Customer Reviews

My So-Called Life: The Complete Series

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I adore MSCL. I watched each episode as it aired, back in 1994-1995. I almost disowned my brother, when he failed to tape the xmas episode for me. I watched repeats of the show, and taped them on VHS, watching them over and over again.

The show was brilliantly written. They. Got. It. Never before, or after, have I seen a show so intune with what it is to be a teenager. Degrassi, for example, is too treacly. 90210 is a joke.

The cast was so well chosen. I honestly cannot imagine anyone else playing Brian Krakow, Angela Chase or Jordan Catalano. Rayanne Graff will steal your heart. Ricky will break your heart.

If you have never watched the show before, take a chance. It is 19 episodes long and some of the best tv you will ever see!

If you have seen the show, let me tell you about this special edition. I had already owned the original release. It was okay, no special features or anything, but that alone was enough.

This release is wonderful. The outside book, is actually a keepsake box. The cover is the lid to the box. It is solidly made, not cheap. My first impression, was complete happiness.

Inside the keepsake box, you will find a booklet, about 40 pages long. Within the booklet are three letters from Janeane Garofalo, Joss Whedon and a fan of MSCL. These letters are articulate, funny, observant... everything that MSCL was. These letters are followed by episode descriptions and unknown facts about the episodes. The entire booklet is peppered with photos of the cast.

Underneath the booklet, are the actual DVDs. They are in a fold out case, stacked two deep on each page. This is okay. I would have preferred separate pages for the discs, but I will relent.

You can remove the booklet and the fold out case with a black ribbon that is attached to the back of the keepsake box.

I am completely happy with my set. I would not trade it for anything! And to think that I paid $100 for the original set... $48 is an absolute steal!

My So-Called Life is one of those instant classics. A brilliant show, it just came along at the wrong time and was subsequently canned after one season. But that only adds to the legend and in a small way makes the series even more enjoyable on DVD. The writing never got a chance to waiver. There was never really a bad episode. The cast never had to grow up and face "the college years" or even prom. Instead we are left with this one season, this one year of high school, with a brilliant group of characters who are locked forever in youth.

The shows themselves are just great. When you compare this one series, sandwiched between the farce of the early 90s' Beverly Hills 90210 and the junk of the late 90s' Dawson Creek, you see how true, poignant and amazing these 19 hours of teen TV truly are. You also see how Hollywood knows very little about GOOD TV.

This is a classic.

(why did I not give the dvd 5 stars... if you are looking for extras, look somewhere else all you get is the show... in this case that is enough though.)

While lacking extras, this set delivers what My So-Called Life fans want most --All 19 episodes, unedited and uncut.

As of this writing, I can honestly say that I am one of the few people in the world to have previewed the discs, as I received a check-disc copy from BMG.

Fans will not be disappointed.

The surround-sound audio is crystal clear and the video was clear enough for me to sometimes see the makeup on Jared Leto's face! The disc includes english-only subtitles, and there is no region coding (Amazon is incorrectly listing the product as region-1).

Just as the show revolutionized television programming, the DVD itself changed how studios create and market DVD products. In fact, it was the fans themselves who petitioned BMG to create the DVD box set. Congratulations to BMG and the MSCL fans for a job well done!

I would like to send a personal thanks to Steve Joyner, of Operation Life Support fame. I know that this DVD would not be a reality without his pioneering efforts to save the show from cancellation.

I never write reviews...ever...
But after watching this show tonight, after 7, 8 years, I had to comment...
The show is the most amazing thing I have ever seen on tv. I was struck when I watched the show tonight simply because it is so realistic. The reason there are legions of fans worldwide is because the show is sooooooooo real. In high school, I felt like I WAS Angela Chase, only I never got the guy I wanted, even for a second. Angela never said the exact right thing, and neither did I. Angela always said just too much. And her anxiety over sex was real. When Jordan Catalano finally took Angela's hand in his, walking through the hallway, my heart lept. I relived the same emotions from my high school experience in watching My So-Called Life tonight. The writing was that good. Maybe it's good that they took the show off the air. The writing was so great that it could have only gone downhill if the show continued...Maybe I'm just trying to rationalize why I only have 19 hours of the Chase family...
The DVD is a disappointment with special features. There aren't any. Oh well, the show is good enough to buy without any special features, and a complete disgrace in the menu design...That's why there are only 4 stars, because the show is terrific!!!

My husband bought me the "My So-Called Life" DVD box set for Valentine's Day and I spent the entire weekend re-watching all of it. I was 20 when it was on network TV and I could totally relate to Angela. Now I'm 29, a mother of two and disturbed because I can see things from Patty's point of view now. But at the same time, I still feel much like Angela. Wow, does anyone *ever* feel like they fit in? I hear alot of people complain about the series being canceled and while I would have loved to have seen more of Angela, Rayanne, Rickie and the rest of the gang, I don't think it would have been as good. This way, it's like finding an old diary in a used book store. All you get to know is that one finite portion of that person's life that they chose to put down on paper. Sometimes it's better to wonder. Anyway, this set is great. All I can say is, "I am telling you, we had a time. Didn't we? Didn't we have a time?"

Amazing. Simply amazing. The BEST television show ever written. I cannot believe that it ended after only one season. A complete tragedy that it only lasted for 19 episodes. I have never encountered anything as great as this. This show was a defining time in my youth.

I'm 21 now and so I was only about 12 or 13 when My so called life originally aired. I LOVED it then and I even love it even more now.The character's are much more easier to relate to than any of the other "teen" shows out there, now and then !!(O.C now and Beverly Hills 90210 then) Everything Angela went through,you could relate to even then when I was 12 I could relate and now even after highschool I still love it i'm just sad it got taken off the air so soon. To anyone who enjoys a good show that's not all about Big houses and lots of money I recommend this series!!!!!!!!

the show it self gets five stars. the dvd collection has very poor quality. it looks like it was done on a vcr at someone's house and burned on dvd. there was not even any liner notes. it looked like a bootleg when i received it. i loved the show and that is the only reason i an keeping it. NOT WORTH THE 70.00+ they are charging for it. hope this helps!

This was one of the best shows of all time, so of course it's great to have the series out on DVD. Come on, though. After all that waiting and not even one special feature. One commentary, interview, featurette. I love the episodes, but for the amount of money they're charging they could have put a little more effort into it.

Enough people have talked about what a great show this is. So I won't.

What I do want to know is why this set of 19 episodes is significantly more expensive than similar sets (Felicity, Buffy) yet offers very poor quality audio and video and zero bonus features?

The show: Five stars.
The DVD quality: Zero stars.