My So-Called Life (1994)

Wilson Cruz grew up well

WHET to Rayanne?

I was 9 when it premiered and my older sister was 17. I remember watching most episodes in real time with her.

R2

You mean, Rayanne Graff.

Claire Danes was on the cover of TV Guide and Parade that week, and lengthy flattering reviews from Entertainment Weekly and People magazine ran. It was a plain, understated photo of her, and the writers praised her like she was up for an award already.

Everyone knew early that she was going to be around for awhile.

she was so cute.

Also to answer the question about Rayanne..

She's living the life as a Countess! Get her on a Housewives show STAT!!!!

Rayanne's house

Found this on AJ Langer's imdb bio:

Suffers from fibromyalgia, a chronically painful illness. She is a major supporter and a public face for fibromyalgia awareness.

R9, I would have sworn that Sharon would have ended up being the frau!

I loved the portrayal of the Chases' marriage. He was a dreamer that still hadn't settled on a career, while she was a Type-A who both seethed at his fecklessness and tried to support him. It felt very real, as did the fact that both parents doted on Angela, who clearly was their favorite. Very bittersweet.

Was it a requirement in the 90s for teen shows to have an obligatory adult parent storyline? The one on 90210 was excruciating.

Somehow, I doubt teens' shows nowadays would waste any time on the parents.

R12 Literally ALL teen shows have parent storylines these days. The OC, Gossip Girl and Riverdale are just a few examples.

What happened to Brain?

R7 She was cute but now the Countess of Devon? And the husband is actually handsome. DAMN, GURL.

It was so boring, overated!

I was 16. It was THE show for people my age.

AJ Langer and Devon Odessa were both in the same Wonder Years episode as Kevin Arnold's classmates on the bus,

[Quote] Somehow, I doubt teens' shows nowadays would waste any time on the parents.

I liked Sandy and Kirsten Cohen.

R14 Dyslexia’s a bitch.

Jordan Catalano.

I did, and I was already 22 by the time it premiered. Guess high school was recent enough for me that I still related to teens.

[quote]Jordan Catalano.

Team Brain!

Brian Krakow, aka Devon Gummersall, still works as an actor. He was one of the stars of the short lived "Relativity," and he does lots of guest appearances. He was on the last season of "Mad Men" as a date Peggy clicked very well with. He grew up to be a handsome guy.

The cast with creator Winnie Holzman

I watched it as a college student when it started airing on MTV in the afternoon.

I guess that it had flopped, and they were giving it a second shot. I was immediately taken in by it, and Jordan Catolano was THE new Jake Ryan.

R25 he also played a "lesbian" on the LWord. I can only imagine the reaction that episode would get today 😕

Rayanne Graff and Mary Berry!

a shame it ended so early.

I own the Sound Factory boxed set. It’s a BRILLIANT portrait of the 90’s, adolescence, puberty, being middle age and being an outcast.

The entire cast is perfection.

I end up watching it in full about once a year. I always start with a random episode, stop it and start up again with the pilot, lol.

It’s a warm blanket.

My so-called life was originally meant to shoot with Alicia Silverstone who was 16 at the time and emancipated and could work long hours as an adult. The whole original pilot was focused on Angela. When they decided to go with claire Danes who was the second to audition they decided to make the show an ensemble piece because she was 13 when they shot the pilot and she couldn't work as free. You can clearly see that Danes is too young for that pilot role it took them 2 years to get back into production again when she was then 15. You can see her little sister had grown spurt substantially.

Sharon Cherski/Devon Odessa is allegedly the eye witness of poltergeist girl being raped at the sound stage of Rocky Road according to Hollywood legend and conspiracy theories.

Who is poltergeist girl? Zelda Rubenstein?

I LOVE “The Zit”.

[SPOILER]

Heather O'Rourke r34 the little girl is rumored to be raped at a sound stage by Hollywood pervs and that would have led to her death. True or not this conspiracy theory ties Devon Odessa as an eye witness as she was a cast member of Rocky Road who endured similar treatment.

MSCL days

Why didn't Rayanne Graff have that unsightly mole removed from her race?

Always liked her "I'm over Jordan" moment:

Anyone here fool around or have sex with Wilson Cruz?

The Christmas episode, “The Zit” episode and the last episode still bring up tears.

Just a beautifully acted and written slice of life. I wish it would’ve had a 5-10 year run.

Cast reunion on Zoom during quarantine with Clare Danes, Wilson Cruz, Bess Armstrong, Mary Kay Place, Devon Odessa, AJ Langer, Tom Irwin, Devon Gummersall, creator Winnie Holzman with husband Paul Dooley

[quote] Brian Krakow, aka Devon Gummersall, still works as an actor. He was one of the stars of the short lived "Relativity," and he does lots of guest appearances. He was on the last season of "Mad Men" as a date Peggy clicked very well with. He grew up to be a handsome guy.

Is he of the homosexual variety? He was married briefly to a woman and the marriage was annulled.

R43 he was married to Majandra Delfino from Roswell. He played her cousin Sean in season 2.

R42 i'm sure they didn't even bother to ask Leto lol

My favorite set of low-key celebrity at-home during quarantine photos R42

I watched some of the episodes in real time and then MTV re-aired them in 1995 or 1996 (It was in the Winter I think). My favourite episode was the school dance where Ricky and Delia end up being the only ones having a good time by the end ("What Is Love?" played as they danced).

I saw Wilson Cruz at Eleven in WeHo (now Flaming Saddles) early 2010s-ish. I think it was his birthday.

He went to the bathroom quite a bit. But, so did I lol.

I remember this show being touted as the anti 90210

90210 had become progressively more fake and more nighttime soap opera as the seasons progressed, having more in common with Melrose Place, than the issue oriented first season, also by the time MSCL premiered the 90210 cast was in college anyway

I think they may have been too boring for audiences, they were expecting some Spelling style soap trash and flash, but instead they got a brutally realistic teen drama

I mean NOBODIES parents on MSCL were killed off by a car bomb during a mob hit, only to show up alive and well years later, having faked their death

Looking at you Jack McKay, Dylan's dad, on BH 90210

Wow, Clair Danes looked chubby there.

R29 Where is Rayanne from? She sounds so English!

Has AJ ever done a tour of her castle for the internet? *off to Google*

God, I loved AJ Langer and wanted her to be my best friend. She was really good in It's Like, You Know some years later (with Jennifer Grey, where the main joke was that she looked nothing like herself). Unfortunately that show got cancelled midway through it's second (real) season and never heard about AJ again. Wish they'd release it somewhere -- it even got scrubbed off of youtube. Would love to see it again.

I doubt Mary Berry has ever met a couple that met at a bar in Vegas.

R39, i loved that bit. At the time this was broadcast I was in the middle of coming out, and trying to get over a huge crush (my second) on a straight friend. I bought a Violent Femmes CD just so I could play the same and be "over" my crush.

R48 you just reminded me that AJ was on 90210 for an episode. It was in the college years and she was being creeped on by Paul Johansson.

I think it was the closet thing at the time to the reality of teenage life.

I remember the scene where her best friends confronts her and asks her why they're suddenly not friends. I remember feeling that in high school. My best friend in 6th grade started hanging with another group in high school and for a long time I wondered what I had done to make him not like me anymore.

Meh, R48, why can't we enjoy both?

Considering the level of quality this show had from the beginning, a second season probably would have brought some Emmy-worthy moments.

[quote] I doubt Mary Berry has ever met a couple that met at a bar in Vegas.

Mary Berry is probably wondering why the Countess doesn't speak like other Countesses.

I really hope they don't attempt a reboot.

This is actually one of the few series I’d like to see a limited series sequel to. It would be so interesting to see how all the teens turned out as adults and what their relationships with their kids would be like. Angela would’ve probably become a frau like Patty and Rayanne would’ve become a trashy mom like hers. Ricky could be an aging drag queen.

I was in high school when this aired and I remember watching it sporadically (but not obsessively) with my mom. I vividly remember her asking me once "is anyone else watching this show?" and kind of shrugging my shoulders because literally no one at school talked about it. It was only when it was canceled that people seemed to come out of the woodwork as diehard fans, which I always found strange. I'm guessing the fact that it aired against the first season of Friends (which was HUGE) probably killed a lot of its buzz at the time, though. On the flip side, I remember that NO ONE watched or talked about Party of Five (which also premiered that year) and then suddenly the next year it seemed like everyone (including me) was watching it. I have a feeling that if they'd renewed MSCL it might have gotten a similar second season boost.

I thought Jared Leto was the epitome of someone I would’ve loved in HS and like Angela, would’ve imbued his blank pretty boy body with depth of soul. Great depiction of angsty teen love. In real life Jordon Catalano would be a fat beer bellied trailer park dad by now, and Angela would be a lawyer married to some guy she met in college.

Kim's Video (RIP) had a petition in their west village location called "Operation Life Support" when it hadn't been announced it was canceled.

Blame Claire Danes, R62. The network was ready to give a renewal based on the critical success and she backed out because she wanted to be a movie star.

Fifteen years later, she’s back on TV with a weak follow-up.

R63, you’re giving Angela too much credit. She would’ve turned into a frau replica of her mother.

Although she would never admit it, I'm sure Claire Danes looks back at the show and wishes she would have done at least one more season.

She was transfixed by the Sapphic allure of Jodie Foster to do forgettable throwaway roles in Home for the Holidays, Little Women and How to Make an American Quilt and didn't find another quality series lead role until Homeland seventeen years later.

I was bitterly disappointed that we only got one season. I remember wanting to see Brian to come back to school in September totally hot and with a girlfriend he met over summer and Angela realizing it was Brian she loved and they could spend S2 being awkward until they finally get together in the finale. That would have been a kiss worth waiting for.

It was a great show and I think would have been the rare one where the second season would have been better than the first. They set up the finale really well.

R65 Homeland was a weak follow up??

R67 it's terrible but I liked To Gillian On Her 37th

Also terrible, but I love Home For the Holidays and still do, R67

Home for the Holidays is the opposite of terrible.

I didn't watch this show when it first aired, but I watched re-runs on MTV (I think) and I was transfixed; I liked how the parents weren't one dimensional characters and the show allowed them opportunity to be human, particularly the mom, who seemed like a garden variety bitch most of the time - had real moments of kindness, like when she rescued Rayanne after an overdose (or was it the gay kid?) or when Angela seemed to understand why her mother got so frustrated with her father. I seem to recall a Christmas issue with the gay kid being kicked out by his family & taken in by a gay couple that was a real weeper (a story that wasn't on most TV shows at that time)

It's not that the movies Claire Danes was in were terrible, it's that any other young actress could have been cast in those roles.

My So-Called Life is a show that comes around maybe once in an acting career, if you're getting the best offers available.

It would have worked better if Angela had had an identical cousin, perhaps from England.

I just completed my re-watch. This show completely holds up. They just don't make shows like this anymore. Nowadays it's plot, plot, plot. This show was all about its amazing characters. The episodes narrated by Brian and Danielle were brilliant.

It's so unfair that we have hundreds and hundreds of hours of CSI spinoffs and we have only 19 episodes of MSCL. It may be the best show of all time.

I love this show. I don’t like it, I like, love it.

The series was just added on Hulu

I had a crush on Jordan Catalano. Too bad Jared Leto is such a creep.