Created by Winnie Holzman (whose previous writing credits included the ensemble dramathirtysomething,with whichMSCL shared much DNA),it was set in a comfortable middle-class Pittsburgh suburb. The drama is centred around Angela and a handful of her friends and “frenemies” as they embark on what is standard-issue teenage rites of passage;friendships,hormones,independence and forging one’s path. For Angela,that mostly involves an infatuation with dreamboat slacker Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto),arguing with her baby boomer parents Patty (Bess Armstrong) and Graham (Tom Irwin) and authoritarian teachers,and pouring out her heart in a voiceover that squarely makes the perspective hers and hers alone.
Unlike in many teen dramas,Angela is not the cool kid. Nor is she the one sporting the killer outfits,nor is she the one spouting aspirational platitudes about making a difference. For much ofMSCL,she’s bumbling through a minefield of misunderstandings,trying to decipher the mixed signals of the similarly confused Jordan,who can make Angela swoon with a casual glance her way and the very next moment casually and negligently break her heart.
Bestie Rayanne (A.J. Langer) is full of bravado but dangerously insecure,all too willing to put herself in perilous situations to prove herself. Wilson Cruz portrayed what is possibly TV’s first openly bisexual character,Rickie. Brainiac boy-next-door Brian (Devon Gummersall) excels at school and has an unrequited crush for Angela,but is consumed with jealousy and resentment. And as the object of Angela’s awkward longing,Jared Leto’s Jordan wasn’t the cookie-cutter heartthrob who broke girls’ hearts. A sensitive and misunderstood soul who we would come to realise had learning difficulties,he made the girls swoon but was also something of a douche. Everyone inMSCL is trying to figure it out,and with varying degrees of success.
And it’s not just the kids struggling with the complexities and conundrums of the world. America inMSCL is riddled with class conflict,gun violence is a looming threat and drug addiction isn’t merely a problem from “somewhere else”. (Aptly enough,in an early episode of the show,It’s A Wonderful Life is seen playing on a TV set in the background.) The push and pull of marriages and the compromises of parenthood are dealt with just as keenly as the teen heartaches. Decades beforeHeartbreak High’s “sex map”,MSCL was exploring homophobia,slut-shaming and toxic masculinity. Even the riddle of American free speech gets a workout,in an episode where an unorthodox stand-in teacher who counsels his charges to write whatever is on their minds is unmasked as something of a fraud.
Nearly 30 years and possibly hundreds of teen dramas later,it’s easy to overlook just how groundbreaking and novel this show was and remains. Many of the qualities that made it so original and attention-grabbing – the realistic depictions of teenage rites of passage,its heartfelt and incisive portrayals of marginalised characters (long before the notion of “identity politics” would become part and parcel of TV dramas) and the rejection of “father-know-best” generational conflicts – have become standard issue.