Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 14, 1995 TAG: 9501280007
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEPHEN SEPLOW KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA LENGTH: Medium
This is, without question, her favorite show, and the favorite of a lot of her friends - their generation's ``thirtysomething.'' And she doesn't want to miss one solemn twist in the meandering maturing of Angela Chase.
To Ellis, the brooding Angela, played by the immensely talented Claire Danes, 15, is a believable figure coping with the unrelenting anxiety of how far to go sexually and the daily annoyance of popping pimples; with comforting distressed friends and with parents who themselves are coping with how much rope to give her.
``She's not beautiful,'' said Ellis during a commercial break in a recent episode. ``She's the way people are in real life. Sometimes she looks good, sometimes bad.''
For millions of teen-age girls - and for some of their parents - Angela's life has become a way to measure their own, a way to understand that others everywhere are experiencing the same hormonal gyrations.
Angela and her schoolmates in no way resemble the kids of ``Happy Days'' or other series built around teen-agers. Personal relationships torment her, as they do many teen-agers, and her parents keep struggling to set rules that she stubbornly disregards.
And her life is about the most stable one portrayed. One friend has a serious drinking problem, another is gay and virtually disowned by his parents, and yet another has parents thoughtless enough to leave him home alone during Christmas week.
``It reminds you of how fragile your relations are with your children, and how important they are to nurture,'' said Sarah's mother, Denise, 40, a slim Head Start teacher with long black hair.
For Abby Williams, a 14-year-old freshman at Lower Merion High School, ``it's one of the first shows I can relate to. It's so realistic, and Angela has real problems. It's not outlandish things that would never happen to me, but things I can relate to.''
Unfortunately for ABC and the producers of ``My So-Called Life,'' people such as Sarah and her friends - middle class, white, female teen-agers - are about the only people watching. Which means that the most critically touted show of this season has become a Nielsen ratings disaster, ranking 100th out of 114 shows in prime time as of the end of December.
Among girls 12 to 17, it rates a solid No. 17. But when boys of that age are put in the mix, it falls to No. 33 for the teen audience. The adult audience falls precipitously, ranking 84th for women 18 to 49 and 100th for men in that category.
Because of the ratings, the show is scheduled to go off the air for this season after this month. Whether it will be back for another try next fall is unknown, although executive producer Marshall Herskovitz and the show's other top executives have not been shy about lobbying for its return.
Herskovitz and three others signed a letter to television critics in late November, urging them to spread the word that ``adults can relate to and appreciate'' the show. ``We don't think adults as well as parents have gotten the message that this show is for them, too.''
Winnie Holzman, a co-executive producer, said they decided to make the appeal because ``it's news - if they write about TV, it's news that the best-reviewed show will be one of the first to be canceled.''
Herskovitz, who also created ``thirtysomething,'' said that `if we can take it into a second season, I think we'll find an audience.
``The folks who watch it are so passionate. I can't believe if we find a larger audience we won't hold it. The main thing is to be on the schedule next fall.''
Letters from young girls around the country ``reveal a kind of emotional attachment with the show that is extraordinary and very gratifying,'' he added. ``I think that's because the show dares to be personal.''
One, from a 15-year-old in Harbor City, Calif., said, ``It's the most real show on television. ... I laugh and cry with your characters and it's me living their experiences. I can honestly say that your writers actually understand teens. Scary huh.''
``My So-Called Life'' airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on WSET-Channel 13.
by CNB