There exists a specific cohort of women who, if you say the words "do you remember My So-Called Life," will respond — instantly, involuntarily, with the faraway look of someone recalling a first love — "Jordan Catalano." They cannot help it. This is a documented phenomenon. And so Mandy, a mainstream mom who spent the 90s sensibly watching shows that got renewed, sits down to discover what exactly happened to these people, only to run face-first into the deeply inconvenient realization that a one-season teen drama from 1994 (cancelled, unceremoniously, opposite Friends, by a network that did not know what it had) may have understood the experience of being alive more precisely than anything she's watched since. There is a boy who leans. There is a yearbook monologue that turns out to be about social media thirty years early. There is the creeping suspicion that the rage Angela feels toward her mother and the rage you feel during menopause are, biochemically speaking, the same rage.Her guide is performer Sloan Just, who knew Jordan Catalano long before she knew the man playing him — a distinction that becomes its own quietly devastating conversation — and who refuses to let any of this stay safely in 1994. They get into the art versus the artist. They get into who you were "supposed" to end up with. And then, because this is that kind of friendship, they get into Sloan's burlesque alter ego, a flame-pastied creation by the name of Dasha Paprika, and honestly you'll just have to hear how they got there. Some of what you learn in this episode you will not be able to un-know. Press play.Guest SpotlightSloan Just is a performer, professional dancer, and choreographer with a theater background — and a returning Make Me a Nerd guest, last seen walking Mandy through Veronica Mars. These days she's channeling a years-long midlife crisis into the most productive possible outlet: Dasha Paprika, her burlesque alter ego ("the spiciest rack in town"), performing live around Manhattan and Brooklyn. Comedy-forward, theater-degree-justifying, occasionally on fire (literally — ask about the Crucible number).

Dasha Paprika on Instagram: @dasha_paprika
Sloan's previous MMAN episode: Veronica Mars with Sloan Just

Reference Links
The Show & Its Makers

My So-Called Life
Winnie Holzman (creator)
Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick (executive producers)
thirtysomething
Steppenwolf Theatre Company — founded by Gary Sinise, Terry Kinney, and Jeff Perry

Cast

Claire Danes (Angela Chase)
Jared Leto (Jordan Catalano)
Wilson Cruz (Rickie Vasquez)
Devon Gummersall (Brian Krakow)
A. J. Langer (Rayanne Graff)
Tom Irwin (Graham Chase)
Jeff Perry (Mr. Katimski)
Senta Moses (Delia Fisher)
Patti D'Arbanville (Amber, Rayanne's mother)

Films Mentioned

The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and The Godfather Part III
Pretty in Pink (the Ducky vs. Blaine of it all)
Sixteen Candles (Jake Ryan)
You've Got Mail
Heathers
Zootopia
Baby Boom
30 Nights of Sex to Save Your Marriage — Mandy's film, on Tubi

Other Shows & Stage

Beverly Hills, 90210
This Is Us (Dan Fogelman)
Family Ties
Frasier (Maris) and Cheers (Vera)
Hot in Cleveland
Growing Pains
Three's Company (Chrissy and Cindy Snow)
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Wicked (musical) (Holzman's book)
The Crucible wink.

People Mentioned

Betty White
Alicia Silverstone (almost cast as Angela)
Judith Light
Nora Ephron
Alan Cumming

Moments to Watch