Langer) had a substance abuse problem, but it wasn't only during the 'very special episode'-it was a real struggle. Angela (Danes) fought with her parents, but was never overly condescending or shrill about it. MSCL was game-changing because it treated teenagers like people, not just stereotypes of people. Why it only got one season, we'll never know. It was supposed to be about one suburban Pittsburgh kid's crummy life, but yet somehow everyone wanted to be (or maybe date?) Angela Chase. Its storylines were real, its dialogue was unaffected in a way teen dramas never got to be, and its cast looked like average people-or at least as average as Claire Danes and Jared Leto can look. If you were a teenager in the 1990s, My So-Called Life was a revelation.
