Retro TV: My So-Called Life

Angela Chase played by Claire Danes is an ordinary girl who lives in an ordinary town and attends an ordinary high school. Sounds like a pretty boring story right yet My So-Called Life was one of the most popular teen shows of its time. It aired over here in the UK in the mid 90s and I accidentally came across it while I was on holiday from university and I immediately grew to love it. Facing a teen-life crisis, 15 year old Angela dyes her hair red and dumps her childhood friend, Sharon Cherski played by Devon Odessa for wild child, Rayanne Graff played by A.J Langer and Rickie Vasquez played Wilson Cruz who is coming to grips with his homosexuality. She also has a huge crush on gorgeous but dim, Jordan Catalano played by Jared Leto. Her life goes from being mundane to something of a mini roller coaster with Angela, Rayanne and Rickie getting into scrapes after scrapes, some of them fun and some dangerous. My So-Called Life set the precedence for thought provoking teen dramas that spoke to its audience rather than at them. The series was created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz who had brought us ThirtySomething, and boy it was beautifully told. The display of teen angst was brilliantly portrayed in the show and a lot of teens around the world related to Angela and her pals. It tackled issues such as child abuse, homophobia, teenage alcoholism, homeslessness, adultery, school violence, censorship and drug use.

Angela's insightful narrative really depicted the way today's teenagers thought and how minor issues such as being popular, getting a guy to like you and who is taking you to the prom were such a big deal. It also showed a young lady trying to find her identity and place in life. Prior to this my exposure to American teen life had been the cheesy aspect of cheerleaders, school presidents and jocks or the opposite with the class nerd or social misfit. My So-Called Life was the first show to deal with a regular teen who was questioning life and it paved the way for other teen dramas such as Dawson's Creek. The OC and One Tree Hill. No surprise that it was nominated for four Emmy Awards and took a Golden Globe with Claire Danes winning the Best Actress in a TV Series. It also came 33 on Entertainment Weekly's New Classics TV list of shows from 1983 and 2008 and in 2007 was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 Best TV Shows of All Time. Sadly the show only ran for one season due to many factors such as Claire Danes going onto other projects and low ratings but My So-Called Life will always live in our memories plus there is always the DVD box set.

Check out this fan page for the show.

My So-Called Life is available to purchase from amazon.

Have a peep at the trailer for the series below.

Retro TV: thirtysomething

I remember when thirtysomething set the screens alight in the late 80s and it was all everyone was talking about. I was in my (cough) late teens at the time and their lives did seem a distance from mine and quite suburban. Due to my part time job at good ole Marks & Spencer I was unable to catch the show and only began watching bits of the last series. However my best mate at the time was a real fan and kept me updated on what was going on. thirtysomething was the sort of groundbrealong show that made it's mark and stood out amongst other shows in its era. Think of  I Love Lucy in the 50s, The Avengers in the 60s, The Odd Couple in the 70s, LA Law in the 80s, ER in the 90s and Mad Men in the noughties. Well thirtysomething was right up there in the mix.

The show was set in Philadelphia and was about a group of baby boomers (advertising phrase for people born in the 50s and 60s) who were in their late 30s and settling down to marriage, babies, careers and mortgages. Like the name the show really encompassed the fears that the characters faced while leaving the carefree years of their 20s behind and moving into a new era of responsibility and commitment. The characters comprised of Micheal and Hope Steedman played by Ken Olin and Mel Smith who had just welcomed the birth of their daughter. Michael owned his own advertising business and Hope was a writer who was now a stay at home mum. Elliot and Nancy Weston were played by Timothy Busfield and Patricia Wettig. Elliot was Michael's business partner and Nancy was a former artist who had given up her career to raise their two kids. Gary Shepherd played by Peter Horton was Michael"s best friend and free spirited lecturer who embarked on a relationship with Melissa played by Melanie Mayron, an angst ridden photographer. Ellyn Warren played by Polly Draper was Hope's best friend who was career driven and relationship hapless. The show dealt with issues such as infidelity, cancer, death, marriage and break ups.

Like LA Law the show really was a representation of yuppie culture in the 80s but while the successful law show had a conservative, Reagan(esq) feel to it, thirtysomething really tapped into the Liberalism movement of that time. It also dealt with the changing expectations from men and women and the birth of second-wave feminism. thirtysomething broke many barriers; it was the first show to introduce an hour long drama based on the personal and professional lives of a group of friends. The show has been extremely influential on other programmes such as Friends, Cold Feet and Brothers and Sisters. It was created by Edward Zwick who directed films such as About Last Night, Blood Diamond and Love and Other Drugs. Also noticeable was the fashion which was very laid back preppy style with the characters seen in high waisted jeans, shoulder pads, braces, over sized shirts and sweaters topped with loafers. The hair was all about volume with bobs and flicks. Anyway I am glad it is back on the small screen so I can finally catch up with it.

thirtysomething airs on Sky Atlantic during weekdays at 10.00am and 3.00pm.

Quarterlife

Imagine a TV show that has an all female house share with a male house share across the corridor. They all get on famously, they hang out together, fall out and hell some even date each other. Sounds like Friends right? No it is an internet show called Quarterlife that revolves around the lives of a group of twenty something creatives. The show is a coming of age series that tackles all the issues that you face at that age as well as making choices that will effect the rest of your life. The main protagonist is Dylan, played by Bitsie Tulloch, a frustrated writer who has landed a job on a woman's title. Dylan fuels her passion for writing by blogging (writing and filming) about the perils of her life as well as as her friends. Her best mate and confident is Debra, played by Michelle Lombardo - a dynamic lass who makes time for everyone except herself. She is in a long term relationship with Danny, played by David Walton and wants to cement their courtship by setting up home with him but unfortunately Danny has other ideas. Then there is Lisa, played by Maїté Schwartz who has everything going for her; looks, talent, personality but also extreme low self esteem that manifests itself in self destruction. Jed, played by Scott Michael Foster is best chum, house mate and business partner to Danny and neighbours to Dylan and co. Oh and he is also in love with Debra.

Taking the lead from Katemodern and Lonelygirl15, Quarterlife is presented in the form of 20 minute lifestyle webisodes that are easily accessible. The show is created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, who brought us Thirtysomething and Once and Again, and producers of My So-Called Life. The pilot episode was aired online in November 2007 and climaxed in March 2008. Aside from a brief stint on NBC the show has been aired strictly online on the Quarterlife website as well as on its MySpace page. The Quarterlife website as acts as a social networking space for creatives but I don't think they pull it off as the site has too many things going on at once. Saying that the series is very enjoyable and extremely compelling. It takes a while to get into it but after the the third webisode I was totally engrossed and I was very disappointed when it ended. Do yourself a favour and check it out. In the UK we had a wonderful show called This Life well this is the US version.