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My So-Called Life IQ Score 167/200

My So-Called Life has an IQ Score of 167/200 on TV Intelligentsia's Intelligence Quotient rubric, placing it in the Masterclass tier.

dramayacoming-of-age
167/ 200
Masterclass

Exceptional cognitive and educational substance, delivered with craft that sustains close attention

My So-Called Life poster, IQ Score 167/200, Masterclass tier on TV Intelligentsia

Score Breakdown

Cognitive Stimulation/50
43
Educational Value/50
41
Craft & Quality/50
41
IQ = round((Cognitive × 0.4 + Educational × 0.35 + Craft × 0.25) × 4)  · How we score →
What these dimensions mean
  • Cognitive Stimulation: how much the title demands of your mind, its structural complexity, ideas, and sustained intellectual engagement.
  • Educational Value: what you take away, across academic content, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, life skills, and knowledge transfer.
  • Craft & Quality: production excellence in service of the work, its direction, writing, performance, and aesthetic intent.

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Why you should trust this score

Scored under Jordan Robinson, MD, MPH
Physician and founding editor. Maintains the adult catalog against the published rubric and reviews the rubric application.
Formula
round((C × 0.40 + E × 0.35 + Q × 0.25) × 4)
Database scale
2,597 titles, version-controlled

How we stay independent. Editorial scores are not for sale. TVI may take on paid advisory or research work, but no commercial relationship buys coverage, advance access to scores, favorable treatment, or a change to a published finding. We pay for our own streaming subscriptions, and no reviewer sees sponsor data or affiliate revenue tied to a score. More about how we work →

The TVI Take

Winnie Holzman's 1994-95 ABC single-season drama anchored by Claire Danes as 15-year-old Angela Chase. The structural commitment to letting adolescent-female-cognitive register be the actual subject, at register network YA drama had not previously sustained, established the canonical prestige-YA template subsequent shows (Freaks and Geeks, Felicity, Buffy) worked inside.

Cancelled after 19 episodes; subsequently canonized.

People & Production Winnie Holzman · American Broadcasting Company · United States 17 connections

Direction & creation

On screen & sound

Selected cast
Claire Danes Bess Armstrong Wilson Cruz Tom Irwin Devon Gummersall A. J. LangerSelected in source order; not represented as billing order.

Production & release

Original broadcaster
Country of origin
Original language

Credits and relationships: Wikidata, CC0. TVI preserves production, broadcasting, and distribution as separate roles.

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Where to go next

Cite this score

My So-Called Life scored 167/200 (Masterclass tier) on TV Intelligentsia's published methodology. Source: tvintelligentsia.com/titles/my-so-called-life/

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