.  
• Bess Armstrong: Television appearances include: NCIS, Grey’s Anatomy, Frasier to name a few. Although a Skateboard Kid 2 was released, she did not appear in it.  
• Tom Irwin:  Additional television appearances - Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and Law and Order. 
• Wilson Cruz
  • LGBT advocate
  • Acting credits include 13 Reasons Why, NCIS, ER and the West Wing among many others.
• AJ Langer
  • Husband is the Earl of Devon, married in 2004, she is the countess of Devon - they live in a castle!  
  • Has 2 children
  • Does a lot of charity work around fibromyalgia, she has the disease 

Show in some ways mimicked our life:

• My sister looked a lot like Claire Danes and was very introspective
• My sister also had her first love when she was in high school and he looked like Jared Leto’s character  - he had a very similar haircut - straight hair, parted down the middle and wore a similar jacket.  There was also a sort of nerdier/nice guy who had a crush on her for many years.
• My sister had a few Rayanne’s in her life - friends who were impulsive, a little rebellious, etc. My sister had some Rayanne in her as well.    
• I was a little bit like the little sister - some odd similarities including often attempting to listen in on my sisters conversations on the phone (walking talky picked up signal) and I too was in a fashion show with my mom.  Like her character,  I also used humor/sarcasm as a kid to cope with challenging situations.  Still do that now.  
• I secretly thought my sister was really cool and I often borrowed her clothes without asking. Navy Blue Corduroy overalls, borrowed, strap went into the toilet at school.  
• My mom also got a pixie haircut in 1994
• First episode, Claire Danes/Angela walks by Brian who is being picked on/getting into a minor altercation and she just keeps walking.  Reminds me of my high school days.  Not like I didn’t know it was bad, but I never thought to try to step in or report anything.  Big fight at gas station after school.  

Fun facts

• Part of the reason for the show’s cancellation was because of low ratings, but it was pitted up against one of the biggest primetime juggernauts of the 1990s- Friends, whose idea was that?!
• Show first aired a few months after Kurt Cobain died by suicide - he and Nirvana will definitely be the subject of another show 
• Jared Leto took Claire Danes to her first night club.  He also helped Devon Gummershall talk to girls.  One time while driving, Jared was able to convince a few girls to give Devon their phone numbers.  This was worked into an actual scene in the show
• Cast reconnected via zoom recently due to the pandemic
• You can now watch the entire series - for free, on ABC.com - be warned though, that will require watching an extensive amount of commercials that you cannot skip 
• Bess Armstrong and Tom Irwin who play Angela’s parents in the show, still get together and have lunch. 
•  Originally were going to cast Alicia Silverstone in the show as Angel, but she was deemed “too beautiful” for the show.  Soon after though, she got the role of Cher in Clueless

Story lives on

• Stories are still relevant today
• Show would still work with current audiences, just need to update outfits
  • Take out scrunches, claw clips and pleated pants
• Many articles written by people by age about the show’s impact 
• Entertainment Weekly:  “In 19 Sublime Episodes, MSCL left a lasting pop culture legacy.”