On this day in 1994 US television series My So-Called Life made its debut. The teen drama launched the careers of Clare Danes, Wilson Cruz and Jared Leto.
The show was praised for including queer characters, and tackling serious topics including child abuse, homophobia, teenage alcoholism, drug use and homelessness. Despite being critically acclaimed and picking up awards, the series was cancelled after just one season.
Despite its short lifespan the series has been regularly cited as one of the best teen dramas ever made, and a noted as show that paved the way for many later shows.
The show focused on 15-year-old Angela Chase, played by Clare Danes, who lived in the fictional Pittsburg suburb of Three Rivers with her parents and younger sister.
Wilson Cruz played gay teen Enrique “Rickie” Vasquez. Cruz made history as the first gay actor, who had publicly shared that they were same-sex attracted, to play a character who was also gay in a US television series.
Jared Leto was originally only hired to appear in the first episode, but producers loved his chemistry with Danes, so they bumped his character of Jordan Catalano up to be a series regular.
Actor A.J Langer who played Rayanne Graff on the series had previously appeared on Baywatch. After marrying attorney Charles Courtenay, she later became the Countess of Devon. In 2023 the couple announced their intention to divorce.
The show was created by Winnie Holzman, who had been working on the television series Thirtysomething and The Wonder Years. Holzman would later work on other TV shows including Huge and Roadies.
On Broadaway Holzman wrote the book for Wicked. She has also written to screenplay for the upcoming two-part film adaptation of the musical.
While it wasn’t a huge success, airing against popular comedies like Friends, Mad About You, Martin and Living Single, it has found a lot of fans in decades that followed once it was released on DVD.
