Checking Back in with ‘My So-Called Life,’ Thirty Years Later

How a 2020s sequel to the Gen X teen angst drama could help to reinvigorate American culture

It’s been almost three decades since the premiere of the cult hit My So-Called Life, which aired on ABC from August 1994 through January 1995. Although it ran for only one season, the series has gone on to become a cultural emblem for Generation X. This drama was groundbreaking in how it portrayed American teenaged life in such a gritty and authentic manner…along with having launched lead actress Claire Danes into superstardom.

Via subsequent airings on MTV, through DVD releases, and currently streaming on Hulu — My So-Called Life has allowed Xers and older Millennials to relive our adolescence. It’s also found new life amongst younger Millennials (Gen Y), Zoomers (Gen Z), and, inevitably, in the very near future, Alphas (Gen AA).

I was twelve when Life’s original episodes first aired. By the time I’d gotten the chance to catch up on all of My So-Called Life during the Summer of 1995 (shortly after ABC had officially canceled it, that May), I’d just turned thirteen. Since I belong to the “Xennial” microgeneration, that places me in a cohort adjacent to its core teen cast.

Why All The Hype?

A then-unknown Claire Danes led this dramatic ensemble as Angela Chase — a fifteen-year-old high school student navigating the pitfalls (and occasional joys) of adolescence. Angela attended Liberty High School in Three Rivers, a fictional suburb of Pittsburgh. Angela’s home life includes her awkward parents, Patty (Bess Armstrong) and Graham (Tom Irwin), along with gregarious younger sister Danielle (Lisa Wilhoit).

When the series opens, Angela has just begun hanging out with rebellious free spirit Rayanne Graf (A.J. Langer) and Rayanne’s best friend, introvert Rickie Vasquez (Wilson Cruz). Rounding out the cast are several of their peers: Angela’s geeky next-door neighbor Brian Krakow (Devon Gummersall), Angela’s preppy former best friend Sharon Cherski (Devon Odessa), and bad boy rocker Jordan Catalano (a then-also-unknown Jared Leto). The latter is the object of Angela’s affection, and much of the series explores dynamics of Angela and Jordan’s bumpy not-quite-romance.

Spoiler alert: I’ll be extensively exploring storylines from the 19 episodes of My So-Called Life that were produced.

Although Life is predominantly told from Angela’s perspective (complete with voiceovers by Danes), many of its plots and themes pertain to a majority of the supporting cast as well. They all wrestle with angst and self-doubt.

Angela feels she doesn’t fit in anywhere, and she admires Rayanne’s gusto and boldness. Rayanne, on the other hand, craves the stability of Angela’s family dynamics and upbringing — as Rayanne’s own single mom, Amber (Patti D’Arbanville-Quinn), is overworked and has provided minimal structure in Rayanne’s life. Meanwhile, a closeted Rickie is dealing with his homosexuality — plus his abusive guardians (including an uncle who physically beats Rickie up for being Queer).

Together as a trio, Angela, Rayanne, and Rickie form a unit of emotional nourishment and genuine friendship.

The rest of the characters in this ensemble are similarly seeking a sense of belonging. Patty and Graham try to remain devoted to each other, but marital conflict lurks beneath the surface: Patty tends to be judgmental and icy, while Graham tries to avoid confrontation and can be indecisive. Danielle, as the youngest in the Chase household-of-four, feels ignored and invisible — even though she secretly looks up to Angela.

Brian excels academically, but struggles socially; he also is in love with Angela, but Brian’s feelings for her are unrequited as Angela views him more like an annoying surrogate brother. Because his unseen parents, Bob and Bernice Krakow, are psychologists who exhibit very little emotional warmth toward him, Brian spends a lot of his time hanging out across the street with the Chases (which also gives him additional opportunities to pine away for Angela).

Sharon feels hurt by her friendship with Angela deteriorating as Rayanne comes into Angela’s life, but Sharon also grapples with pressure to live up to an image of perfection due to her goody-two-shoes reputation. Jordan is one of the most popular kids in school — a heartthrob over whom girls (and some boys, including Rickie!) at Liberty High swoon; yet, Jordan lacks relationship skills that cause him to flounder over how he treats Angela, while also burdened by the fact that he never properly learned how to read (the seventeen-year-old Jordan was held back twice in school).

In essence, all of these characters — not just Angela — have tremendous angst over their individual “so-called lives.”

How It Became Iconic

My So-Called Life was canceled for two main reasons: first, it suffered from low ratings while airing Thursday nights at 8pm (Eastern/Pacific) on ABC. Life was pitted against NBC’s Mad About You and newly-minted megahit Friends (then in its freshman season), CBS’s niche hit Due South, and Fox’s Black-led sitcom hits Martin and Living Single.

Thus, Life would consistently rank fourth in its time slot while those other programs split up the coveted 18–49 adult demographic on the night.

But, secondly: because Danes was under the age of eighteen during My So-Called Life’s production, child labor laws caused the show’s production to take longer for each episode to be completed when compared to most programs with adult leads. Thus, it took almost two years for even that one season of 19 episodes to be fully produced.

Danes, understandably, was exhausted from the rigors of such a schedule. The older cast members had less flexibility to work on other projects due to this abnormally-lengthy production schedule. So, even if the ratings had been there while Life aired on ABC, the network’s executives still would have had to deal with the prospect of reducing Angela’s screentime if Danes was going to continue on as a main character.

Creatively, they must have had doubts that the series could still work without Danes anchoring it.

Back then, primetime series on the broadcast networks generally aired their first-run episodes between the months of September through May. Ideally, a network wanted to get a full 22 episodes (or more!) out of each series.

Had streaming services been around in the 1990s, My So-Called Life could have aired shorter seasons (10–13 episodes) with “event-style” releases on a platform such as Netflix or Hulu. This would have given the entire cast — including Danes herself — greater freedom to work on other films or TV shows during other parts of the year.

In fact, if My So-Called Life had been made even one decade later (the mid-aughts), ABC probably would have been amenable to the idea of running uninterrupted 13-episode seasons by having it air as a three-month bloc while other shows shared its time slot for the remainder of the year.

Would Life have been a better fit scheduled on Saturday nights? Maybe in the era of DVRs. But even in the 1990s, Nielsen ratings weren’t measured on VCRs. And its target teen demographic was often out partying or socializing on weekends.

Still, the brilliance of Life’s writing, acting, directing, and set-decorating has lived on as part of a 19-episode “time loop” even after the show’s cancellation.

Its storylines were topical and relatable to teens of the 1990s. Rayanne succumbed to alcoholism. Rickie searched for the courage to be open about his homosexuality. Brian yearned for social status and parental rapport. Sharon wanted the chance to define herself rather than being defined by her peers. Jordan thirsted for the ability to grow intellectually. Both Ricky and Jordan dealt with abusive domestic lives.

Even adults (Boomers, Traditionalists, and GI-Gens) in the 90s could relate to a lot of these same travails — as well as the turbulence of Patty and Graham’s marriage, Patty’s tense relationship with her own parents, and Graham’s desire to open his own restaurant. Storylines also touched upon censorship, religion, gun violence, body image, underage sexual intercourse, and drug abuse.

Why It Could Become Even More Iconic

Along with its series regulars, My-So Called Life boasted a strong turntable of recurring characters gravitating around Liberty High School plus the elder Chases’ social/work lives.

Johnny Green as Kyle Vinnovich, a clean-cut football player who is dating Sharon.

Mary Kay Place as Camille Cherski, Sharon’s mother and Patty’s own best friend from high school.

Adam Biesk as Corey Helfrick, an artistic student of indeterminate sexuality on whom Rickie develops a crush, and with whom Angela flirts in order to make Jordan jealous.

Senta Moses as Delia Fisher, a shy transfer student who has a crush on Brian, and who later bonds platonically with Rickie (she’s the first one to whom he officially comes out).

Jeff Perry as Richard Katimski, the eccentric English teacher who temporarily takes in a homeless Rickie (personally relating to Rickie’s own closeted status).

Lisa Waltz as Hallie Lowenthal, Graham’s business partner who develops feelings for Graham as they prepare to open their restaurant.

These supporting players helped to flesh out the drama and anguish endured by the core characters. While, arguably, Angela had a significant connection with every main character, these personalities within Angela’s orbit even enriched their connections with one another.

Graham and Patty, already protective of Brian and Sharon, developed deeper parental affection for Rayanne, Rickie, and Jordan. Likewise, an awkward friendship grew between polar opposites Rayanne and Sharon — even after Angela stopped speaking to Rayanne, once Angela learned of Rayanne and Jordan’s one-night stand.

Brian and Jordan developed a grudging admiration toward one another, even while they silently vied for Angela’s attention. There was also a budding friendship between Rickie and Brian — and an inkling of one between Rickie and Jordan. These relationships would undoubtedly have been developed further in a Season 2.

The lack of closure we received from Liberty High’s Class of 1997 make longtime fans crave a rebooted sequel to My So-Called Life — as has been done with other vintage TV series such as Twin Peaks, Quantum Leap, Law & Order, 90210, Melrose Place, Deadwood, Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, Prison Break, and Heroes.

We’d definitely want the team of Winnie Holzman, Scott Winant, Marshall Herskovitz, and Edward Zwick at the helm. An updated continuation of My So-Called Life would conceivably value brevity, producing a minimum of 10 episodes or a maximum of 13 episodes (at least, per hypothetical season).

Her ‘So-Called (Adult) Life’

So where do I picture these characters, if we were to catch up with them in the 2020s?

I envision Angela Chase as having gone off to college to study Psychology (which Danes herself briefly did). As Holzman had planned for Angela’s character if there’d been a Season 2, Angela would have gotten more involved with community activism — so she possibly volunteers or publicly speaks out about issues for which she has passion. Her main career as a therapist would give Angela an outlet for applying the life lessons she has learned in order to help other teens and their families.

In her personal life, Angela never got back together with Jordan — nor did she ever hook up with Brian. She did, however, have additional boyfriends throughout college or her young adulthood. When she was in her early-thirties, Angela gave birth to fraternal twins (a daughter and a son) with her then-fiancé, Matthew, who has since gone AWOL. Angela’s daughter, Hannah, has become a teen social media influencer who often clashes with Angela about politics and gender roles. Angela’s son, Eli, has mild autism while experiencing harassment after he came out at the age of twelve (Angela obviously sympathizes with Eli’s homosexuality, but struggles with managing his autism even though she understands it intellectually).

As an adult, Angela still navigates rocky misunderstandings with her parents and sister. Now residing in Philadelphia, she has remained in touch with most of her key friends from high school — with the exception (which I’ll get to, momentarily…) of Rayanne.

A poetic full circle. Whereas Graham and Patty once had their hands full muddling through the experience of Boomers trying to understand their “Xennial” kids…

Angela’s life as a parent now mirrors that dynamic, finding herself as a younger Xer scrambling to understand her own Zoomer children.

As for the rest of the characters…

Patty: after her marriage to Graham fell apart, Patty became a city councilwoman; and, in 2004, she was elected to the U.S. Senate. However, she lost her primary to a more progressive Democrat in 2016, and is now a lobbyist. Patty became driven to make a difference in politics due to the crises she’d witnessed her daughters and their friends enduring — such as gun proliferation and substance abuse.

Graham: after his marriage to Patty fell apart, Graham married co-restaurateur Hallie Lowenthal, and had two more kids with her. Once Graham and Hallie’s restaurant became massively successful, Graham branched out into culinary instruction. He has trained some of the best Millennial and Zoomer chefs in the country through his Philadelphia-based cooking school.

Brian: after attending college at Princeton (and graduate school at Cornell), Brian has become a university administrator at the fictional University of Philadelphia. Having improved dramatically in his social skills and self-confidence, Brian is now a controversial social media figure due to his outspoken centrism. However, he is happily married (not to Delia, but to a woman named Isabel) — and *not* an incel, as some fans speculated he might have become — while incorporating his love of cinematography into some innovative projects alongside of his students.

Rickie: near the end of Principal Foster’s tenure at Liberty High, Rickie butted heads with the rigid stickler over (lack of) Queer representation. He is now an LGBT+ advocate who works with homeless kids from underserved communities (inspired by Rickie’s own experience of being wait-listed for Pride House, which he eventually was able to join). Katimski now teaches drama to LGBT+ youth and often collaborates professionally with Rickie. Even after Rayanne fell off of everyone’s radar, Rickie’s friendships with Angela, Delia, Brian, Sharon, even Jordan all grew — and he has remained in touch with all of them. Rickie dated Corey (who came out as bisexual) for awhile during their senior year; but they decided just to remain close platonic friends. Rickie has a happy marriage with his husband, Troy.

Jordan: after leaving Liberty High early and attaining his GED (which Brian helped him accomplish), Jordan attended community college and tech school well into his mid-twenties. Despite his struggles with literacy, Jordan carried with him the inspiration from substitute teacher Vic Racine and embraced his education; he now runs some of Philadelphia’s afterschool programs, and jams with a Philly indie band on weekends. Although Jordan has kept in occasional contact with Rickie and Brian (sometimes consulting with them on work-related matters), Jordan has never married…and he and Angela have never fully discussed their short-lived high school relationship.

Sharon: having studied Marketing at Quinnipac, Sharon moved to New York City where she now heads a modeling agency. However, Sharon made it a point to recruit models who run the gamut of the gender, racial/ethnic, and body size spectrum — making her a pioneer in the field, even if not the most lucrative of agents. She remains close to Patty (whose side Camille took, in Patty and Graham’s divorce), but only sees Angela socially every few years…although their friendship is still pleasant enough. Sharon ends up marrying Kyle (who is now an NYU athletics coach) after breaking up and getting back together several more times throughout their high school and college years…including a teen pregnancy during Sharon’s junior year, which she made the painful decision to abort.

Danielle: after coming into her own as an influential and popular student leader once she entered Liberty High, Danielle studied Kinesiology at Northeastern. She eventually moved to Newark where she became a gymnastics instructor/coach. Danielle has a fairly solid marriage with Kyle’s younger cousin, Liam — although, while Danielle’s career is fulfilling to her, she and Liam feel an emptiness due to the regrettable serendipity that both of them are infertile. Oh, and she got over her childhood crush on Brian Krakow — they are now good long-distance friends.

Rayanne: this would be a sad development. Before Angela had the chance to fully reconcile with Rayanne, Amber died in a car accident. Rayanne’s life spiraled even more out of control; as much as her friends tried to help her, Rayanne pushed away everyone who cared about her. She disappeared, and nobody knows what has become of her. All of the characters are haunted by this lingering uncertainty.

Along with the storytelling significance, part of this plot point is as much pragmatic as it is creative: A.J. Langer has moved to London (after marrying Charles Courtenay and becoming a duchess) and is largely retired from acting. Part of this is due to her new status as English royalty; but Langer also has fibromyalgia.

This means, if she was ever to reprise her role as Rayanne on a My So-Called Life sequel, it would most likely have to be in a very limited capacity.

In addition, cast members such as Devon Odessa, Johnny Green, Lisa Wilhoit, Devon Gummersall, Lisa Waltz, Adam Biesk, and Senta Moses have had a reduced number of acting roles in recent years — so it’s unclear whether any of them would be willing to commit to a full season…even if that season consisted only of 10–13 episodes.

Similarly, Claire Danes, Wilson Cruz, and Jared Leto are all highly in demand as actors. Consequently, much of the production schedule would probably need to be centered around their availability.

Bess Armstrong, Tom Irwin, Jeff Perry, and Mary Kay Place have all had a steady stream of regular acting roles since My So-Called Life’s cancellation. If these actors were willing to return, their characters would be incorporated on an “as needed” basis.

But, again — this is further evidence as to why a sequel-style continuation of My So-Called Life might work best as either a limited series or as multiple shortened event-style seasons (ala The Handmaid’s Tale and Stranger Things).

Until we know more about the logistics and the actors’ desires to revisit these roles…let’s raise our glasses to this incredible ensemble who subversively helped to put Gen X on the map…even while Ross and Rachel were simultaneously stealing America’s heart.

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