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This article is from the My So-Called Life FAQ, by Richard Evans neppie@mindspring.com with numerous contributions by
others.
5. The So-called Legacy (My So-Called Life)
When "thirtysomething" ended its highly successful, critically
acclaimed run in 1991, ABC was eager to keep the show's producers, Ed
Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, from wandering to some other network.
The two were signed to produce three pilots for ABC over the next five
years.
For a new series, Herskovitz and Zwick approached Winnie Holzman about
collaborating with them. Holzman, once a prize-winning poet and a New
York playwright, had previously worked with the two on
"thirtysomething." For the show's last two seasons, she had made her
presence felt as a writer, story editor, and a co-executive producer.
The three brainstormed on ideas for a new show, and eventually the
trio came up with the idea of portraying the teenage experience from a
teenager's point of view. They wanted to present something other than
what Zwick called "television's fatuous, inaccurate depiction of what
teenage life is."
Think of it as the anti-90210. Unlike that series, MSCL would have no
conveniently packaged all-around happy endings, no self-righteous
moralizing about current popular social issues, and no nauseatingly
beautiful people running amuck in shiny convertibles.
To get a feel for the teenage psyche and lingo, Holzman, credited as
the guiding voice of MSCL, went undercover at high schools and wrote
make-believe diary entries. Holzman wrote the pilot in addition to
some of the following episodes, and is credited as both creator and
co-executive producer.
The other co-executive producer, Scott Winant, was brought in to
direct the pilot episode. Another alumnus of "thirtysomething",
Winant had served as that show's sole producer during its four year
run.
Reviews have noted many similarities between "thirtysomething" and
MSCL. Both present believable characters with real problems they
often have no clue how to solve. Both center on identity crises at
life's major turning points. Perhaps "Newsweek" best summed up the
likeness between the two series:
"Like 'thirtysomething' this hour-long series charts a troubled
passage through a generational time zone, heavy on self-absorption
and self-doubt, packed with those small, seemingly mundane moments
that reveal complex emotional truths."
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