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Pilot (My So-Called Life)

episode of My So-Called Life (S1 E1)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ25217142
Source-derived summary

"Pilot" is the first episode of the American teen drama television series My So-Called Life. The episode premiered on ABC on August 25, 1994. Written by series creator Winnie Holzman and directed by Scott Winant, the episode begins the story of Angela Chase (Claire Danes), a fifteen-year-old high school sophomore who is experiencing the difficulties of friends, boys, and parents. In addition, the pilot also introduces the supporting cast, including Angela's parents, Patty and Graham, her two best friends Rayanne Graff and Rickie Vasquez, and Angela's love interest, Jordan Catalano.

Synopsis

Fifteen-year-old Angela Chase and her best friend Rayanne Graff (A.J. Langer) attempt to swindle money from strangers on the street. Through voiceovers, Angela describes her life and disillusionment with school and friends, revealing that she has recently become close with the free-spirited Rayanne while drifting away from the more conventional friends she's had since childhood. Later, Angela dyes her hair red at the request of Rayanne. After school, Angela brings Rayanne and her other friend Rickie (Wilson Cruz) over to her family's house, where they are met with wariness from Angela's mother, Patty (Bess Armstrong). Angela's distance from her father Graham (Tom Irwin) is also revealed when he mistakenly thinks that Anne Frank is a friend at her school.

The next day, Angela reveals her crush on fellow high school student Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto).

Editorial summary

“Pilot (My So-Called Life)” enters the record as episode of My So-Called Life (S1 E1). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Pilot, So-Called and Life can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1994—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Pilot, So-Called and Life.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Pilot (My So-Called Life)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Pilot, So-Called and Life provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q25217142. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1994.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Pilot (My So-Called Life) primary sources, Pilot (My So-Called Life) archive and Pilot research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Pilot (My So-Called Life)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.