my so-called life-related stories
Posted Aug 31st 2009 2:40PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free, Gone Too Soon
With the news coming down this week that
MTV is adapting the UK's teen sensation Skins for American audiences, it became obvious which show I was going to do next for this column. The thing about
Skins that works so well is that it rings of authenticity, which is rare in teen programming. It also features teenagers who are truly acting their age; no old dudes with male pattern baldness pretending to be high school sophomores.
We've seen all this before. A long time ago, before The WB and UPN built programming models for teen audiences, there was a little show on ABC that nobody really knew what to do with.
My So-Called Life tackled teen issues, not in "a very special episode" way, but in a raw, unfiltered way. It was wonderful.
Continue reading Gone Too Soon: My So-Called Life
Posted Aug 12th 2009 6:30PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming, Video, Web, Reality-Free
Today I don't feel like Brian Krakow standing sad and alone in the street holding my bike. Nope, today it feels like the Internet is giving me a big warm hug thanks to the
debut of My So-Called Life on Hulu. The site is now streaming every episode of ABC's pioneering but short-lived series about a teenage girl growing up in the '90s.
For the uninitiated,
My So-Called Life stars Claire Danes as Angela Chase, a teen desperately searching for meaning in her life and balancing new friends, the wild Rayanne Graff (A.J. Langer) and gay 15-year-old Rickie Vasquez (Wilson Cruz), with old ones, nerdy Brian (Devon Gummersall) and cheerleader Sharon Cherski (Devon Odessa). The show also chronicles Angela's parents' (Bess Armstrong and Tom Irwin) rocky relationship and her obsession with the broody Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto).
Continue reading My So-Called Life lands on Hulu
Posted Mar 24th 2009 3:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, Reality-Free
We've talked a lot about great short-lived shows here at TV Squad. We even have a whole
category for them. But it's always good to revisit the topic to see what you readers think.
Over at
Entertainment Weekly, they've chosen the
25 great TV shows that got a quick hook, the shows that got canceled (way) before their time (we're talking really short runs, so
Arrested Development and
Sports Night aren't on the list). There are several shows on the list that you would expect to see (
Freaks and Geeks,
My So-Called Life,
Firefly), some surprise entries that made me happy to see on there (
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr,
Frank's Place,
Karen Sisco,
Now & Again), and a few head-scratchers (
Malibu Road? Really?). It's slightly heavy on the current side, with
Journeyman and
Life on Mars on the list. I mean,
Life on Mars is still running new episodes.
Continue reading What's the greatest short-lived show of all-time?
Posted Feb 3rd 2009 6:03PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, Reality-Free
Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, the producing team behind
My So-Called Life,
thirtysomething and
Quarterlife, are
prepping a new drama pilot for CBS. The project, called
A Marriage, will be an examination of a working modern-day marriage.
I'm looking forward to this.
Quarterlife had its problems, but Herskovitz and Zwick are masters of nuanced character-centric drama. I was a teenager in the '90s; so believe me when I say that they helped paint an absorbing and realistic portrait of adolescence with
My So-Called Life. For me, that show really captured the raw emotion, pointless anxiety and simple joy of being an American teenager at that time. (It also encouraged me to buy my first albums by The Lemonheads and Juliana Hatfield. Thanks TV!)
Continue reading Thirtysomething creators start A Marriage with CBS
Posted Aug 14th 2008 8:04AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming, Reality-Free
Sometimes you come across a line in a column, an opinion, an observation, that is so mindblowingly wrong-headed that it leaves your mouth hanging open for a full 30 seconds. That's what happened to me when I read this list of the
Shows That Died Too Young (great one season shows that shouldn't have been canceled) over at
The New York Post. Talking about HBO's
John From Cincinnati, the writer says this:
John [From Cincinnati] was not only the most creative program in the medium's sixty year history, but also some of the most mysterious.Now, the second half of that quote is grammatically baffling, but we get the idea:
JFC was the most creative show that has been on television in its 60 year history. Well, what do you think of that?
Continue reading John From Cincinnati is not the most creative TV show of all-time
Posted Nov 19th 2007 10:21AM by Liz Finn-Arnold
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Web, Pickups and Renewals
It's being called a
"revoluntionary step" in television entertainment.
Quarterlife, created by
thirtysomething's Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick, has the honor of becoming the first webseries to be acquired for broadcast television. The hour-long drama will begin airing on NBC sometime in February.
Herskovitz and Zwick reportedly
launched the series (about a twentysomething video blogger and her friends) directly on the web in order to maintain complete creative control. However,
after viewing the series online , I began to suspect that
quarterlife simply wasn't good enough for primetime. In fact, I doubted it would ever gain a strong fanbase or end up on network television.
Shows how much I know.
Continue reading NBC picks up webseries 'quarterlife'
Posted Nov 8th 2007 2:02PM by Liz Finn-Arnold
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Web
Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick are responsible for creating some of my favorite TV shows:
thirtysomething,
My So-Called Life, and
Once and Again. They've influenced my writing and even my desire to write for TV probably more than anyone else in Hollywood. They've been absent from the TV landscape for a couple of years, and I've definitely missed them.
Luckily,
Herskovitz and Zwick are back with a brand new series, called
quarterlife. The series, however, will not currently be available on ABC or any other network. Herskovitz and Zwick are bringing this new series to life on the web. And in
a recent L.A. Times item, Herskovitz explains why they've left traditional television behind.
Herskovitz believes "the business of television has become an exclusive club, closed to new members," which has some producers "turning to the internet to have a voice."
Continue reading Thirtysomething co-creator explains reasons for leaving TV
Posted Nov 2nd 2007 11:48AM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: TV on DVD, Contests and Giveaways
If you haven't entered our latest giveaways yet, here's a reminder that some are ending today. You've got until 5PM Eastern today to enter the
Twin Peaks Definitive Gold Box edition DVDs and the
Criss Angel Mindfreak season one DVDs. You've got until Monday to enter the
CMA Awards iPod giveaway and the
My So-Called Life complete series DVDs. Just head on over to the post linked above, read through the rules and make the applicable comment there (not here!) We'll notify the winners next week.
Good luck!
Posted Oct 30th 2007 8:58AM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, TV on DVD, Contests and Giveaways
As if we didn't already have some
incredible things to giveaway here already, here's one that just passed over the TV Squad desk late last night, and it couldn't possibly wait until next week. We've got three copies of
My So-Called Life - the complete series on DVD, which is already available in stores today (review of the set coming here soon). All you've got to do is submit a comment below before 5PM Eastern, November 5, and mention why you'd like to own the series. We'll randomly choose three winners to receive the DVDs!
Some other details:
- To enter, leave a confirmed comment below stating why you'd like to own the My So-Called Life series on DVD.
- The comment must be left before Monday, November 5, 2007 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
- You may enter only once.
- Three winners will be selected in a random drawing.
- Three winners will receive a copy of My So-Called Life complete series DVDs (valued at $69.99).
Click here for complete Official Rules.Posted Mar 28th 2007 8:39PM by Meredith O'Brien
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, FOX, OpEd, 24
*If you haven't watched the new episode of 24 yet, don't read any more, unless you want to find out what happened.*
Viewers are getting restless. And they're grumbling. Across the blogosphere. Among TV critics. And the buzz isn't good. People are hoping that things turn around for 24 and their boy Jack Bauer soon. 'Cause the most recent episode . . . well, 'twas disappointing.
Nonetheless, I'll try to be positive (and snarky) as I recap four select moments from this week's episode:
Quote of note: It's a Chloe O'Brian "quote of note" victory. Again. Three weeks in a row. "We all thought she was guilty. This is gonna be awkward," our gal Chloe said as Nadia Yassir prepared to rejoin her CTU colleagues after Yassir was briefly detained for suspected treasonous behavior.
Continue reading 4 from 24: More on hour 15
Posted Feb 27th 2007 7:49PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, MTV, Pickups and Renewals
MTV may finally be backing away from its plethora of reality programs, which are all beginning to see a decline in ratings. The network has given the greenlight to - gasp! - a drama. It's the first scripted series for the network in five long years.
The half-hour drama is called
Kaya and it's about a teen-age girl who, along with her band members, becomes a rock star. This is a little more along the lines of the whole music television theme, unlike the mid-1990s teen angst drama,
My So-Called Life. In case you were wondering, the last scripted series to air on MTV were 2002's
Undressed and 2001's
2Gether.
Danielle Savre has signed on to star in
Kaya. You may remember her as 'Jackie Wilcox' from her brief run as the cheerleader-who-got-killed-instead-of-Claire on
Heroes.
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