How Rickie from My So-Called Life Changed TV Forever

[@MattBaume]

Get 20% OFF + Free International Shipping @Manscaped with promo code MATTB at Manscaped.com/mattb! #manscapedpartner Big thanks to Manscaped for supporting this video.

[@DisinterestedParty]

Thanks for this. I watched "MY SO CALLED LIFE" while I was in high school, and I remember thinking that it was the realest representation of real life in America. Fantasy is fun to visit once in a while, but we are better off when we remain rooted in reality.

[@graffic13]

Imagine this now with Ricky all grown up and his own family... MSCL 2025!!!

[@NeighborhoodOfBlue]

Manscaped is overpriced garbage. Why shill it? Surely you can afford a better sponsor?

[@peterjackbenson]

Nobody should shave their junk. Natural is beautiful. Trimming? Ok. Buzzing to nothing? Sort of creepy. I want to look like a man, not a little boy.

[@dylanbarnes9191]

I have a paul Lynde question about his Halloween special I need help trying to figure out how says a few min in b4 his 1st musical number its Ben a year already but I can't find a Halloween special he did in 75

[@DodderingOldMan]

Holy shit, the phrase 'for context, in the 90s school shootings were rare compared to today', just thrown off casually like that, is low key one of the most chilling things I've ever heard.

[@JDMimeTHEFIRST]

I graduated in the early 2000s and only remember Columbine having been THE school shooting. That's around the time gun laws started relaxing and Automatic weapon bans were lifted when I was in college (2004)

[@usagi32211]

I went to high school in the 90s in a really rural town in Georgia, and there were always guns on campus (in cars) because kids would go hunting before or after school....and no one cared or worried. It's really shocking to look back and that and realize how much the world changed in a few years.

[@erraticonteuse]

​@@JDMimeTHEFIRST There had been several before Columbine, but Columbine was the biggest at the time.

[@lildramatic4760]

It hits. In 2000, at eleven, I said I was afraid of school shootings in a project and it was unique.

[@OrigamiMarie]

​@@erraticonteuse Columbine is the one that changed my highschool. Suddenly it was no backpacks in the classroom, and a general heightened anxiety about safety.

[@stankythecat6735]

In 1993 I was 15 and got kicked out of my house for being gay. It was February and so fucking cold. I was so lucky that I had a dear friend who was 20 ( and a fantastic drag queen. His partner was a social worker. I went to live with them. It was a loving supportive place to live. I’m a healthy well adjusted man now because of them

[@littlemiss_76]

Ouch. 15 is too young, I'm so sorry for that. The positive is you had someone to look out for you. Did your family come around?

[@rebeccao8895]

Wow! You really were lucky. I’m 51 and grateful things have gotten better. ❤

[@stankythecat6735]

@@littlemiss_76 I recognize how lucky I was. I had a good friend who had a similar situation and ended up on the street in Montreal. I finished high school on my own and worked super hard and went to university. I working in the film industry and became very very successful. I married VERY well. We have 5 houses… I say this because my family suddenly came around when they realized I was successful. They are kind of awful to be honest. I think some of it is motivated by greed and some of it is because I’m not “gay” as they thought gay was. Either way …. I respect my parents because they are my parents but they are in a very tight box relationship wise Thanks for asking

[@stankythecat6735]

@@rebeccao8895 thank you ! The world has changed soooo much. I’m so happy to see that kids now , for the most part , won’t ever experience what happened to me. You see openly gay characters on tv and movies … it still blows my mind in a good way

[@erlindaanderson6113]

@@stankythecat6735❤

[@dipperdandy]

"Turns out, Boomers loved seeing a show about THEM" And nothing has changed. Truer words never spoken.

[@happyninja42]

i mean to be fair, that's hardly exclusive to boomers. EVERYONE loves seeing shows about them. that's why representation is important.

[@douglaswolfen7820]

​​@@happyninja42yup! It's fine and normal that they feel that way, that they have that bias. But when one group ends up making most of the decisions for everybody, it's really important to notice that it _is_ a bias, and that they're not catering to everyone else's needs for representation in the same way they're catering to their own

[@dipperdandy]

@@happyninja42 Fair (and balanced!) But I don't exclusively watch things with queer men. I also love to watch things about communities, people, countries, and societies I know little to nothing about. And I almost always find surprising ways I can relate. But I find, in my personal experience that people of my parents generation do not. They lack any curiosity of "others". They don't want to know or learn. They want to stick to their stereotypes and vague fears. And that just makes me sad at best, and frustrated/tired at worst. (And I know this is a broad generalization and I know there are exceptions. I do know some, ONLINE, who are very open and progressive and hungry to learn. But that has never not once been my experience IRL) /end rant

[@cedaremberr]

There's a bit of a survivorship bias going on when it comes to Boomer hate. It's important to remember that a shit ton of Boomers came/come from marginalized communities. The ones who are still alive today are more likely to come from privileged (and entitled) groups

[@douglaswolfen7820]

@@J_Mock92 I agree so much. But it has to be a compromise between what all the different groups _need,_ and that's not the same as making a compromise between what the different groups want As a gay person, what I need is to be treated fairly. Straight people also need to be treated fairly. The compromise between those two things is pretty easy: treat everyone fairly But if you look at what people want, then that's a bit different. I want everyone to be treated fairly, regardless of orientation. Homophobes want people like me to be eradicated from public life, hidden away like some shameful secret so that school children can't even be told I exist. I don't think we should be aiming for a "reasonable compromise" between those two things

[@DarmokAtTanagra]

FYI Ricky (the actor) also went on a speaking tour around the country at that time to give support and encouragement to the gay community. He also told his life story. He was incredible. I saw him speak at University of Rcohester in NY in 1996.

[@gasparinha]

Okay, I was there, too! It is a very small world! 🤯

[@toxicginger9936]

@@gasparinha Very small world! I was there, too to support a friend of mine! I still hadn't even figured myself out yet.

[@TifCip_Chungking2399]

im a 50 year old straight man and when she hugged ricky after the gun incident i started crying

[@withintheshyness]

Social worker here who works with homeless families, can confirm that sweeps do nothing to help people. Also can confirm that waiting list for shelters and other homeless services are infuriatingly long. There is just not enough workers and funding to help people quickly

[@withintheshyness]

@@jrojala a lot of people think that and I can’t speak for every agency but most want to help but if you have the ability to shelter 10 families you have 5 that don’t feel safe in a shelter and 10 still waiting for services.

[@JayteeStarr]

When I became a homeless gay youth, I was in New Orleans, 3 years post-Katrina. That was not a shelter system I felt safe in, so I scrounged change and any money I could and drove to NYC. I barely made gas and couldn’t afford the tunnel, but I made it into the city. Sylvia’s Place, Ali Forney Project, The Door, Trinity Lutheran, and New Alternatives for LGBT Youth saved my life.

[@ginak615]

I worked at Ali Forney!

[@kaitlyn__L]

I'm so glad you managed to get there, survive and thrive.

[@starri]

I guess it wouldn’t be one of Matt’s videos if I didn’t end up crying.

[@Toni-lo9ms]

I know the feeling

[@montyollie]

Yep. Me too.

[@dominomasked]

Catharsis cruise

[@hive_indicator318]

He's the best Aranock substitute around

[@Scarybug]

Glad to know it's not just me

[@ltpvs]

i was 14 and a freshman in highschool, when my so-called life came out, and i lived in central il. small town central il. but literally EVERYONE in my highschool was OBSESSED with this show. it hit with kids in this age group perfectly, and we were definitely ready for it. we wanted this representation. even in the cornfields haha

[@baratheda777]

I was surprised it was apparently so underperformed. All my friends loved it too! It was super popular in my world

[@cedaremberr]

​@@baratheda777unfortunately it's overperformance was all in groups that advertisers did not care about

[@c3koz]

Saaaaame. Except I was in 7th grade.

[@MyKrabi]

Oh in small towns across Canada too lol ... as a 15 year old when I saw what an amazing job the actor did, I remembered wondering about how this was impacting him. Thanks for this documentary.

[@Cledyston]

Same for me. 14 y.o. But in Brasilia, Brazil. I was so tired of the misrepresentation we had in 90210! Who were those Kids?! I felt comfortable watching MSCL. And Ricky touched a very important spot for me too not to feel like I was worthless. He gave me hope.

[@SkylaSternenlocke]

I`m crying so much right now. I loved Star Trek Discovery but I never realized that it`s the same actor from my so called life 30 years ago, a show that I loved as a teen and now I`m super emotional and proud of him.

[@gabrielmaroto18]

I recognize him and everything he does supernova he was so fucking hot and that movie

[@cesrelawrence-towner9453]

I did, he's part of why I started watching! People sleep to much on that cast. Wilson Cruz, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp! Sequoia is a amazing, when she left TWD I was sad. But back to Wilson lol! I loved him in Party Monster too.

[@SunnyMorningPancakes]

Not only this but his partner/husband in Discovery played Mark in Rent. So it's like Mark and Angel decided to get together in a world where Angel doesn't die.

[@JamesCavanagh-d6q]

My So Called Life came around when I was 15 and just came out as gay. It showed me I wasn't alone.

[@MinervaVictrix]

I'm in tears right now. I never watched this as a teen, and it probably would have changed my life if I had. Gonna binge watch it now.

[@jaycievictory8461]

Come back and say what you think 😊

[@kaza99]

Queer television has come so far, so quickly. When I was in high school in the 2010's I used to watch every single show I could possibly find with queer characters, and having to stop doing that because there were too many queer characters to keep track of felt so, so good.

[@tennisCharlzz]

Third season of Heartstopper on Netflix just dropped.

[@simfimpim]

Gay, not "queer."

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@simfimpim "we're here, we're queer, get used to it" has been a rallying cry for decades. Policing other people in the community's speech like that is just reifying the power the straights have over us

[@wandguardnoodle]

I was in my twenties then but I did the same! I also searched for older shows to watch (although there weren't many) - that's how I first found and watched My So-Called Life as well. Eventually, I was like woah, I can't keep up anymore, there are too many!

[@cmaden78]

Born in 78 so...my friends and I LOVED this show! There was a LOT of anger and sadness when it didn't go further 😢

[@simonfea2]

Me too! It's weird being 45/46.

[@morganleanderblake678]

I loved this show *so* much. They managed to put a face and words to phenomenon that left teens feeling so alone in the 90s. Stuff people just weren't talking about.

[@RadioPsychicAstrologyByPepper]

Damn you nailed it there. Didn’t it?!❤

[@JessJArt]

Exactly! Many kids didn't talk about this stuff in their own families.

[@vinnym5607]

I know Jared Leto won an Oscar and Claire Danes is very successful but for me, whenever I see Wilson Cruz in anything, he's always great and I'm happy to see him still at it and killing it.

[@janedoeeyed]

Pedro came out as HIV positive on real world a month before Ricky graced our tv. Pedro is a forgotten tv hero that introduced me to gay people as a child.

[@zucchinigreen]

But he wasn't a teen. I think that's the difference.

[@Starshyne9]

First time I ever saw gays get married and started to think about how that should be legal was when I saw Pedro and Shawn get married on The Real World.

[@starri]

@@janedoeeyed I’ll save my thoughts about this until Matt drops his video, but I give MTV and The Real World specifically a very large portion of the credit for the growth in the acceptance of queer people amongst Gen X and the generations that came after. Norm, and Pedro, and Dan, and Genesis, and Danny…we’re all better off because of them.

[@raydunn8262]

Pedro was groundbreaking. Two things that might have made it less of a big deal. 1. MTV had a younger and smaller audience. It wasn't one of the four networks. 2. Reality shows are 'real'. Naysayers scream that the Networks have an agenda to indoctrinate in their fictional storylines.

[@noragardner1629]

Pedro meant so much to me and so many queer teens. That he is so unknown by today’s queer kids makes me a little sad. He deserves to be remembered for his bravery in coming out and talking about AIDS in the mid 90s when people were so clueless about what AIDS even was.

[@simonfea2]

"No, mom, Ricky is not confused, he may be bi, but he is definitely not confused." Love. Love. Love. My So-Called Life and watch it on ABC, my bedroom tv didnt have cable. Im so fortunate to grow up and live in the San Francisco Bay Area where being gay wasn't really a BFD. I saw Ricky as a smart, good, sweet person stuck in a shitty town with a shitty family situation, at least one of those things anyone can identify or empathize with. Im proud to say Scott Thompson from the Kids in the Hall is my first tv gay ❤

[@williamdrain6064]

I hope Wilson Cruz sees this. Matt, you did such a good job putting what this character and also the actor has continued to mean to so many people. A+ out of 10, for sure

[@MJC_227]

This show was literally EVERYTHING to me when I was in middle school and high school. I discovered it after it had been cancelled by ABC and it was rerun on MTV during the weekdays.

[@Spiralsinto]

One of the best thing MTV ever did was to air this show on repeat back in the late 90's.

[@OctopusOwl]

Same! I was so sad when I found out there’d be no more…

[@Fel1z84]

Matt, the lace hard front Angela wig is quality 💅 I could feel the euphoria flow through me picturing the ends grazing my chin as I delivered “today is Thursday”

[@PxsDD]

This comment is not on top?

[@jaytheknife]

The "wig reveal" nearly killed me

[@Tonia682]

It took me out!😂😂

[@sladen3884]

I was one of the lucky ones who saw it on its original ABC run as it aired. Such a powerful show. We truly are blessed to live in such a loving and accepting times. And pave the way for the next generation to continue the trend towards love and belonging. Rickie was not only a light leading us to a better way, we've all met and embraced so many 'Rickies' along the way because of MSCL, as well as many of the other shows you review, Matt. Keep up the damn good work, this world always needs more of the good guys.

[@Speckledlillie]

I loved this show as a 14 year old in 1994, on ABC! I loved it. Girls at school dyed their hair red. I can’t believe it’s thirty years old. How did that happen?!

[@RadioPsychicAstrologyByPepper]

I was just starting out my music career when this came out and I am a natural redhead but I remember that My So Called Life began to gain popularity at the same time that Tori Amos was becoming popular so because I was a singer pianist and a crossover audience type of girl started to shows that I played and that dyed red hair was endemic out there because My So called life and Tori Amos that was a look for sure. Velvet leggings died red hair flannel shirts thin eyebrows. All of them equally introverted but thrown together for something like a concert etc. where people wanted to talk to each other talk to the other isolated introverted weirdos with the dyed hair but we were all too timid.😅

[@pnwlady]

I died my hair cinnamon mahogany brown totally due to Angela. 😂

[@MrHootiedean]

This video takes me back! I was a freshman in high school the same year the show premiered and as a gay, black teen it really spoke to me and Ricky helped me know things may just be okay.

[@jack2653]

As a queer person who does a yearly full rewatch of My So-Called Life, bless you for talking about not just the show, but what an important character Rickie is. also Jared Leto as Jordan was my first crush celebrity crush ^^;

[@noragardner1629]

I watched it every episode of My So Called Life as they came out when I was in my mid teens. Ricky changed my life as a closeted queer teen. I was devastated when it got cancelled. My So Called Life walked so that more modern shows like Sex Education could run. Long live Ricky.

[@adagiobreeze8493]

As an angsty queer teen in the 2000s I sought this show out thinking I’d find a hero in Angela Chase but it was Ricky who kept me revisiting the show as time passed

[@euansmith3699]

The price tag on the wig really made me smile. Thanks for another great episode about a TV show I've never heard of, but sounds really cool. All the backstage drama with the networks makes this a rollercoaster. The bit about Wilson Cruz's father getting in touch is really touching.

[@MattBaume]

Haha thank you, still time to return it to the wig shop

[@Erin-Thor]

I was in high school in the 70’s, bullying me was the school sport. When I asked teachers for help, I was told learn to be a man. When I sold a school counselor I needed a different locker because other kids were tearing up my books, and hitting me, she said so fight back. My parents were Jehovahs witnesses and fighting was a death sentence. I found my dad’s gun, and brought it to school, but nothing happened, so I put it back. To this day I haven’t spoken to nary a single person I went to high school with.

[@cedaremberr]

That really fucken sucks. I'm sorry that counselor so thoroughly failed you ❤️

[@cuucnsbfl9913]

Joe W. Says: THANK YOU for sharing your story. This is why REPRESENTATION MATTERS... and even now - in the 21st Century - we need to remember how important it is to provide SAFE SPACES for LGBTQIA Youth... and we can VOTE from our Conscience!

[@justinjuerakhan7934]

Rickie Vasquez is my favorite 90s character. Wilson’s character got me enjoying his work since 2021, and i still love him today!!!!

[@johnhmaloney]

Great video. I'm one of the many who first saw My So-Called Life on MTV and it really made me wish that I had given it a chance when it first aired. It was a great show. Incidentally, I find it fascinating that the tv industry didn't understand that teenage girls were a viable marketing demo in the '90s, when the music industry has understood that since the '40s.

[@Ruinwyn]

I don't think tv industry was actually unaware of the of the potential of teenage girls spending. I think it was that they were uncomfortable selling the stuff the viewership wanted under the conservative parents' eyes. Parents wanted their kids to look like the ones on 90210

[@mickeymouse2able]

PBS in the early 90s replayed the whole series and it was sooo good! It stunned me to see Ricky's teacher in the show who was also Gay and was not a stereotype.

[@robbistherealest]

Whenever someone asks me about my favorite tv shows, My So Called Life is always in there. I always jokingly say that I was the only person who watched it. I’m glad to see that so many people actually did and took Wilson Cruz’s Ricky to heart. A pioneer of television that was cut short with only the one season but at least in my life it sticks with me always.

[@MJC_227]

Matt, when I tell you that this video unexpectedly had me in tears because it brought back so many memories, both painful and good about being a teenager very similar to both Ricki and Angela.

[@belle132]

How did I only realize now that Rickie from MSCL was also Angel in Rent??? I feel so dumb but omg wow I am actually emotional. Those two characters meant so much to me growing up 😭 Wilson Cruz has an incredible, history-making career, and I hope that more people give him his flowers. Thanks for this video, Matt. Lovely work, as always.

[@gingerkid1048]

When I was at the end of high school in the late 90s I was the punk/goth drama girl who hung out with the outcasts including a couple closeted gays. One of my baby gays had his BF back out of going with him openly. I hadn't intended to go. However I couldn't let my Judy down. I shaved my head, dyed the stubble neon pink, found a 70s dress at Goodwill & went as his date. We had a blast together.

[@1957DLT]

This show was a bonding experience for my teenaged daughter and I when it aired on MTV. I have fond memories of her calling up to me that it was on, hurrying the popcorn and booking it downstairs. My first gay friend was in high school, so was hers. I think that MSCL helped inform her understanding and acceptance of LBGTQ+ to a greater degree than I had available to me in the mid-70's.

[@erraticonteuse]

I'd love to see you do a full deep dive into the Gay Best Friend trope. While it can be problematic, I feel like a lot complexity goes unexplored. I was in high school when Sex and the City was big, so all the girls wanted a GBF. A gay showrunner made having a gay friend seem fun and glamorous because it was a way to get positive gay rep on TV, while the teen girls who received those characters positively, if immaturely, have borne the brunt of a lot of negativity *because* they bought into a trope that was fed to them. And for myself, as a queer woman, there wasn't a whole lot of sapphic rep on TV at the time that weren't older couples having kids (Carol and Susan on Friends, Melanie and Lindsey on QAF). Gay men were the ones portrayed as having a whole (young and sexy) community, and I wanted a GBF because on some level I felt they had the secret knowledge to access the whole queer community (the irony being that now that I have found the queer community, it's usually the sapphics making room for everyone, while the cis gay men can be more exclusionary.)

[@roberteaston42]

As a closeted bisexual male who is a very big fan of this show I appreciate your appreciation of this series. Thank you so very much!!!!!!!!

[@StonerBaer]

Cheers to you, Stranger. Im a Transmasc nonbinary man in Minnesota, and i wish you well, Brother.

[@kellychuba]

I will never forget the scene when he arrives at his teacher's front door. Mind changed about EVERYTHING.

[@Tine_of_Nice_Dreams]

Oh. That ending got me tearing up. Thank you for sharing another beautiful, important story in such a thorough and enjoyable way.

[@GorFrag]

i was so worried this vid was going to be all about jered leto, I'm so relieved!

[@guatog7185]

I was in high school and saw the the very first episode as it aired. I was AMAZED to see someone like myself on screen. Even watching these clips brings tears to my eyes. While I was still closeted, Ricky gave me hope and told me that I’d find my real family one day.

[@Starshyne9]

What a great video! I was the same age as Angela when it premiered. I watched the entire original run of the show and might have tried to be Angela Chase-I dyed my hair red and wore a lot of flannel dresses with boots. I also was part of the group that tried their hardest online to save the show. I hate that it ended on a cliff hanger that never got resolved and that we never got to learn what happened to the characters that we grew to love so much.

[@streetsh1]

I want to express my gratitude for this show. It meant a lot to me because I was the same age as Angela. Even though I was a black girl living in Delaware, I found the show to be very relatable. Ricky's character touched my heart. My mom raised me to be open-minded, as she had a gay best friend. However, this show showed me another perspective, and the empathy it evoked in me was life-changing. Goodness, you got me crying over here...lol Well done 🫶🏽

[@cesrelawrence-towner9453]

My closest friend and I when this was on were obsessed. I can completely see why, I related so much.

[@ZiggyTzardust]

The teacher incredulous that a student might carry a gun for protection was out gay actor Stanley DeSantis. He had many memorable roles but the standout for me was Norman in Tales of the City.

[@simonfea2]

Besides MSCL, Takes of the City is a binge watch. I loved seeing Norman in MSCL, it was a pleasant surprise.

[@cipherhex]

Wonderful presentation as always Matt! I'm tearing up about characters in a show I had never even heard of before clicking this video!

[@qwertyTRiG]

He has that effect on me, too, sometimes. As you say, he's a wonderful presenter.

[@markmh835]

This video is so outstandingly good! Matt, you should be so proud of the result of all the work you and your team put into this. This is LGBT History worth documenting, and it will stand the test of time. In thinking about the reluctance and hesitancy of TV officials in the 1990s, I'm led to believe that in every great social movement, people fall into 3 camps: (1) those who want to turn the clocks back to a remembered "safe," orderly, and simple past; (2) those who are uncertain and are stuck in neutral in the present; and (3) those who envision a brighter, better future and will work tirelessly to get there and lead others into that future too. Please remember this when Americans vote on November 5, and choose wisely.

[@ReleaseTheQuackers]

*Btw, I think we all need a "My So-Called Life" REUNION SPECIAL!!!*

[@simonfea2]

Oh my God. I would love that.

[@rogerdale5451]

Oh lord, I'm crying through half of this. Born in '60...If this were me, the struggles would have been between 1973 and '78. Only a year after declassification as a mental disorder. I would have needed some sort of therapy (that didn't exist) by then, but here it is 2024. I don't seek counseling, because "where do you start"? This is as close as it's going to come...

[@kumachan9311]

Yeah, I was a Gay teen in the mid 80s [middle of all the AIDs paranoia] I didn't really 'come out' until I was nearly 50

[@cedaremberr]

Heya, I'm a mental health professional, I really do recommend getting therapy if you have any thought it might be helpful. I've worked with many older queer people, and we start wherever we start. It's never too late

[@rogerdale5451]

@@kumachan9311 Oh,,, I love ya... Gosh... I don't know what to say...

[@rogerdale5451]

I'm not "queer" ... I reject females. With exceptions...

[@rogerdale5451]

@@kumachan9311 Who ever you are, and wherever you are, oh boy, do I support you. Yes.

[@Yibambe.]

Love, love, love Wilson Cruz! He was amazing in Star Trek Discovery!

[@barbraseville8984]

This completely broke my heart. Hearing about the isolation Ricky (and you) felt growing up queer, it took me back. I don't know that I even ever thought about it back then, but that's exactly how it felt. Thanks for helping us understand ourselves! Beautiful video. 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

[@marty88ish]

It was such a great show and deserved way more seasons than just 1.

[@joeburinskas8672]

Definitely your color

[@Erin-Thor]

I was about to say “Love the hair!” 🥰🤣

[@larsg.2492]

Frames his face well. I got used to it by the end of the video.

[@dunjica77]

Hands down one of the greatest pieces of TV ever made.

[@johnmarr2695]

Definitely going to be showing my kid this soon. They just turned 15, and I think now is a good time to show them "my son called life". Great look at the show and Ricky Matt. Another home run!

[@Justitia_Nomen]

You have the best voice to listen to. Reminds me of being a kid watching education shows by someone with a caring voice.

[@LowKoLissa]

Right in the feels... This was amazing. His character was such a huge thing for a young queer person in the nineties to have. The realism, the bravery, the defiance of just being oneself was absolutely needed and cherished. 💜

[@michelle.pearl.]

Randomly coming across the MSCL marathon on MTV rewired my teenage brain. I'm so so grateful for it.

[@lauragenherrin]

I was 10ish when this show started and I was ADDICTED from the start. I wrote to ABC when they canceled it asking them to continue the series. It was amazing TV for a weird girl entering my teen years and it wasn't only me who was impacted by it. Edit: My mom was obsessed with thirty something too, I remember watching it when I was little! I was born I late '83.

[@elizabethwillis885]

I watched it when it was first on. The problem was that I didn’t catch the first episode. The first time I watched was a middle episode. I was pissed when it was cancelled. So when it started rerunning on MTV, I was so happy. I could watch the earlier episodes I missed. It was iconic amongst people my age. Everyone in my class watched every episode via MTV.

[@MalaksMessage]

That red wig is diabolical! Great vid!

[@rowantalmage]

I was the same age as the characters when this aired and I was obsessed with this show. Both Ricky and Angela were very influential on me. Ricky for being a real and public queer character, and Angela whose familiar perspective helped me take my first steps in exploring my own identity as a trans woman. I just knew I wanted to be like Angela, and then grew up to realize more about what that meant. This show is one perfect season (minus one episode ha).

[@williamdrain6064]

❤

[@noragardner1629]

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

[@savagecatgt]

Thank you for sharing. You are braver than I can imagine.

[@BrettWhitmarsh]

I absolutely only think of it as a MTV show

[@Soul-cry1]

Same, I always thought this was an MTV show, if only it was it might have gone on longer

[@TC-cr2oy]

I graduated in 91 and loved this show so much. It was our group of friends.

[@NatPix]

Teen queer me taped the prom episode off of MTV late at night, accidentally taping over a show my mom wanted to watch (Brooklyn Bridge). To hide my mistake and the controversial content, I taped a Gallagher show off Comedy Central over the prom episode, claiming I must’ve hit record on the remote before falling asleep.

[@marvelousTUD]

Yet another absolute masterpiece of a video, Matt 👏

[@CamMcGinn1981]

I've never seen the series and I have no idea if it was ever aired in Australia. I do remember long, long ago seeing Wilson on.... Oprah, I think it was talking about how he was playing an openly gay character and they showed a clip of him sitting on a guard rail talking to someone..... Seeing the pride in it that Wilson clearly still feels, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and see if I can find it somewhere. Thank you so much for your work, Matt. Your efforts deserve so much more. :)

[@Hardbody217]

I was a gay high school senior in '94. The perfect age for this show & grateful for Ricky's presence. I was a weird kid, though, so I'd already memorized Barefoot in the Park & The Four Seasons (both 1981) by the age of seven. Bess Armstrong, as the mom, was a BIG draw for me. Fantastic actress. The Halloween episode (and her arc in particular) is a favorite.

[@rachzen]

Remember when 12 million viewers wasn't a lot?

[@Honkshoo_honkshoo_zzz]

As a parent, I could never imagine reacting the way Angela's parents do when they find out Ricky needs a safe place to stay. That is absolutely infuriating to watch.

[@Bartholomule01]

I saw a video yesterday from a lesbian who was turned down for a date because she had dated men in the past. Wild that even today some people don't respect the pressure to try and be straight before comimg out because it's tough to be an openly queer teen even if it's easier these days.

[@seanspartan2023]

I really wish there were more Seasons of this show made.

[@LuperisNone]

Oh my god, I actually started tearing up at the scene in the church

[@SlytherinShark888]

Wilson’s coming out story is my story. 😮 like down to getting yelled at by a man (my older half brother) on Christmas Eve and getting kicked out at 19 with nowhere to go. This is wild. Especially because I was born in 92.

[@ombra711]

The show was actually iconic, and Ricky Stood out and humanized that experience with a character who also had a bit of intersectionality for good measure.

[@Reverse_Cat_Cowgirl]

Ngl, I'm loving the bate and switch between the ads and the actual show. It was a good laugh to balance out the crying.

[@peacearena]

I was part of that nascent online community brought together from across the country by MSCL. I was the age of the parents, but I identified with those kids so much. Like many others I was gutted when it wasn't renewed. But "we had a time." Yes we did.

[@AlwaysAmTired]

Ricky was the heart of the show. Lots of great characters, but he's the one you fall in love with. How much I wanted to give him a hug as a teen!

[@chingizzhylkybayev8575]

Omg my so-called life! I'm so happy to see someone acknowledge it.

[@gingerg85]

Was not ready to cry this much today.

[@voxangelaemortis]

Grew up in this time period. "My So-Called Life" was my (slightly older and very much more rebellious) sister's favorite show. My mother loved "Beverly Hills 90210". At my (all girls Catholic) high school, girls were not allowed to go to dances alone without working coat check or something because going alone "promoted lesbianism" (which only really harmed dateless wonders like myself because the actual lesbians brought their gay friend couples and then switched dance partners when the lights were low and nuns distracted😄). And I was in St Louis. Don't remember the news story about the MO teacher who came out, but definitely recognized every newscaster.

[@NicoleM_radiantbaby]

Also, you mentioned queer proms and that took me back to when I chaperoned one back when I was 24 in 1997. The Atlanta Gay Center had set it up and it was so happy-making to volunteer and watch and support the kids having such a lovely prom where they were in a safe place. Such a happy memory for me! We definitely didn't have any same-sex couples at my own prom in 1991, so it was nice to vicariously live through the kids there💗💗.

[@missdenisebee]

My mom & I watched MSCL reruns a couple years after its cancellation, and were GUTTED when it ended on a cliffhanger after one season😭 I still desperately wish for a reunion special or, even better, a movie of where everyone is in the current day. It was such a great show, and truly groundbreaking for 90s tv. To see teenagers speaking & acting like actual, real life teenagers was rare af. Even 30yrs later, it still kind of is.

[@pigslaundry5593]

It's interesting how much TV has changed. The fact that 10 million viewers was seen as not great at the time, while most shows nowadays would kill to get even half that number

[@antipatsy]

I was a grown, married woman when this came out - graduated in '85 - but related so hard to this show. One of my best friends was a flamboyant guy, the other a lesbian. We kind of lived this (although I never got the boy). PS GOOD JOB MAKING ME CRY AT WORK, MATT!

[@aprilsauce5879]

Your “crimson glow” wig delighted me. MSCL was everything to me as a young teen and Ricky was the character who reached me the most.

[@trashfire1025]

God i remember being a kid, and my mom talked about this show when she was my age, and how it really connected her as a teenager during that time and how i might like it. And being that young, and not knowing i was queer at the time, rickie's character really stuck with me. Even when i was so young. Now its on streaming we both come back to rewatch it occasionally.

[@FishareFriendsNotFood972]

So happy that many decades later, this show has aged so well and stood the test of time when it comes to many subjects, including Queer representation.

[@askajk5895]

Why did this show seem so much longer than one season! I loved every single minute of this show. These people felt real and whole. Not just the cookie cutter version of troubled TEENS! With real depth of feelings and problems.

[@rodneywilson7312]

I didn't see this series when it originally aired. When I did see it many years later, I felt as though I had been a teacher at Liberty High School and all of these students were in my classroom. It rang so true to life and close to how I experienced being a high school teacher in the 1990s. What wonderful characters, wonderful actors, and wonderful stories, with the Christmas episode at the top of my list.

[@jeffdahlman8581]

Ooohhhh, Thankyou so much for putting this together - and yes Kristy (and Jodie) were absolutely the ones that cracked the closet door - My so Called Life was defiantly a calling card for many teenagers -remember "Brothers" ? Thanks for ALL you do !!! much love from PDX

[@5210smile]

My heart broke when it ended

[@sarahgoldberg6614]

Well, this made me cry. I, like my entire junior high school, was super into this show when it came out. I rewatched it online a few years ago, and it has aged so well.

[@TheTerryGene]

I wish there had been a character like Ricky around in the 1960’s, when I was a queer teenager not knowing who I was or where I fit in.

[@MK_1Ultra]

My So Called Life was my foray into understanding being gay like Ricki.

[@AllIsWellaus]

Beautiful. From a young woman of the 90s. Seeing gay characters gave me a much needed labell by normlising my experience. Having a sheltered yett negative due from schooling left me with real unanswenred answers and emotions. I simply didn't understood bringing. So many people in my London life understood, respected and took on am active interest interest. These programmes definitely left a positive. Before access to the Interest iit wae like fumbling for my keys in the dark.