My So-called Podcast

THREE WORDS: QUEEN. WINNIE. HOLZMAN. In this interview, Gillian and Patrick are living out their teenage dreams! We got to ask Winnie EVERYTHING WE EVER WANTED TO KNOW about "My So-Called Life." We find out: How the show came to be Who / what were the inspiration behind central characters EVERYTHING about Tino--who and WHY he is What would have happened if the show had continued What Winnie imagined would have happened to your favorite characters (this stuff with BLOW YOUR MIND!) 

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS THIS IS IT WE CAN'T BELIEVE IT. The final episode of My So-Called Life is PACKED. Graham and Hallie get money for the restaurant and almost makeout (BUT WHOOOOO CARES), Jordan recruits Brian to help him apologize to Angela (AND HE DOES IT, WHAT A MESS), Rayanne and Sharon solidify their friendship (DUH SQUARED), Patty reminisces about her high school boyfriend (LEADING TO HER BONDING WITH JORDAN OMG), Rickie has like six pivotal and groundbreaking moments (THANKS TO QUEEN DELIA!), and the series ends with one of the most heartbreaking scenes of all time. But wait! We have our interview with Winnie Holzman next week so STAY TUNED because she goes in on everything from Tino to plans for her characters. We had a blast making this podcast. Thank you so much for taking this, like, grungy and emotional journey with us... or whatever.   

It's the weekend from hell (OR THE BEST WEEKEND EVER?!) over at the Chase residence. So, Graham and Patty go away to "reconnect" for the weekend and leave Angela and Danielle alone (WE GET SOME DANIELLE VOICEOVER YOU GUYS). While Patty and Graham try to deal with Graham's brother Neil and his new high pitched girlfriend Cheryl (PATTY CHOOSES TO GET HAMMERED AND IT'S AMAZING), Angela has to deal with Rayanne, who is tied to her parents bed because she found the handcuffs that Camille Cherski gave Patty to help rekindle her marriage but Patty left them at home AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED. Angela recruits Rickie, Sharon, and even Brian Krakow to help get Rayanne free while Patty nurses the worst hangover OF HER LIFE. And we're here for every last second of it. 

Okay well, this episode is called Betrayal so yeah everything is a mess you guys (AT LEAST IT STARTS OFF WITH THE FAMOUS "BLISTER IN THE SUN" SCENE). Spoiler not spoiler? RAYANNE AND JORDAN SLEEP TOGETHER AND IT RUINS EVERYTHING. All the drama is happening while Mr. Katimski is directing "Our Town" (BECAUSE OF COURSE) and it's all incredibly complicated. In happier news, Rickie now has a stable home life (SERIOUSLY, ONE NIGHTH AT KATIMSKI'S AND HE'S MAKING REAL ADULT CHOICES), a bunch of beloved characters come back (DELIA FISHER HEY GURL! SHARON'S MOM CAMILLE YAS THROW THAT SHADE! ...COREY THE ARTSY GUY? WHATEVER). Oh and we see Brian shirtless (DON'T GET CREEPY ABOUT IT), andddd these teenaged actors are actually really fantastic (LOOKING AT YOU DEVON ODESSA!).

It’s New Year’s Eve and the resolutions are all over the place. (CAN SOMEONE REMIND JORDAN IT’S NEW YEAR’S EVE, PLEASE?) And ugh we hate to say it but Rickie is homeless again (SERIOUSLY, THAT’S WHAT THE HULU DESCRIPTION OF THIS EPISODE IS) and it’s even more heartbreaking than last week’s episode. After staying at the Chase house for a week (YAS PATTY AND HER CHANGE OF HEART), Rickie feels like a burden (HE’S NOT) and bails to live on the rainy, rainy streets of this Pittsburg suburb. Mr. Katimski is the only person who actually does something about it (AND HE COULD LOSE HIS JOB, YOU GUYS) and get ready to sob because this is quite an emotional rollercoaster. MEANWHILE, Graham and Hallie Lowenthal are starting a restaurant together after all apparently (YAWN), Sharon can’t break up with Kyle because her hormones are working overtime (UMM HI THEY ARE FIFTEEN), and Brian and Jordan discover they can have a mutually beneficial relationship (ALSO SOMEONE IS FINALLY TRYING TO HELP JORDAN READ THANK GOD).

YOU GUYS IT'S THE CHRISTMAS EPISODE. Okay, so Angela makes friends with another dead teenager and this time it's 90's goddess Juliana Hatfield and she's angel who sings and plays guitar (ALSO ANGELA IS A FULL BLOWN MEDIUM. SHE SEES AND TALKS TO DEAD PEOPLE). Poor Rickie is homeless and getting beat up and lying about it even though it's super obvious (CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP HIM?!), so Jordan directs him to an abandoned warehouse where all the homeless kids live (NOT THE BEST IDEA, BUT JORDAN IS ACTUALLY NOT A MONSTER IN THIS EPISODE SO THERE'S THAT). Brian's parents abandon him for ten days (DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON, THEY ARE AWFUL), and he takes solace in the teen help line that the supremely unqualified Sharon and Rayanne are running (SHARON IS SO OVERWORKED AND BOY DOES SHE LET US KNOW). Oh, and Rayanne's mom's homophobic boyfriend (WHO IS ALSO A SEXUAL PREDATOR) has moved in and guess what AMBER VALLONE HAS BEEN CANCELLED. 

Remember the "Life of Brian" episode? This is basically "Life of Rayanne" only we don't get any Rayanne voiceovers (UGH THIS SHOW WAS CANCELLED TOO SOON). Angela and Jordan broke up (BUT HE STILL KNOWS THE COMBINATION TO HER LOCKER, EYEROLL.), and they are spending more time together now than they ever did when they were "together." Rayanne is feeling lots of distance between herself and Angela (I MEAN AN ALMOST OVERDOSE WILL DO THAT), but since they are fifteen years old, Rayanne ignores it and makes things worse. Jordan is obsessed with the fact that Tino stormed out and quit Frozen Embryos (AND IS ALSO MAYBE INLOVE WITH TINO?!), so Rayanne decides that she's going to be the new lead singer and makes out with the drummer until the band lets her sing. IT DOESN'T GO WELL, YOU GUYS! RAYANNE FREAKS OUT. Patty Chase is CONVINCED Rayanne is drinking again so she takes it upon herself to tell Amber (THE WORST MOTHER IN THE WORLD) and guess what? THAT DOESN'T GO WELL EITHER. Meanwhile, Brian and Rickie are still be

ANNOUNCEMENT, YOU GUYS: JORDAN CATALANO HAS BEEN CANCELLED.    In "Pressure" Jordan spends the entire episode trying to convince Angela to have sex with him even though she makes it super clear that she is not at all into it (SHE'S FIFTEEN YEARS OLD). Jordan shows up to her house in the middle of the night unannounced, convinces her to go to a vacant house that a bunch of teenagers are using for sex, and then gets mad at her when she bails on him (NO MEANS NO, JORDAN). Seriously, Jordan, delete your account. In Angela's attempt to convince herself to do something she really doesn't want to do (ANGELA, GIRL!), we learn that Sharon is the most sexually experienced girl at Liberty High School (SHE AND KYLE HAD SEX, LIKE, CONSTANTLY) and she also happens to have an absolutely ridiculous and hilarious "intimacy video" that makes the rounds between Angela, Brian, and Rickie (WHO WANTS TO PULL OFF BIKE SHORTS AND IT'S LIKE, YOU TOTALLY CAN). Speaking of Rickie (WILSON! CALL US!), we hear more about his incredibly hi

YOU GUYS THE BOILER ROOM EPISODE IS HERE!  Angela is NOT taking geometry review seriously.....because she and Jordan are sneaking off to the boiler room to do some SUUUUUUPER intense making out. Of course it all falls apart when Angela, Rayanne, and Sharon (who is TOTALLY friends with Angela and Rayanne at this point) run in to Jordan in public and he is unforgivably rude to Angela.  Graham (BOO, GRAHAM!) starts his cooking class. Things take an unexpected turn when he is asked to TEACH the class.  Also, there's a new teacher in town! Mr. Katimpsky is OBSESSED with getting Rickie to join the drama club and Rickie is NOT into it. 

OUR SWEET BUEAUTIFUL BABY BRIAN KRAKOW GETS HIS OWN EPISODE! This episode is told from Brian's point of view (WE JUST SAID THAT). Everyone's love life gets screwed up by the school World Happiness Dance (ORGANIZED BY SHARON WHO IS ADDICTED TO STRESS). Brian has his first erection (WHOA) "from actual physical contact" when a new transfer student, (QUEEN) Delia (FISHER. WHO IS EVERYTHING), touches his hand, and he asks her to the dance (I MEAN, SORT OF). Jordan won't ask Angela to the dance (BECAUSE JORDAN DOESN’T GO TO DANCES, AS, LIKE, POLICY), so Angela asks Brian to drive her to the dance. Brian, realizing this is his chance to woo Angela (WOO!), breaks his plans with Delia (BECAUSE HE’S MONSTER). Rickie (HEY GIRL!) develops a crush on Cory (US TOO!), and Rayanne asks Cory to the dance with her and Rickie. At the dance, Rickie thinks Cory might be hitting on him, but it soon becomes clear Cory was interested in Rayanne all along (SOB). Angela (, ALSO A MONSTER,) gets angry at Brian for snubbing Rickie and s

Rayanne, Angela, and Rickie are in the Chase kitchen, where Rayanne, who is fifteen, is drinking a beer (WHAT, IT’S DOMESTIC!). In order to take a bite of her pickle, she hands the beer to Rickie, at which point Patty (YAY, PATTY!) and Danielle (BOO, DANIELLE!) enter. Although Rickie does not drink, Patty initially believes Rickie was drinking the beer. She chastises Angela (CHASTIESE, I TELL YOU!), informing her daughter that consumption of alcohol will not be condoned in the household by minors, whether family or not. Patty also reminds Angela that she will have to attend a dinner party to celebrate the anniversary of Angela's grandparents. Rayanne, Angela, and Rickie head to the Graff home, where Angela meets Rayanne's hippie mom, Amber (WHO AT FIRST IS AMAZING, BUT ENDS UP BEING TOTAL GARBAGE BY THE END OF THE EPISODE), with whom she is entranced; Amber appears to Angela very laid back (AND SHE’S A DAY-DRINKER!). Amber, in contrast to Patty, does not mind children drinking in her home, so long as they do

Halloween rolls into Three Rivers (IS THAT THE NAME OF THEIR TOWN?), blurring the line between facades and realities (AND INTRODUCING STRAIGHT UP TIME TRAVEL). When Patty and Graham venture to buy costumes on Halloween day (FROM THE MAYOR OF HALLOWEEN HERSELF), a pirate costume and a Rapunzel costume are all they can find; serendipitously, it leads the couple to passionate role-playing (IN A SCENE THAT SHOULDN’T BE SEXY BUT SOMEHOW IS). Danielle (WHO STILL HASN’T BEEN SHIPPED OFF TO BOARDING SCHOOL) dresses as Angela and goes trick-or-treating with Sharon. Angela, meanwhile, dresses as a schoolgirl from the early 1960s (AND LOOKS FABULOUS). After learning of Nicky Driscoll, a student who had died in the early '60s in the school, she, with Rayanne and Rickie, decides to break into the school on Halloween night. Brian Krakow (SWOON) shows up as well and facilitates the break-in. While there, Brian Krakow comforts the achluophobic (WHAT ON EARTH DOES ACHLUOPHOBIC MEAN?) Rayanne in the basement while Angela sees

After her father has a heart attack, Sharon (YAY SHARON! BOO HEART ATTACK!) moves in for a short while with the Chases (AND RAYANNE IS NOT PSYCHED ABOUT IT). Angela (WHO HAS BEEN A MONSTER TO SHARON FOR THE LAST SEVEN EPISODES) wants to get closer to Sharon but doesn't know how. Rayanne, however, does get closer to Sharon, (YAY! RAYANNE + SHARON FOREVER!) helping to drive her to the hospital (ALSO, IN A WEIRD TURN, WE LEARN THAT TINO LOVES HOSPITALS…?). Sharon's father is approximately the same age as Graham (BOO! GRAHAM!), and the experience leads Graham to think about his future and how unsatisfied he is with his job. Despite his landing a big account (FINALLY), Patty fires her husband (BUT, LIKE, IN THE SWEETEST WAY POSSIBLE…PATTY RULES) in order to free him to pursue a more fulfilling career.

Angela and Jordan (JORDAN CATALANO!) get close when she learns of his reading problem (AND SHE LOOOOOVES SHARING THAT SECRET), which she discovers because he was unable to read a note he found that she wrote about him (THANKS FOR NOTHING, RAYANNE). She speculates that he might be dyslexic (LIKE UNCLE NEIL!), although he doubts it (OF COURSE YOU DO, JORDAN). After being invited to his band's practice session (MORE LIKE AFTER SHE INVITED HERSELF), she grows even closer to him when she hears his new song, "Red," (WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD) which she and Rickie believe is about her, but which is actually about his car (SPOILER ALERT!). Patty and Graham (WHO IS THE WORST) cope with a possible pregnancy. Graham becomes fond of the idea of having a son, and when Patty tells him that she is not pregnant, she realizes he is disappointed. Graham resorts to playing catch with Brian Krakow (SWOON!).

Without a doubt, one of our favorite episodes so far! An unconventional (THAT’S ONE WORD FOR IT!) substitute teacher (VICK RACINE!!!) temporarily turns Angela's English class into a poetry writing club. Students are encouraged to express themselves. Controversy arises when Patty, who runs a publishing company (MORE LIKE A PRINTING PRESS, BUT WHATEVER), reads an anonymous poem titled "Haiku for Him" (DID IT JUST GET HOT IN HERE?) alluding to sexual interaction, but the substitute assuages her reservations and she agrees to publish the poem along with the rest of the submissions in the school's literary magazine called Liberty Lit (AND. BRIAN. IS. NOT. HAPPY. ABOUT. IT.). The principal (MR. FOSTER, BOOOOO!), however, does not share the libertarian attitude of his students; he confiscates every copy of the magazine he can, threatens to suspend any student distributing copies, and (SPOILER!) convinces the substitute to quit. Sharon is worried that it will be discovered that she wrote the poem, while Rayanne is wo

The Annual Three Rivers Mother-Daughter Fashion Show is approaching (AND ANGELA IS NOT EXCITED). Rayanne's “slut potential” and Sharon's large breasts get mentioned on a Sophomore girls list made by some jocks (OMG, THE LIST!). Angela, who is not on the list, feels self-conscious about a zit on her chin (WHICH SHE MENTIONS OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN); she concludes that she is ugly (ANGELA, DEEP BREATHS, GIRL). Coincidentally, Sharon becomes self-conscious about her large breasts (AND SUDDENLY HAS A WARDROBE FULL OF OVERSIZED SWEATERS). Patty does not understand why Angela (WHO HAS BEEN A TOTAL NIGHTMARE ABOUT THE WHOLE THING) does not wish to participate in the fashion show until she learns of Angela's insecurities. Angela suggests that her mom do the fashion show with Danielle (WHO, FOR SOME REASON, HASN’T YET BEEN SHIPPED OFF TO BOARDING SCHOOL).  

Patty must deal with her father (SHE MUST!), whose printing business she now runs, when the IRS decides to do an audit (BY THE PINE-SOL LADY!!). Patty makes a variety of suggestions, all of which go unheard by her unyielding father (WHO IS THE WORST). Meanwhile, Angela and Graham's relationship is also strained as Angela gives Graham the silent treatment (GRAHAM, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!) Graham gives Angela and Rayanne tickets to the Grateful Dead (SNOOZE!) but Angela (THINKING ONLY OF HERSELF) scalps them, angering (OR, LIKE, DEVASTATING) Rayanne. Rayanne has no father figure (BUT SHE HAS AMBER VALLONE!) and appreciates her interactions with Graham. Angela hides in Brian Krakow's car (HIS DREAM COME TRUE!) in order to make her dad think she went to the concert, knowing that he would be disappointed to learn she didn't (BECAUSE HE’S THE WORST DAD EVER!), but he discovers the truth, and gives her the silent treatment. In the end, Graham asks Angela what kind of music she likes (AND THE ANSWERS ARE SURPRISINGLY

After a gunshot goes off in school (YIKES, WE MIGHT ADD), (GORGEOUS / SECRET COOL KID) Brian Krakow (WHO WE ALSO FIND OUT IN THIS EPISODE HAS IBS….WEIRD) experiences pressure from authority figures (MR. FOSTER, BOOOO!) to inform on Rickie (HEY GIRL!), who is suspected of having brought the gun to school. While parents become very concerned (PATTY LOSES HER S**T, YOU GUYS), students remain relatively calm about the situation (ESPECIALLY ANGELA, WHO SPENDS THE WHOLE EPISODE THINKING ABOUT HERSELF). Although Rickie (HEY GIRL!) did not bring the gun to school, he wants fellow students to think he did, believing that he will be harassed less for his bisexuality. He points out in class (AS GIGANTIC NOTES ARE PASSED OVER AN AROUND HIM, COMPLETELY UNNOTICED BY THE TEACHER) that firearms are not just tools of aggression; they are also often tools of defense. After Angela comforts Rickie in his car (WE’RE NOT SO SURE THAT’S RICKIE’S CAR, MORE ON THAT LATER), their friendship grows stronger. Meanwhile, Angela is dealing

"High School is a battlefield for your heart..." In the pilot episode, Angela Chase starts her sophomore year at Liberty High. She dyes her hair red (Crimson Glow!) and abandons her best friend, Sharon, for her new, outgoing friend, Rayanne.  Her romantic interest in Jordan Catalano (JORDAN CATALANO!!!) is established, and she lies to her parents about a night out, telling them that she is staying at Rayanne's house. Instead, she, Rayanne, and Rickie (Hey girl!!) head to a club (LET'S BOLT!) but are unable to get in (Thanks for nothing, Tino!). In the parking lot, the two girls are hit on by some guys, leading to a confrontation (I mean, to put it mildly). The girls are driven home by a cop, (BUT NOT BEFORE) Jordan Catalano notices Angela in the backseat of the police car.  

Rayanne arranges for Jordan Catalano to sell Angela a fake ID (because, of course she does) as a ruse for getting Jordan and Angela interacting more. Unfortunately for Angela, Jordan bungles (again, TO PUT IT MILDLY) his romantic approach to her.  Meanwhile, Patty and Graham (PATTY AND GRAHAM! YAY!) stumble through ballroom-dancing lessons meant to re-spice their marriage. Also, there's an EPIC scene in which a porcelain figurine is smashed to pieces...on a carpet..somehow.