UK Guardian TV/Entertainment Guide ARTICLE on MSCL DVD

[RodH]

Hi everyone.

I've been a lurker here since around the beginning of October and haven't felt the need (or rather the authority) to post here until now. To be honest I feel completely out of place here as I have yet to see all but the first three episodes of MSCL. I was a bit too young to see it when it was first broadcast (I'm 19 now) and only bought the originally released single-DVD a couple of months ago after being intrigued by peoples massively contradictory opinions of the show..... Well, I'm not exaggerating when I say that I've never fallen in love with a TV show as quickly and intensely as I have with My So-Called Life. On top of this, I can't believe how lucky I am to only now have discovered this masterpiece while it's fans have been slaving for years to give it a release. And yes, I even came to it late enough to already be well aware of avoiding an order with AU. I've got to say it's hard not to feel guilty after reading so much about all the s**t most of you have been put through with this, while I haven't had to work for it at all. And though for me this release has been one of purely euphoric anticipation, I know for many of you by now it has sadly become something you just want to be over and done with (I'm sure if I'd had hundreds of dollars stolen from me and repeatedly been lied to I'd feel the same way).

From what I've read, it seems, understandably, that for some this project will always leave a bitter taste in their mouths. Sadder still is the fact that they involved themselves with something purely out of affection, and that they were paid back with nothing more than lies, fraud and disregard. I just hope it is some small consolation to you that ultimately, without your continued dedication and affection for the show, there would not be any people, like me, who were able to appreciate this extraordinary piece of work for the first time, in its entirety.

Anyway, apologies for my rambling.... I suppose if you hang around a forum for so long without saying anything, you try to say too much at once....

Below will be my type out of an article which appeared today in The Guardian's 'The Guide' TV/Entertainment supplement. As I said, I wouldn't be posting anything as of yet, but The Guardian is one of the UK's biggest national Newspapers, and I was just suprised that no other UK fans had happened to have seen it and mention it here. Anyway, here's what you actually clicked on the thread for........ (note: article is reproduced EXACTLY as printed, so don't blame ME for any inconsistencies )


When youthful TV was truthful

One of the original teen dramas, My-So Called Life was about adolescence and akward emotions. Now it's out on DVD. Justin Quirk explains the facts of Life.

Eight years ago, a culturally sophisticated 16-year-old might have had a Nation of Ulysses T-shirt, a copy of Generation X and be mourning the recent demise of Nirvana, but - in the dark days before The Sopranos, Oz, Scrubs, Six Feet Under, Homicide, Larry Sanders, CSI et al - their television viewing sucked. While the Americans sent over sporadic "grown-up" classics (St Elsewhere, Hill St Blues) teenagers were being fobbed off with the likes of Party Of Five, Baywatch or - staying up late for a special treat on a Saturday - Tour Of Duty.

The turning point came in August 1994 with the debut of ABC's My So-Called Life. Rather than following the lives of keg-swilling date rapists or Bisto-coloured lifeguards, this dark, understated drama centred around Angela Chase (played by a pre-Romeo & Juliet Claire Danes), an awkward 15-year-old living in the Pittsburgh suburbs. The product of a resolutely normal family, Angela was surrounded by characters remarkable only for their mundanity - the slutty "new" best friend, the "old" best friend who had outstripped her (after a particularly perky growth spurt), the weirdo school genius Brian Krakow (who had always loved her) and the moronic man-slag who she obsessed over. That was it. No incongruously expensive cars, no improbable money-making schemes, no Screech from Saved By the Bell, no pre-pubescent medical practitioners. And - crucially - no 25-year-olds trying to pass themselves off as teenagers.

My So-Called Life played out like TV written by teenagers in that it dealt with the small moments that make or break your life at that age, rather than the moments that adults wish they'd experienced as adolescents. Compared to the later (vile) Dawsons Creek - where Dawson The Bastard lurches from one existential crisis to another like some massive-foreheaded Camus - MSCL's characters were bogged down in the mundane because, like real teenagers, they didn't know any different. The first episode dealt largely with the importance of Angela dying her mousy hair "Crimson Glow" at the behest of her slutty (great) new friend Rayanne Graff. "When Rayanne told me my hair was holding me back I had to listen," said her shaky voiceover. "Cos she wasn't just talking about my hair. She was talking about my whole life."

This attention to the small details occurred throughout the series; Angela's semi-requited love for Jordan Catalano (played by Jared Leto) was expressed through a series of inconsequential moments, like "once, I almost touched his back during a pop quiz". Even when a "Dawson's Moment" could occurr, it was undercut by the characters being realistically inarticulate. "Her hair smelled incredible... like this orange grove we used to pass on the way to my grandmother's when I was eight," said Brian, during one of his frequent reveries on Angela. "But, um, that was probably just her shampoo or something."

All the characters displayed the moral ambiguity that has become a staple of shows like The Sopranos and Oz. While the audience loved Angela, she behaved like and absolute s**t towards neurotic Brian, frequently using the boy genius to wangle assignments.

This Dark tone meant the show was dogged with problems before it was even broadcast. Despite it coming from producers with a proven track record (Thirtysomething's Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz), ABC sat on the show for almost a year before broadcasting it. These jitters were hardly calmed by storylines involving near fatal drug overdoses, suprisingly frank - in TV terms - sexual discussions, and the presence of a gay, black character, Ricky. Fittingly, Ricky's gayness - and, in fact, his blackness - was rarely of significance (despite the frequent off-camera kickings that he bore with a remarkable stoicism). Compared with the heavy-handed treatment that Dawson's gave its gay storyline - all the dramatic complexity of a Golden Grahams advert - this was particularly admirable.

While the network and advertisers may have been unhappy with these rather thorny issues, the bottom line was that in terms of ratings, MSCL died on its arse. Despite Danes winning a Golden Globe for her performance and being called "the most exciting actress to debut in 10 years" by Steven Spielberg, the show was the lowest rated in ABC's season, drawing just 10m viewers (compared with ER's 30m debut season). Series creator Winniw Holzman shrugged off the criticisms that the show was too morbid - "every serial killer gets his hour on TV and I find that depressing - I don't find the inner workings of a teenager depressing". It was duly pulled after just 19 hour-long episodes.

This did not go down well with the show's legion of fans. After the final episode - in which Brian wrote a love note to Angela on the illiterate Jordan's behalf; Angela realised but went off with the moronic stoner anyway - they formed Operation Life Support. Via a massive petition and a full page advert in USA Today the group tried unsuccessfully to force ABC into a change of heart. They have subsequently channelled their energy into mscl.com, a frighteningly exhaustive website/support group. In late 2000 they put out the call for pre-orders on a proposed of every episode; requiring 1000 orders to persuade BMG to release the series to a distributor, they received 4,500 signatures straight away.

The extent of My So-Called Life's continued popularity shouldn't be suprising as it was pivotal in ushering in a new era of sophisticated American dramas. There are particularly strong echoes of Danes' character in Six Feet Under's Claire Fisher, while hanging whole episodes on tracing the repercussions of minor events is the stock device of both Oz and The Sopranos. Kevin Spacey's tortured baby boomer in American Beauty and the claustrophobic, petty ennui of The Virgin Suicides also owed a hefty debt to the show . Its semi-cinematic direction gave it a heavyweight feel, while the sheer quality of the performances have prevented it looking dated (even if some of the grunge references haven't aged so well). Like many great ensemble pieces featuring relative unknowns (ie Boys From The Blackstuff), the cast - with the exception of Jared Leto - have done very little with the same impact subsequently. Still, even if Claire Danes never steps in front of a camera again, she can go to her grave secure in the knowledge that she made the lives of at least a few early 1990's adolescents much, much better, and immeasurably improved TV for subsequent generations. And you could never, ever say that about Dawson.

My So-Called Life is out now on DVD (BMG/Another Universe)

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[Natasha (candygirl)]

(note: article is reproduced EXACTLY as printed, so don't blame ME for any inconsistencies )

We tend not to shoot the messenger around here...mostly

That said, I wanted to nitpick the lack of research displayed by "The Guardian is one of the UK's biggest national Newspapers."

Eight years ago... teenagers were being fobbed off with the likes of Party Of Five.

Party of Five did not premiere until September 1994 so we were not forced to live through the Salinger angst BEFORE My So-Called Life's debut, which we all know was in August 1994.

And - crucially - no 25-year-olds trying to pass themselves off as teenagers.

This is really nit-picky on my part, because TECHNICALLY the author is correct but it's math and I'm anal that way: Jared Leto's birthday is December 26, 1971 so he was 21 when they shot the pilot in March of 1993. BUT he was a few days shy of his 23rd birthday when they shot "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" in December 1994. I realize that there were 90210 cast members who were older than that when they shot their pilot, but I'm just saying that despite the Guardian's relief that MSCL being a show about teenagers played by actual teenagers, only three of the cast regulars (Lisa Wilhoit, Claire Danes, and Devon Gummersall) were actually teenagers when the final episode was shot.

All the characters displayed the moral ambiguity that has become a staple of shows like The Sopranos and Oz. While the audience loved Angela, she behaved like and absolute s**t towards neurotic Brian, frequently using the boy genius to wangle assignments.

She told Brian she wasn't going to take the extra credit for his volumeter project so I don't count that as wangling. She did ask him to explain geometry to her, and even though he came over to her house he didn't actually explain any geometry to her. Absynnia is the one who helped her. If anything, Jordan was the one wangling assignments out of Angela.

the presence of a gay, black character, Ricky. Fittingly, Ricky's gayness - and, in fact, his blackness - was rarely of significance (despite the frequent off-camera kickings that he bore with a remarkable stoicism).

Except that Rickie (that's with an "IE" per the scripts) was not "black" (which apparently is a term still used to describe a person's ethnicity in the UK) because Wilson Cruz is of Puerto Rican heritage.

mscl.com, a frighteningly exhaustive website/support group

I agree that the amount of information that has been compiled at this website is quite exhaustive, but I don't know that I would use the word "frightening" - should I be offended?! And anyone who has been around since the pre-DVD days knows that the forum was anything BUT exhaustive or frightening. As a matter of fact, there were about 20 people who posted regularly at the forum and "regularly" meant "stop by about once a week to say hi and read Old Guy's most recent thought-provoking questions." Whoever wrote this article has obviously never been to any Buffy websites.

Like many great ensemble pieces featuring relative unknowns (ie Boys From The Blackstuff), the cast - with the exception of Jared Leto - have done very little with the same impact subsequently.

I'm not sure what the author means by "impact" that he would say Jared Leto is the only member of the cast who has achieved it. Because he's in a band now? He can't mean "starring roles" since AJ has starred in two sitcoms and Wilson Cruz has starred in movies with Tobey Maguire, Benicio Del Toro, Lukas Haas, and David Arquette, not to mention Claire Danes starring in Romeo + Juliet, Brokedown Palace, and the Mod Squad. Maybe "impact" means "dating someone else who is even more famous" but then wouldn't that include Claire Danes too?

[henrik]

Like many great ensemble pieces featuring relative unknowns (ie Boys From The Blackstuff), the cast - with the exception of Jared Leto - have done very little with the same impact subsequently.

I'm not sure what the author means by "impact" that he would say Jared Leto is the only member of the cast who has achieved it. Because he's in a band now? He can't mean "starring roles" since AJ has starred in two sitcoms and Wilson Cruz has starred in movies with Tobey Maguire, Benicio Del Toro, Lukas Haas, and David Arquette, not to mention Claire Danes starring in Romeo + Juliet, Brokedown Palace, and the Mod Squad. Maybe "impact" means "dating someone else who is even more famous" but then wouldn't that include Claire Danes too?

Leto has received quite a lot of good reviews (and credibility!) for his leading part in "Requiem for a dream" - more that all the other cast members combined, at least here in europe.

[angels_exist]

Yeah,
I have to say, The Guardian is a UK National Newspaper, so understandably it is written from a UK and European point of view, and not that of USA. I have to say it is pretty accurate from UK point of view (In my humble opinion! ).

I guess you have to remember that we in UK and Europe don't get all these shows that other members of the cast have gone on to do (Very well, i hope!!), we have our own shows too!!!

Anyway, i think it was great the The DVD's got some column inches!

I feel a MSCL Marathon coming on!!

Happy Thoughts.