The End

General discussion about the nineteen episodes of "My So-Called Life". Note: Our episode guide can be found here.
hydro_27
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The End

Post by hydro_27 » Apr 4th 2003, 7:32 pm

Does any know why there was only one season of MSCL? I never knew why it ended. I always wished there were more seasons.

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MadMichael
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Re: The End

Post by MadMichael » Apr 4th 2003, 11:50 pm

hydro_27 wrote:Does any know why there was only one season of MSCL?
In a nutshell, "low ratings". Sometimes a network will give a show time to grow, but not in this case...
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Post by ducksqueak » Apr 5th 2003, 2:37 pm

If only ABC had given it time to grow........ Too bad they didn't realize the possibilities. Here we are discussing the show like 10 years later. I don't think there is any other show out there that has the same cult following. Well, except maybe Roswell and even UPN gave it a chance after the WB dumped it. Why is that I only like the shows with low ratings??? Am I abnormal because I don't understand or laugh at Friends?
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Post by Guest » Apr 6th 2003, 5:02 am

ducksqueak, I think not understanding/laughing at Friends puts you in the NORMAL group.

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Post by loveme » Apr 6th 2003, 11:29 am

I'm reading lots of books about great tv shows, and of course there are articles about my so called life, and tonight i've read one of it where the journalist said that ABC's president admits that the biggest error he made in his professionnal carrier has been to cancelled mscl...

And there is too an interview of Marshall Herskovitz where he said this has been a big frustration because they were having so much ideas about the relationship between Patty and Graham, and of course a lot of things about Angela and Brian....

This is really sad, none really understand the great show it was...when i was watching the show on tv, i was really 'inside", that was so strong...and the show stopped and i learn it was the end, no more episode ever...i think i've never feel such an horriblle frustration!!! :evil:

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Re: The End

Post by K-man » Apr 6th 2003, 5:48 pm

hydro_27 wrote:Does any know why there was only one season of MSCL? I never knew why it ended. I always wished there were more seasons.
Ahh Hydro_27...You've asked the impossible question all of us want answered. And I agree Friends is one of the great anomalies of the universe. I just don't get it.
Daddy sold the farm and they've killed my trees. K-man

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Post by Niko » Apr 8th 2003, 6:36 pm

I think this show was aired before its time. This show was so revolutionary and controversial that I guess the ABC execs were kinda afraid of airing it in the first place.

I'm pretty sure that if it was aired now (in this time of age) it would of had "higher" ratings. But whatever...I hope those execs realize he huge mistake they made.

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Post by meggrrrl » Apr 8th 2003, 6:42 pm

What I don't understand is why the low ratings. MTV aired it, what, within a year of its cancellation to great ratings, am I right? Were young people (other than us) not aware of is while it was airing, but MTV recognized it for what it was and gave it the audience it should have had? I was furious when it was cancelled, because we didn't have cable at the time so I couldn't see it re-aired on MTV. All these folks watching it on MTV, where were they when I (umm, the show, that is) needed them, just months before?

*off to tear my hair out*

Meg

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Post by Nothingman » Apr 8th 2003, 6:46 pm

I wonder if the show would have continued on, would it be immortalized as it is 10 years later? Or did perishing before it's time like Kurt Cobain or Jim Morrison help to immortalize it?
"To come to your senses, you must first go out of your mind." - Alan Watts

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Post by TomSpeed » Apr 8th 2003, 8:02 pm

I have no doubt that MSCL would get 2-3 years to find an audience today. TV execs have focused a great deal on finding and catering to niche audiences. WB, UPN, and Fox air mostly crap, but certain segments of the viewer population tune in every night. Advertisements are sold; money is made all around. Ratings that were considered low ten years ago are golden today. All broadcasters competed for the same audience ten years ago. The don't compete the same way today. MSCL just underperformed ratings-wise during it's first run. Could ABC have turned things around? Maybe. It would have taken some guts and some acceptance that it might have to eat another season on a low-rated show. It also would have taken money to advertise the show and keep the writers and actors happy. Also it would have taken the commitment of the actors themselves. Doing a weekly series is very hard work. It's especially hard for younger actors. Claire Danes seemed less than enthusiastic about signing on for a second year. I'm not trying to say if Claire said she wanted to come back, the show would have been renewed, but it would make it harder to make the decision to keep the show going if Claire wasn't 100% committed to it. Of course, if there had been some growth in ratings during the first year, the decision might have been a different one. But if you look at the ratings for each show, you'll notice that there wasn't any improvement.

I think MSCL would still be popular like it is now if it had gone 2-3 years. Yes, the fact that it died young is part of its charm. But its greatest strengths were writing and acting. If those strengths continued in subsequent years, I think more people would be reading the forum right now.

MTV really pushed MSCL. The execs there knew how good the show was. They aired the marathons, etc. MTV appealed to the same demographic that was associated with MSCL. So, it seemed like a natural fit. Of course, with a smaller and more coherent audience, MTV could more easily champion MSCL than ABC.

The sad thing is that MTV missed a great opportunity in not trying to pick of the series after ABC canceled it. Of course, MTV ran videos then and not original programming. MTV certainly has changed since then.
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Patty: If Rayanne's not seeing you, and we're not seeing you, who is seeing you?
Graham: And how much of you?
Angela: Dad!
Graham: Oh, I'm sorry! I asked a question about your life, didn't I? Woah, what came over me?
http://www.last.fm/user/TomSpeed/

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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Apr 8th 2003, 8:14 pm

TomSpeed wrote:The sad thing is that MTV missed a great opportunity in not trying to pick of the series after ABC canceled it. Of course, MTV ran videos then and not original programming. MTV certainly has changed since then.
Not entirely true - MTV began running the Real World in 1992, and Road Rules began shortly after. They also ran original programming like Just Say Julie, Remote Control, Beavis and Butt-head, Liquid Television (Aeon Flux? The Maxx? Sorry, it's been a long time and my memory isn't great), the State, Singled Out, Buzzkill, Idiot Savants, House of Style, etc. in the early to mid 90s (when MSCL began airing on MTV). Honestly, MTV has not been music television for a LONG time. At least in the 90s they still pretended to show videos by blocking off a few hours every day for music. Now the only videos they seem to show are on TRL.
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Post by TomSpeed » Apr 8th 2003, 8:47 pm

candygirl wrote:
TomSpeed wrote:The sad thing is that MTV missed a great opportunity in not trying to pick of the series after ABC canceled it. Of course, MTV ran videos then and not original programming. MTV certainly has changed since then.
Not entirely true - MTV began running the Real World in 1992, and Road Rules began shortly after. They also ran original programming like Just Say Julie, Remote Control, Beavis and Butt-head, Liquid Television (Aeon Flux? The Maxx? Sorry, it's been a long time and my memory isn't great), the State, Singled Out, Buzzkill, Idiot Savants, House of Style, etc. in the early to mid 90s (when MSCL began airing on MTV). Honestly, MTV has not been music television for a LONG time. At least in the 90s they still pretended to show videos by blocking off a few hours every day for music. Now the only videos they seem to show are on TRL.
Yea...I remembered those shows after I posted. Some of those shows were good. They did play a lot more videos ten years ago with the video blocks. Now, there are no video blocks. If you want to watch videos, you watch MTV2. If I remember correctly, there was some talk about MTV picking up MSCL. Or am I imagining that?
TomSpeed

Patty: If Rayanne's not seeing you, and we're not seeing you, who is seeing you?
Graham: And how much of you?
Angela: Dad!
Graham: Oh, I'm sorry! I asked a question about your life, didn't I? Woah, what came over me?
http://www.last.fm/user/TomSpeed/

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Post by TomSpeed » Apr 8th 2003, 8:57 pm

I'm so old, I remember when MTV meant Music Television! MTV was so huge when I was in high school. It might still be huge, but for different reasons than music. I miss the old VJs. I think what happened to MTV can be summarized by Catherine Quinn (please tell me I got her name right). She doesn't let her kids watch it. And I'm pretty sure she said MTV has just become crap.
TomSpeed

Patty: If Rayanne's not seeing you, and we're not seeing you, who is seeing you?
Graham: And how much of you?
Angela: Dad!
Graham: Oh, I'm sorry! I asked a question about your life, didn't I? Woah, what came over me?
http://www.last.fm/user/TomSpeed/

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Post by Guest » Apr 9th 2003, 2:26 am

Martha Quinn...but close.

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Post by TomSpeed » Apr 9th 2003, 9:02 am

Anonymous wrote:Martha Quinn...but close.
Yea...her real name came to me this morning. How could I forget Martha? Don't ask me the names of other VJs. I probably wouldn't be close. I might have to do some research. I remember the blonde chick, the guy with the big hair, the normal looking guy, the black guy. All of their names escape me. Then there were Downtown Julie Brown, Kurt Loder, and...I forget. But at the time, they were the coolest people on TV.
TomSpeed

Patty: If Rayanne's not seeing you, and we're not seeing you, who is seeing you?
Graham: And how much of you?
Angela: Dad!
Graham: Oh, I'm sorry! I asked a question about your life, didn't I? Woah, what came over me?
http://www.last.fm/user/TomSpeed/

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