My So-Called Life: Pilot

October 2, 2024 5:48 PM - Season 1, Episode 1

Angela Chase (Claire Danes) begins a friendship with Rayanne Graff (A.J. Langer) and Rickie Vasquez (Wilson Cruz). At home, there is tension between her and her mother, Patty (Bess Armstrong).

The pilot episode also involves Angela's conflict with her former best friend, Sharon (Devon Odessa) and her neighbor, Brian (Devon Gummersall). Her crush, Jordan (Jared Leto) and her father, Graham (Tom Irwin) also figure in here.

The show was created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. The pilot was directed by Scott Winant.

posted by edencosmic (4 comments total)

The whole series is on Hulu and available to purchase elsewhere.

I was a high school freshman (although I hadn't started yet!) when this debuted. I was all in! People used to tell me I looked like Claire Danes (and yes, I had a similar haircut and hair color and face shape).

This show was ahead of its time and while it's very '90s (bless it), it holds up.

We don't have to do the entire series episode by episode but I wanted to get it started.
posted by edencosmic at 5:52 PM on October 2

FORMATIVE INFLUENCES.
posted by merriment at 6:27 PM on October 2 [3 favorites]

Added to MyFanfare!
posted by porpoise at 9:30 PM on October 2

How Rickie Changed TV Forever (Answer: by being an openly queer kid presented in a way queer kids and their parents could sympathize with, rather than as a single-episode ‘problem’ or b-plot.)

Avoiding spoilers, but one thing the video touches on is an incredible story of Wilson Cruz’ father kicking him out of the house, and how Ricky’s story led to a reconciliation.
posted by FallibleHuman at 4:23 PM on October 3