Ten Years Later: What Might Have Been
Claire Danes is the most likely reason for the demise of what perhaps was my favorite show ever, My So-Called Life. MSCL ran ten years ago for nineteen episodes, over every one of which cancellation loomed, until ABC finally pulled the plug. The scuttlebutt, then and still, is that Danes and her parents met with the folks from ABC and said that she wasn’t committed to the show any more and wanted to focus on movies.
Nowadays, Danes cries foul and says that she hardly thinks it’s fair that her fifteen-year-old self has to shoulder the blame for the show’s cancellation. It’s understandable that a young star getting rave reviews would want out of a show that was on such shaky ground when the movies beckoned. Ten years later, though, MSCL is still fondly remembered by many, and widely regarded as one of the best teen shows of all time, with strong writing and a stronger cast.
My So-Called Life got a bit precious at times; it wasn’t perfect. But I can’t help but wish that both ABC and Danes could have had to foresight to see what a gem it was and give it the support it deserved. Several shows since have mimiced it, almost always for the worse: Relativity, Cupid, Once and Again, Roswell. The latest homage is ABC’s life as we know it. It is also receiving bad ratings, though it has recovered from a shaky critical start to its present state, which I think gives MSCL the strongest run for the money yet. I think ABC is giving life as we know it a longer time to develop because they learned from the MSCL mistake.
It’s interesting to see how Claire Danes’ career has gone, and ironic that perhaps she should have stayed with a great TV show instead of going on to mediocre movies, the best of which were almost a decade ago–Little Women and Baz Lurhman’s Romeo + Juliet–and even they weren’t great films. More recently she’s done Stage Beauty, an art house film with boyfriend Billy Crudup, that met with mixed reviews. Both Danes and Crudup were voice talent on the quite good but financially unsuccessful Princess Mononoke. According to sources like US magazine, Danes and Crudup became a public item just as Crudup’s ex, Mary Louise Parker, gave birth to his child.
Ten years ago, I loved Danes’ show, thought she had great talent and hoped that she’d have a successful career. At about the same time, David Caruso was pulling the same kind of move over at NYPD Blue. He’s received phenomenal reviews for his first season. Instead of sticking with the show that made him a star, he left immediately for the movies. He tanked in duds like Jade and now growls his predictable schtick on one of the CSI spin offs. I don’t blame Danes and Caruso for wanting to move on, but I do wonder if their potential would have fizzled so spectacularly if they’d stayed put and given their respective shows the respect they both merited.
January 21st, 2005 at 12:16 pm
I agree that there seems to be some good karma that follows actors who stick with shows of high quality, yet limited success. My own touchstone for the phenomenon would be the exquisite “Sports Night.” And it gives me a special sort of satisfaction to see Peter Krause (”Six Feet Under”) and Felicity Huffman (”Desperate Housewives”) go on to get a win in critical and even commercial arenas.
January 22nd, 2005 at 4:33 pm
Amen to Peter Krause and Felicity, but what about poor Dan? I keep hoping he’ll make it too, and that he won’t end up as the Scolari to Krause’s Tom Hanks.