You think back on teenage focused shows before My So-Called Life and "realistic" is hardly the word that comes to mind. Sure, 90210 was soapy fun and Saved by the Bell has a bizarre so-bad-it’s-good allure no one can quite mathematically quantify. But with one or two exceptions — The Wonder Years comes to mind — you could hardly watch an episode of those shows, nor pretty much any other teen show pre-1995, and say "Oh wow, I can relate to that."

But My So-Called Life was something different. Created by Winnie Holzman and executive produced by her thirtysomething bosses Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, My So-Called Life is the ultimate small concept show. It’s about a 15 year old girl’s life, without any "we’re moving to the big city" drama or sitcom shenanigans.

That 15 year old in question is Angela Chase (Claire Danes). She’s at that point where she’s desperate to redefine herself, and as a result, she’s making some big changes, including pushing aside her former best friend, Sharon (Devon Odessa), and dying her hair "crimson glow" red. She’s begun hanging out with two friends who define outsider at school - Rayanne (A.J. Langer), who rejoices in being different than others and Rickie (Wilson Cruz) who’s terrified of it.

As teenagers will do, Angela’s decided she’s in love with a guy she’s never spoken to, Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto), while ignoring the longtime crush of the nerdy boy next door, Brian Krakow (Devon Gummersall). Meanwhile her parents Patty (Bess Armstrong) and Graham (Tom Irwin) try to handle a daughter they’re feeling increasingly unable to connect with, while dealing with various problems inside their marriage. As for Angela’s little sister Danielle (Lisa Wilhoit), she’d just like to be noticed a bit more.

It all sounds pretty basic written out like that I suppose, but a story is all in the telling. And My So-Called Life was doing something special. These were kids who felt incredibly genuine and believable. Yes, some of their problems were perhaps not monumental in the scheme of things, but the show was capturing the way in which the worries teenagers have certainly feel at the time like the weight of the world upon their shoulders.

Beyond that it was attempting to deal with issues and themes teens go through in a much more level-headed manner than an afterschool special would do with such subjects. Rickie was the first ever series regular teenage character on a TV show who was gay, something he continually struggled with. Rayanne partied all the time, including drinking in excess, going down a self-destructive path that threatened to take her down at any time.

Some will role their eyes at storylines of this sort, finding them cliche, but context is everything. My So-Called Life was didn’t just want to have The Gay Kid episode or The Alcoholic Girl episode, but rather make have ongoing, important characters, whose issues wouldn’t be solved in one "very special" episode, but rather continually play out.

My So-Called Life was a very earnest show, perhaps too earnest for some. Yes, the pilot plays "Everybody Hurts" near the end, without irony. But there was a genuine affection and respect for the characters being conveyed that makes them easy to love, even in the most heart on sleeve moments.

This was helped in no small part by a truly perfect cast. At the center of it was Claire Danes, who was only 13 years old when she filmed the pilot to the series, and 15 during production of most of the rest of the episodes. Danes is absolutely remarkable as Angela, giving one of the most nuanced and lovely performance an actress her age ever has done on network television. Angela’s not always likeable - she can be snippy or flippant with her family or friends, and often talks without thinking. But this was a show that wasn’t afraid to show even their central character as well rounded and less than perfect to the point that in some scenes, you are definitely not on her side. Danes utterly sells the confusion a 15 year old is going through and why she would do the things she does, even when you wish she wouldn’t.

The creators were really unafraid to go against the grain on the series. On only the eleventh episode of the show, the excellent "Life of Brian", they switched up the paradigm and had the episode done from Brian Krakow’s point of view and narrated by him, rather than Angela. Even the clothing the kids wore on the show was notable - Other teen oriented series, including the rightfully lauded Buffy the Vampire Slayer — feel the need to have their main characters wear a completely different, oh-so fashionable outfit every week, even if the characters financial status wouldn’t allow for that. It’s a small thing, but having Angela and the others on My So-Called Life have a specific wardrobe, with the same clothing popping up numerous times, was just another small part of a show that was making a lot of specific and clever little decisions.

There were some missteps along the way, but the 19 episodes of My So-Called Life are almost entirely a bit of television wonder. Michele Byers, in an essay that’s included in the booklet that accompanies the set, says that echoes of Angela Chase have been felt in numerous other notable young female characters since the short-lived run of My So-Called Life, including Buffy Summers, Lindsay Weir, Veronica Mars and Felicity Porter. Byers is absolutely right. Fans of quality TV owe a big debt of gratitude to Angela Chase and the show that begat her.

Score: 10 out of 10

The Video

My So-Called Life is presented in a non-anamorphic full screen (1.33:1) aspect ratio, as it originally aired. This is a 12 year old series, so perfection isn’t expected in this regard, but still, this is a fairly poor transfer and the only real downside to this DVD set. There is notable grain in the image that is a bit more obvious in some scenes compared to others, and occasionally some fairly blatant scratches and imperfections in the picture. It doesn’t look like much work was done at all to restore the image quality, which is a shame for a series this acclaimed.

Score: 6 out of 10

The Audio My So-Called Life features a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track. This is a very nice track, with all the different elements - the dialogue, Danes’ narration, and the important use of music - all well balanced.

Score: 8 out of 10

Extras and Packaging My So-Called Life: The Complete Series comes in a large book style box, with a more typical DVD case inside. Also included is a booklet containing the aforementioned essay by Byers, along with other essays praising the show by Janeane Garafalo and Joss Whedon. Whedon’s is especially notable, as he talks about his early 90s attempt to make a realistic teenage show — an adaptation of Pump up the Volume — and how groundbreaking he found My So-Called Life and what an influence it was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The six-disc seat features the following extras:

* Commentary on Six Episodes by Cast and Creators
* "My So-Called Life Story"
* A Conversation with Claire Danes and Winnie Holzman
* A Conversation with Marshall Herskovitz and Winnie Holzman
* Interview with Claire Danes
* The Characters
* The Music
* Highlights - 1995 Museum of Television & Radio Panel
* Photo Gallery

"My So-Called Life Story" is the main documentary feature here, going over the path of the show from its inception to it’s too-early ending. The producers of this DVD really did right by the fans, assembling the entire main cast (with the exception of Jared Leto - more on that in a bit), creator Winnie Holzman, and a number of important writers, producers and directors on the series. They all fondly reflect on a series that clearly had a lot of impact on them.

The two "Conversation" pieces feature Holzman sitting and chatting with Danes and Herskovitz about their memories of working together and what their very different collaborations were like. Seeing the now adult Danes reminiscing with the woman who helped craft her most memorable character is very cool indeed. Rather than rehash how she got cast in the role, the Claire Danes interview has the actress speaking more about how she initially became a young actress and how she approaches her craft.

The Characters section is a very nice inclusion. It’s broken down into three sections - "Angela", "The Chase Family" and "The Friends", with the cast discussing their specific character. It’s here where Jared Leto’s lack of participation is most notable. A clever conceit has each actor, today, reading the original description for their respective character, before going into the section focusing on that character. Devon Gummersall does double duty, doing the voiceover description not just for his Brian Krakow, but for Leto’s Jordan Catalano. It’s disappointing to have Leto be the only important My So-Called Life player not there to then discuss his character and the show. Leto’s a genuine rock star these days with 30 Seconds to Mars, so who knows scheduling was a factor or not, but still, it’s too bad.

The Music section is an interview with composer W.G. Snuffy Walden. Walden talks about getting started in the business with Zwick and Herskovitz’s earlier show thirtysomething, and how he went about creating the music for My So-Called Life.

The Museum of Television & Radio panel highlights is taken from a Q&A most of the cast and creators did in 1995, after the show had wrapped production, though before its final fate was known. It’s a nice of the time counterpoint to the more nostalgic remembrances included among all the new interviews.

The commentaries are great, and include a number of important My So-Called Life alumni. Danes and Holzman do a commentary together, and other episodes feature different actor/writer/director pairings, including plenty of interesting factoids. The commentary by director Todd Holland, writer Jason Katims (now the showrunner for Friday Night Lights) and actor Devon Gummersall for the "Life of Brian" episode, for instance, reveals that A.J. Langer’s chicken pox forced a panicked and drastic last minute rewrite of what was ultimately one of the beat episodes of the series. Holland also laughs recalling that the song Rickie dances to at the end of that episode, future A Night at the Roxbury anthem "What is Love", could have easily been supplanted by a song by a band then unknown to Holland - Green Day.

This is the second My So-Called Life DVD set, following a 2002 release that featured no extras, save for a bonus disc featuring a Holzman/Zwick/Herskovitz interview that only some fans received - the story behind the mishandled distribution of that DVD set became a nightmare. This DVD set is the one this seminal series has long deserved. It’s great that they’ve assembled so many of the people involved in the series to speak about it 12 years after it concluded, including the successful Danes. She notes on the DVD that this is still the character she’s most identified with, and watching the show again is a quick reminder of just why that is.

Score: 9 out of 10

The Bottom Line

Buffy, Freaks and Geeks and too many WB and CW series to name owe a debt to My So-Called Life. It’s a terrific show that finally is getting the DVD fans have long hoped for.