My So Called Life

Life and times of Liberty High

My So-Called Life was created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz that aired on ABC from August 25, 1994, to January 26, 1995. It was set at the fictional "Liberty High" in Three Rivers, Pennsylvania, a fictional suburb of Pittsburgh.

The critically acclaimed show was short-lived and ended in a cliffhanger with the expectation that it would be picked up in an additional season. 19 episodes were produced before it was cancelled on May 15, 1995, due both to low ratings and to the reluctance, expressed behind the scenes, of star Claire Danes to return for its second season

My So-Called Life brought up issues that were usually not mentioned in family series in the mid-nineties. These include child abuse, homophobia, teenage alcoholism, homelessness, adultery, kinky sex, school violence, same-sex parenting, censorship, and drug use, among many others. While a lot of shows brought up these themes as a one-time issue (a "very special episode") that would be introduced as a problem at the beginning of an episode and resolved at the end, in My So-Called Life they were just a part of the world.

The very title of the show emphasized how the perception of meaninglessness that many teenagers experience is the main theme of the series. The show depicted teenage years as difficult and confusing as opposed to a light, fun-filled time of pranks and jokes.