Go now ... go!

In 1994, Claire Danes and A.J. Langer starred in “My So-Called Life,” a show about teen angst and self-discovery, now playing from the beginning on the Sundance Channel.

The production, created by Winnie Holtzman for ABC and canceled after one season, was set in Pennsylvania. It was self-consciously intergenerational. While the show centered on Danes’ character Angela Chase, for instance, it cut regularly to her parents, Patty and Graham, played by Bess Armstrong and Tom Irwin.

It was also self-consciously topical, with any issue making national headlines finding its way into the show. There was a gay character, Rickie, played by Wilson Cruz. There were guns in schools, drugs, sex, grunge music and AIDS. The Clintons were referenced in the pilot episode, with Patty simply appalled at the scrutiny Chelsea Clinton suffered as a teenager living in the White House.

The overarching theme was the pressures of existence. In the opening sequence, Angela has made a new friend, Rayanne Graff, played by Langer, who was a spark of ’90s life with crimped hair, Madonna tulle and flannel everywhere. Rayanne has convinced her to dye her mousy blonde hair a deep metallic red.

This new friendship displaced other people in her life – like her former best friend, Sharon, who started gossiping about her, and straight-edge, socially awkward neighbor boy Brian (who reminded me a little too much of myself), who also gossiped about her.

So Angela dyes her hair and tries to fit in with her new friends. It’s kind of a minefield. She has to become less intense about classes and more intense about clothes and boys – specifically Jordan Catalano, played by Jared Leto. She wants to be going out with this boy, so she wants to change, oh, absolutely everything about herself with new hair, new clothes and new friends, to go to parties and to be where he is.

And there’s no instruction manual. Occasionally Rayanne shoots her a look, like Angela’s supposed to play it way cooler about, for example, getting to biology class on time.

The pilot episode referenced “The Diary of Anne Frank,” and Angela’s assessment of the girl’s tragic life as “lucky.” Her English teacher was appalled. “Is that a joke? Anne Frank perished in a concentration camp. How could you say she was lucky?” As Jordan Catalano sauntered into class late, Angela said, “She was trapped in an attic for three years with a boy she liked.” The implication was that high school was just another attic the kids were trapped in.

Angela had a few other observations to share. When asked about quitting yearbook, she said it was pointless. They spend all this time and energy creating a book about the year, she said, but not about what happened. Only about what everyone thinks was supposed to happen.

“If they made a book about what really happened, it would be a really upsetting book,” she said.

Intensity

As the show continues, the situations get more intense. Rayanne’s drinking becomes problematic, Rickie is kicked out and becomes homeless and is the victim of a hate crime, and Angela’s parents hit a few bumps in the road as well.

The show aired in reruns for a few years on MTV in the late ’90s. Danes is probably the one undisputed break-out star from the production, appearing in several movie roles and shining as Juliet opposite Leonardo diCaprio in Baz Luhrmann’s MTV version of “Romeo + Juliet.” Langer appeared in some horror films and the canceled ABC production of the private investigator dramedy “Eyes.” The highest profile post-”My So-Called Life” production I’ve seen Bess Armstrong in was a John Waters film.

And it’s probably not his fault, but Tom Irwin has been a sort of actor-borne kryptonite for shows, appearing in the penultimate, final or canceled seasons of “Miracles,” “Angel,” “Judging Amy,” “Reunion,” “Eli Stone,” “24,” “LOST,” “The Chicago Code” and something called “Related,” which was apparently some sort of television program that aired on The WB once upon a time.

Of course, he played Grace Hanadarko’s brother the priest in “Saving Grace,” which lasted for three seasons, but that ended so poorly I can’t dismiss the parallel.

And both Armstrong and Irwin have appeared in “Castle,” so ... now I’m even more worried about Kate’s chances for survival heading into season four.

But while “My So-Called Life” is extravagantly dated and takes itself far too seriously, I feel it holds up to an encore viewing. The first time around, my own high school days weren’t so far behind me and I felt a different connection to the characters than I feel in retrospect.

It’s like a time capsule, or an exploration of youth culture at a specific moment in history. But the message in the opening theme still resonates – that whispered message of “Go now ... go!” Dream your dreams, try new things, make mistakes, live your life.

Make it your own.

Episodes of “My So-Called Life” premiere Mondays at 11/10c on the Sundance Channel and encore multiple times throughout the week.