March 2011
1 post
2 tags
my so-called life re-watched, episode 11: life of...
Originally posted on my blog.
Brian’s song
WHAT the hell? Brian’s narrating this one? Oh hell nooooo. I do not like this. Bring back Angela! That was pretty much my reaction when I first saw this episode and realised it diverged from the usual format. The thought of being privy to the workings of Brian’s brain wasn’t appealing. And it didn’t help that as the...
February 2011
1 post
4 tags
our comeback: everything you need to know. join...
“That was yesterday. What are you gonna write today?” — Vic, episode 6, My So-Called Life*
You know what we did last summer
As you know if you’re reading this blog, in July 2010, a group of us started re-watching (or in the case of a couple of people, watching for the first time) seminal/wonderful ’90s cult classic My So-Called Life, discussing it on Twitter as we...
January 2011
2 posts
TV Show Time Machine: My So-Called Life →
This link [careful if you haven’t seen the show yet: it’s spoilery] was submitted I’m not sure how long ago (I check my Tumblr messages too infrequently) but is another personal perspective on MSCL that I definitely relate to. Thanks for sharing!
Good news!
We’re going to be coming back next month. IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG.
October 2010
2 posts
My So-Called Life Re-watched: Episode 10, Other... →
Oh hai. We’re over here this week. Pls click.
Episode 9: Halloween
My So-Called Life is always good, but sometimes it’s great. Wonderful. Perfection.
This is not one of those times. This is one of the weaker episodes, not least for its unwelcome foray into the paranormal.
I know Americans make a much bigger deal of October 31 than we do, but I’ve never appreciated the Halloween special so many programmes do, and it’s disappointing MSCL felt it...
September 2010
5 posts
BACK!
Tomorrow, episode 9, 1 PM British time. Take the day off work and join us on Twitter! (And by us, I’m hoping I don’t just mean “me”.)
ETA: recap coming oh-so-very-soon. Life this week suddenly got interesting. (Which reminded me of the MSCL quote, “It’s like your life just decided how to get good, like, that second.” (I’m pretty sure that’s...
30 Seconds To Mars 'Amazed' By VMA Best Rock Video... →
Well done Jordan Catalano!
Episode 8: Strangers in the House
This week’s re-watching was a somewhat desultory affair; only two of us watched, and we had to postpone a day because of er, my hair. Also, not the best episode. They’re all well-written and acted, obvs, but this one’s kinda maudlin, and features a lot of Graaaam being self-obsessed and annoying.
One thing that makes it worth watching is the Sharon-Angela storyline: we see their...
Episode 7: Why Jordan Can't Read
There were only three of us this week, as other MSCLRW-ers were off visiting Legoland and packing for New York and other fun stuff. (Hey, I’m not bitter.) Others were absent without leave. (Again, not bitter.)
Three may be a crowd but we were a fun one, united in loving the episode where Angela and Jordan share their proper first kiss and — the moment I’d been waiting for since this...
August 2010
14 posts
“Last night, the finale of Huge — the fat camp show from My So Called...”
– Huge & The Future Of Fat On TV
Recommended reading for obvious reasons, and also because it’s a really good piece.
Claire's a winner!
Awards shows always get to me, and I have to admit to feeling a little weepy when I read that Claire Danes had won Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Made for TV Movie (for Temple Grandin, which I’m longing to see but isn’t available over here yet) at yesterday’s Emmys.
“Claire Danes just became me” said the real Temple Grandin. [Yes, that is Mark Greene from ER.]
...
A 2008 perspective on The Substitute →
If you see (or write) any MSCL perspectives/reviews/recaps around the interwebs, let me know, and I’ll link ‘em up.
Episode 6: The Substitute
Yep, time for that old classic: the teacher who changes your world, then you discover the power was in YOU all along…
We disagreed slightly on how well this was done: I still love the ep, maybe because I hadn’t seen this trope done to death when I first watched it 16 (gulp) years ago. Stuart and Keris felt it was a bit tired and heavy-handed respectively, but I think it’s less...
“We had 4 channels but I tell you youngster, we watched what was on. We sat and...”
– What Did Teenagers Do Before The Internet? (BitchBuzz Tech)
It was a bit sad, tbh…
(Ep 6 recap coming later.)
Episode 5: The Zit
Stuart (@feelinglistless) declared this the ep where MSCL gained classic status. And I agree — it’s pretty much perfect. It really nails teen self-obsession, obsession with appearance, and how no-one is ever happy with how they look 100% of the time. With the possible exception of RuPaul.
@Keris was on holiday, @JuniperJungle had nowhere to watch it, @novelicious was MIA and @Petronella had...
Dear Angela: Remembering "My So-called Life" by... →
I plan on reading this asap. Which means when I have £17 to spare, or a local library gets it in stock. I think I’d like it.
My So-Called Life: The Complete Series →
PopMatters’ review is three years old, but still really worth reading.
And HOW jealous am I of the US DVD release extras? (Answer: extremely.)
Hello :)
Just wanted to say hi to all the new followers here. I’d love to follow you all back, but as this isn’t my original and first Tumblr, I don’t seem to be able to. (Bad design, Tumblr. Come on!) So instead I’m saying thank you for joining us here, I really appreciate it and look forward to your comments, blog posts (maybe? See how-to, right —>), or just your silent...
Episode 4: Father Figures
This wasn’t the ep I thought it was. I thought this was the one with Sharon’s dad, but that’s in four episode’s time, I think. This is the one with the tax audit, and the father storylines for Angela and Patti. It’s actually kind of a downer, and not very plot-driven. Good, but not great.
It stars Winnie Holzman (I was told she appears as the English teacher with the...
“My goal in life is to recreate this dance. In the My So-Called Life universe I...”
– “Zits are beauty marks.”
You’re following this blog, right? RIGHT?
Episode 3: Guns and Gossip
The most issues-y of the episodes (at least until much later in the series), this one is about gun crime in schools… Kinda. (Only a soda actually gets shot, but the ep powerfully highlights the fears, overreactions, and paranoia of parents and the total self-absorption of teens even in the face of potential danger.) It’s brilliantly-written, quite the downer, and it never. stops....
First: kissing
Last Tuesday, we watched the second episode of My So-Called Life, which is in part about kissing. At the start of the episode, Angela recalls her kisses so far. They’re pretty paltry: a boy who kissed her for a bet, a guy with a girlfriend, and a lifeguard. Who was giving her mouth-to-mouth. (“I would totally have counted that!” Keris said.) Then, of course, Angela has her...
July 2010
7 posts
Episode 2: Dancing in the Dark
I couldn’t remember what this episode was about before it started, then it clicked: kissing. First kisses, wanting to kiss the wrong person, not being kissed enough… And dancing as a metaphor for uh, you know. Oh, and pressure. There’s lots of kinds of pressure.
I said last week I was going to tweet a little less this time round, but that didn’t happen. What a fun, wild...
2 tags
MSCLRW on Feeling Listless
The very kind Stuart has posted about our project and his own love of My So-Called Life.
He’s a committed fan — he even made a t-shirt. [<— Contains spoilers.]
And he wrote this review for Imdb (save it until you’ve seen the show in its entirety if you haven’t already) which contains gems like this:
Even if you didn’t want to admit it, you were one of them. You...
Suddenly I'm getting the urge...
…to pull on some worn out jeans and a bashed up pair of DM’s and to run my hands through my hair while looking bewildered, sulky & misunderstood all at the same time. It’s nice to know that the misunderstood 17 year old is still alive and well as part of my soul. Plus my crush on Jordan Catalano is still as huuuuuuge as ever. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to dig out...
Episode 1: Pilot
Michelle was a few minutes late, Keris’s borrowed DVD skipped continually, Jenni’s hadn’t yet arrived, Kirsty was a couple of minutes ahead of me and Kate and Luisa were “with Tino” (i.e. absent) ‘cos of the whole watching at lunchtime thing. Also, Jill Mansell wondered what the heck we were doing.
But some of us managed to watch at least some of the first...
So here's what's happening.
1. Every Tuesday at 1 PM (British time)…
2. We (by which I mean me, Keris, Jenni and Kirsty, plus anyone else who wants to join in…
3. Are going to watch MSCL and chat about it during and afterwards on Twitter.
4. IMPORTANT: We’ll use the hashtag #MSCLRW.
5. Then I’ll collate some of our comments in a new blog post here, and that will be open for comments from us, and...
What Angela Means To Me
by Diane Shipley
The title was enough. I would have watched it just for the perfect title. This WAS my So-Called Life. (More like existence.)
But then there was the TV ad, too. A family sits around the table, talking about nothing, the parents asking the kids how their day was. A teenage girl is staring at her plate, unenthusiastic about the food and the conversation, unable to relate to her...