MSCL to air on "The N/Noggin" (USA) in April 2004

[Sascha]

From the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/07/arts/ ... &oref=regi

My So-Called Network
By JOE CARAMANICA

Published: November 7, 2004


IT'S morning, the bedroom door is closed and Angela Chase - the brooding teen at the heart of "My So-Called Life" - is dancing. Flailing, actually. Jordan Catalano, the object of at least a few months of her obsession - "It was like he lived inside me," she muses - has been cast into the dustbin of bad decisions (temporarily, of course). And as the Violent Femmes' spasmodic "Blister in the Sun" pulses, Angela becomes a whirlwind, new, unfettered and delirious from her fresh start. Like her movement, the moment itself is remarkably intuitive and un-self-conscious.


"My So-Called Life" ran for just 19 episodes between August 1994 and January 1995, but it still hasn't come close to hitting its half-life. It's now one of the centerpieces on the N, the nighttime programming block of Nickelodeon's sister network, Noggin. The N is television as it might be programmed by Enid and Rebecca from "Ghost World," brimming with shows about the inner lives of teenage girls who are preternaturally wise and chronically outsiderish. No girls from "The O.C.," with their bathing-suit bodies and stick-straight hair, need apply.

In addition to "Life," there's "Daria," an old MTV animated series featuring, perhaps, the most sardonic character ever to grace prime time; "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," whose title character lives with an all-female family coven; and "Clueless," the television show based on the movie (of the same name) based somewhat loosely on Jane Austen's "Emma." Even "Degrassi: The Next Generation," a spunky update of the 80's classic "Degrassi High," features date rape and abortion plotlines that make Rory's home-wrecking troubles on "Gilmore Girls" - a show that seems destined for the N in syndication - downright tame.

It's not just that girls rule on the N: the men, young and old alike, are socially impotent: the doe-eyed, mute Catalano; the flaky male classmates on "Daria"; or Ray and Travis, friends who are both too shy to profess their love for their schoolmate Lily on "Radio Free Roscoe," an N original series about high school radio pirates. Male authority figures don't fare much better. Except on "Just Deal," the least interesting of the N shows, male teachers are by and large ineffective and occasionally insipid. Angela's father, Graham, and Daria's dad, Jake, are frail and self-loathing, uncertain breadwinners and utterly awkward parents. (The mothers aren't superheroes either, but then again, these are shows for self-aware, skeptical teens, who tend not to romanticize parents.)

Many of these late-night hours are commercial-free. Instead, they feature music videos and cleverly executed, self-referential promotions for the N that nail the minutiae of teenage life: sports, crushes and, of course, instant messaging. With its complex characters and genuinely optimistic outlook, the N feels like a private, privileged space where the pesky hierarchies and dogmas of the rest of the world don't apply.

When Angela finishes her romp in that episode from "My So-Called Life," she dresses for school, stares goofily into the distance, and says to herself, "And I was free."

[brain1]

Well I s'pose that's obvious, the subject heading I mean, but it had to be said.

So whose anybody's fave character? Hallie Lowanthall I think is my least favorite.

Man, I still think I am missing an episode, maybe even two... I'm sure I haven't seen em all. Anyone know how long they'll be airing MSCL on Family? You need the whole story to get you to the end, which I just saw last night.

My favorite quote. "irony is when you realize the component of weirdness in a situation."

-Brain Krakow.

[special_k]

I never could stomach little homewrecking wannabe Hallie Lowenthal. I recall immediately seeing through her during the first run. Like, how could the rest not have noticed. I was glad when Camille brought her to Patty's attention. What a passive-agro, that Hallie. Sorry, I just never liked the character. Moving on...

[Natasha (candygirl)]

FYI - this thread is for info about MSCL airing on the-N. Please discuss the episodes in the show forum.

[brain1]

Man, this might not be the best place for online propositions of sex, eh?

I agree that's awesome what you said, Homewrecking Hallie is a fitting title. By the way, I always wonder why didn't Graham go for that first chick in the pilot? she had sweet legs

I think it's awesome how Angela is so humble about her hair in that first episode. Like everyone puts her on the spot about it, and being told by your best friend that you suck and that she hates your hair, man, well I'd have to be a girl to really understand the whole "hair" thing, but either way that scene was really good.

Every damn scene in this show is so dramatic I just am really glued to the TV whenever it comes on. No show out there did that as well for me, maybe ER when it first was aired, but that's about the only other show I can think of that was nearly as interesting.

Anyway, the writer is really wonderful, man. I'm a writer myself, but anyone can tell you that to make characters come alive like that is a major job sometimes.

I wish there were more shows like this on TV. Trying to think of another great scene. They just sort of come to you, which ones are your favorite? (question directed at the person who got propositioned, keep writing here, ignore that filthy creep)

Check Ya. MSCL Fan.

[brain1]

Whoops. I totally screwed up, that's a quote from the show, that you had tagged ... sorry for misreading that and being an idiot! Sorry candygirl. Again, my mistake candygirl

Special K would you like to join me in the Show section to discuss more?

P.S. Brad has a theory about that.