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DVD
UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP DISTRIBUTION
Publisher: Shout! Factory
Format: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC
Actors: Claire Danes, Winnie Holzman, Marshall Herskovitz
Featuring all 19 episodes of the sadly-defunct television series MY SO-CALLED LIFE this definitive box-set follows the trials and tribulations of 15-year-old Angela Chase (Claire Danes) as she navigates through the adolescent dramas of middle-class American high-school life. Danes won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of the angst-ridden Angela bringing a universality to the character that has granted the show its timeless appeal. Although the mopey redhead is always the focal point of the episodes there's no shortage of excellent supporting roles including Angela's heartthrob crush Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto); shy admirer Brian Krakow (Devon Gummersall); wild-girl best friend Rayanne (A.J. Langer); closeted gay friend Ricky (Wilson Cruz); and often-clueless parents Patty (Bess Armstrong) and Graham (Tom Irwin). With its great acting smart dialogue and moody direction MY SO-CALLED LIFE deserved more than its single-season run and retains a loyal cult following. Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 826663105582 Manufacturer No: SF10558
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| my so called life |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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What a fantastic show! The writing, the acting...All seems so real! I couldn't get enough!
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| Ah, memories |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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My friends and I LOVED this show when it originally aired. We still use quips from certain episodes as inside jokes. Watching the series again brought me right back to those ackward and intense "important" things that made up high school.
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| Episodic gem of all '90s TV |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This remains the one truly great and overlooked television creation of the 1990s. The ensemble acting, storytelling skills, production values, and emotional substance are as compelling for me now as when I first saw this series 13 years ago. That persistence, after what must now be a dozen viewings of each episode, is unique for me, as for thousands of others.
Unfortunately, it didn't get a chance to be thus adopted by millions of others, when this first aired, and that is why it didn't continue for even a full 24-to-26-episode season. (Along with ABC's well-documented corporate cowardice - far more than any actor's skittishness, despite what is said on Wikipedia and elsewhere.)
I won't repeat the descriptive (and accurate) points brought out well by many other customers. I'll note here one crucial aspect that is often under-mentioned: "MSCL" is not solely about the teenagers. It revolves around a group of friends of that age. Yet it puts the stories firmly in the settings of their families and their teachers, as well. One knows the context and hidden facets for all the characters' lives, even within only 900 minutes.
This came from both serendipity and law. Claire Danes (Angela) and Devon Gummersall (Brian), portraying the two central threads of characterization, were 14 to 15 when this was made, and had strong legal restrictions on their work hours. That meant more scenes had to be written or rewritten to highlight and deepen their characters' friends. All of them were portrayed by actors with more liberal hours, but who were still all teenagers, rare both then and now.
Most of all, it meant that the adults had to have substantial screen time. It shows most of all in the emotional dimensions opened up for, and by, Bess Armstrong (Patty Chase) and Tom Irwin (Graham Chase). That broadened scope is one of the strongest reasons why this series still resonates, especially for many in our 30s and 40s, when any number of sitcoms and formula dramas using pre-fab parental stereotypes have faded from cultural memory.
This release from Shout! Factory far exceeds the 2002 BMG release in quality and features, and finaly gives this seminal show the treatment it deserves. The book that's included has compelling reading, vivid photos, and an index to the entire series. The sixth disc's documentaries and production information are worth the entire price in themselves, especially the contemporary event from 1995 at the Museum of Television and Radio. Even the series' music, a sprightly and perfectly fitting creation from a then-little-known composer, gets its own lively profile.
Video and audio quality are superb. Several of the actors and creators have contributed commentary tracks that are perceptive and filled with anecdotes, even with having some long pauses - as many of them are clearly newly re-experiencing their work, with considerable wonder. The menus include potent, funny quotations. (The only element from 2002 that's missing here is the English subtitles.)
If you like this series, if you think you might, if you were stunned with delight by it, you must snap this set up at once!
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| Great show! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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One thing that I love about this show is that it does capture the essense of your teenage years. It puts a voice to the things that we are never able to say, if not out of fear, then just the inability to express it correctly. There are so many lines in this show that make you just stop and say, "Oh my God, that is exactly what it feels like!" I am glad that the show ended when it did, because it didn't have the room to become, like other teen soaps, a cheesy love triangle of get togethers and break-ups filling up the seasons. We are left to own imaginations.
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| Pretty Much All You Could Ask For |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I'll review the DVD set itself, not the short-lived series. The show itself has been discussed plenty in other reviews of this DVD set and numerous other sources, such as the excellent website mscl.com .
As far as this DVD set is concerned, there's not much more you could ask for. All 19 episodes are here in their entirety, with excellent video and sound. There are six DVD's, five contain the episodes and the sixth is cast interviews, background video, music and photos. Little Danielle grew up! About 1/3 of the episodes have voice overs from some case members, the series creator, and various writers, producers and directors.
It is completely worth the money even if you just casually liked the show. Hard to believe it's been 14 years. This set will remind you what a great show it was and what a budding star they had in Clair Danes.
It's hard to find something to not like about it. Jared Leto is a no-show in the extra features and voice-overs, and I think he's the most interesting cast member. During the voice-overs I find myself mumbling to myself "Say something already!". They clearly haven't seen the episodes themselves in many years and they keep getting caught up in watching the show instead of talking about it. And the interviews are a little heavy on introspection about how the show came about and what it meant and a little light on how the series was actually put together. I love seeing audition segments and out-takes, and there are none here.
Back to the good stuff: There's an excellent paperback book with the set, giving background on each episode and talking about what would have happened in season 2, if there had been one. The music in the series was super and I enjoyed hearing it again.
In summary, it's about as good as it gets for a boxed set of a TV season. I had a great time watching it this summer and remembering what a wonderful show it was.
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