MSCL.com

So, what this fall looks like it might be...

Definitely not. It's always difficult to compare shows - especially when they were short-lived like MSCL.

"Veronica Mars" is a pretty good new teen/twen show -- good scripts, good actors.

Mscl, is really a new show to me since I only just saw it for my first time in April. I like alot of the new shows this fall and alot in the past, but to me Mscl is just the best show I ever seen. No other show has had the impact on me like mscl has. I dont think that I can really compare any of the new shows to mscl.

I don't think that I can vote. You really can't compare all TV shows to each other. You can compare genres -- in this case, dramas primarily concerned with teenagers. Given that rephrasing of the question, I would vote no. However, I'd say Freaks and Geeks was almost as good as MSCL. I thought they could have done more with Lindsay's parents, who didn't seem nearly as defined as Patty and Graham, but the writing about the teenagers was very clever and topical. Of course, I'd have to qualify any vote by saying that I don't watch any WB programs, which tend to be youth driven, and I generally don't watch new TV shows until they've been on for awhile. Many shows haven't lasted long enough for me to notice them. The last new shows I've watched semi-regularly were Scrubs, which is very good, and Alias, which is probably just as good as MSCL but is a totally different type of show.

I heard somewhere that Joan of Arcadia is the closest thing to come since my so-called life. I watched it and it is definitely a good show. Not exactly like MSCL but I understand where who ever it was who said that was coming from.

YES, but I agree that it is difficult to compare across genres. I'm thinking of BtVS and Angel, though I could probably come up with a few others.

To expand on the question, what if any programs reached MSCL's level before 1994? Again, I can think of a few, but probably nothing similar, except maybe Wonder Years. Alternate genres would include China Beach, Northern Exposure, Star Trek, The Cosby Show, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, MASH and more...

Once & Again. ^^

Angela_Catalano wrote:Mscl, is really a new show to me since I only just saw it for my first time in April. I like alot of the new shows this fall and alot in the past, but to me Mscl is just the best show I ever seen. No other show has had the impact on me like mscl has. I dont think that I can really compare any of the new shows to mscl.

I wish i'd just seen it that recently for the first time...

Well, that would have meant missing out on all the fun with the DVD project.

TomSpeed wrote:I don't think that I can vote. You really can't compare all TV shows to each other. You can compare genres -- in this case, dramas primarily concerned with teenagers. Given that rephrasing of the question, I would vote no.

Ah. I agree vastly different genres can't really be compared. I guess i just meant as far as overall impact.

...Alias, which is probably just as good as MSCL but is a totally different type of show.

Yes. I am looking forward to another season of Alias.

I quite like CSI with it's often eerie atmosphere, interesting characters, and weird mysteries. Looking forward to some new eps. But it only rarely has an emotional impact beyond: Ooh. How gruesome! However, when the two supposed supporting cast members were said to be leaving, i was highly disturbed. Sarah's my favorite. All are indispensible really.

And i can't say that much about CSI Miami. The writers on that stink! Characters spend half their time saying the really obvious, or spouting quirky quips. Hardly any character development.

Amika wrote:I heard somewhere that Joan of Arcadia is the closest thing to come since my so-called life. I watched it and it is definitely a good show. Not exactly like MSCL but I understand where who ever it was who said that was coming from.

Seen it a few times. An okay show.
Doesn't speak to me.

Nostradamus wrote:To expand on the question, what if any programs reached MSCL's level before 1994? Again, I can think of a few, but probably nothing similar, except maybe Wonder Years.

Now there's a show that went right past me. I didn't really dislike it. There just wasn't anything i really liked. In a similar category to me, but taken to the Nth degree is "Malcolm in the Middle".

Seems to stay on, and do well with critics. I saw the premiere 2 1/2 episodes and couldn't take any more without becoming apoplectic. Not many shows i've had that kind of loathing for.

Alternate genres would include China Beach, Northern Exposure, Star Trek, The Cosby Show, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, MASH and more...

Before they started to piddle around and screwed it up, China Beach was excellent. There's one episode that's stuck in my mind forever that i'd like a copy of. Marg Helgenberger and Dana Delany's characters were taken captive by some soldiers and forced to operate on a wounded soldier in a system of hidden tunnels. Part way through, Marg was starting to crack up and tried to dig her way out. The operation was intense, too. They didn't really have proper materials or skills.

Northern Exposure was exceptional too. I really like shows that are equal parts comedy and drama. The thing that stands out most in my mind is the episode where Chris performed the "un-wedding".

yes, scrubs is pretty good and so is joan of arcadia, but still, they arent mscl.

So-Called Loon wrote:

TomSpeed wrote:I don't think that I can vote. You really can't compare all TV shows to each other. You can compare genres -- in this case, dramas primarily concerned with teenagers. Given that rephrasing of the question, I would vote no.

Ah. I agree vastly different genres can't really be compared. I guess i just meant as far as overall impact.

put that way, I'd have to agree with nostradamus about The Wonder Years and Buffy. I can't compare them as far as good or bad, but these shows definitely hit a cord with me. so, IMHO, these shows are all equal in meaning to me. they came out at the right time in my life. though, Kevin was a bit older than myself when WY came out, it was the first tv show that I could remotely relate to and understand. and then of course, MSCL and BtVS came out during my teenage years with characters that could totally have been my friends in real life. so yeah, they all mean something.

yeah, i loved buffy, i could always relate to that show, it got me hooked from the very first episode, they were great, i miss that show.

I agree it's hard to compare different genres. I mean I (I can't believe I'ma dmitting this) have followed All My Children since I was 10 (in 1990). But I hold it as a daily soap opera to different standards.

Alias, despite a shaky 3rd season is a great show. But I don't expect the same amazing personal revelations I relate to liek I did with MSCL--I expect something else from it--an overthetop melodrama with great cliffhangars that's a different kinda roller coaster ride.

I love Six Feet Under--in some ways I may like it as much as MSCL, but even though I also can relate to a lot of it, and it's at heart a family drama it's still very different from MSCL, so hard to compare.

Buffy and Angel were great shows too that in their way I did perosnally identify with but again it's very different.

The closest thing to compare MSCL to for me are theother Herskovitz/Zwick shows--thirtysomething, relativity and Once and Again (and if all goes well hopefully their new show in development--the 20something "1/4 Life") I'm only now watching thirtysomething in reruns on Canadian TV--I was 7-11 when it aired originally so it wasn't really for me. I'm only in the first season and, as Herskovitz/Zwick admitted htey were trying out a lot of new things that season so it's not as strong as MSCL. But it does have many fo the same elemnts I loved about MSCL and I do find myself thinking aboutepisodes and characters a lot (and I've still got 6 years till I hit my thirtysomethings...) Lotsa elements were streamlined and developed more for later Bedford Falls shows.

I grew to LOVE Once and Again--probably as much as My So-Called Life. It was interesting because as the seriesprogressed it had some of the teen elements from My So Called Life, some of the adult elements from thirtysomething (and the parents on MSCL of course) etc--all sorta meshed. I don't think relativity was as strong as those shows though--maybe because Herskovitz and Zwick and Winnie Holzman weren't involved as writers unliek the other three shows (the show was Jason Katim's baby--he worked on MSCL as a writer and later created Rosswell). But still there werelements of what I loved about the other shows in relativity--and it was sad when it was cancelled so soon (17 eps).

I hope all of these end up on DVD. I do find it funny that many MSCL obssessees never wtached these other shows--they basically ahd the same creative staff. Winnie Holzman learned how to write on tv for thirtysomethign and was a story editor for O&A etc

New shows this year to watch for? The creator of Jack and Bobby is a huge MSCL fan. I liked thepilot more than I expected tho the whole political flashback angle completely disinterests me. Still looks worth watching.

I am very eager to watch Lost this week--the new adventure show from Jj Abrams (creator of Alias). great reviews too. Desperate Housewives was a show I watched the pilot for and liked--it's nothing like MSCL but if the other eps live up to the pilot it shoul dbe a lot of fun--if a bit of a guilty pleasure (but hey I watch nip/tuck so i know all about those).

Also there's Life as we Know It on ABC a teen drama from the boys perspective. based on a controversial British teen novel (Doin' It), it's gotten mixed reviews. The cocreator has already said he wants it to be a sorta "My So-Called Life centered around boys" even though it seems like it will lack MSCL's sublety. Still I'll give it a chance.

E