-- In Freaks, Lindsay's parents played an important role, but the focus was never placed on them. In So-Called, however, Angela's parents received their own weekly sub-plot. While these two characters helped to flesh out Angela's home life, without any of the younger characters in these scenes, they had no hook. Not every show has to be about lawyers, doctors, or vampire slayers, but what we were watching was basically the day-to-day concerns of two average suburban adults. It wasn't exactly the most exciting premise.

-- So-Called wasn't melodramatic, but its tone was often brooding enough to be almost pretentious. It sometimes felt like it was trying to be a Serious Show, especially with Angela's wise-beyond-her-years narration. Freaks, on the other hand, while never fall-on-the-floor hilarious, kept the tone light, always aware that with the pain and humiliation of high school came humour and even joy. But it was never frivolous. The humour in Freaks never came at the expense of honest storytelling or consistent characterizations.

-- Speaking of consistency, Freaks managed to maintain an even tone throughout its short run. So-Called tended to fluctuate. "So-Called Angels", its Christmas episode, was preachy and heavy-handed. While its intentions were good, a message should never be presented at the expense of the narrative. This episode, as well as "Halloween", contained fantasy elements that were best left to Buffy. And in "Weekend", the show felt like a typical sitcom as Rayanne, that crazy kid, got handcuffed to a bed...and the key was nowhere to be found! It included the type of scenes where people try to cover up something in a stuttering manner:

FIRST CHARACTER: "And where do you think you're going?"
SECOND CHARACTER: "Me? Oh...Uh...I was just...uh...(insert wacky explanation here)"

Unfortunately, even a great show like Buffy would resort to these tiresome attempts at humour. (Memo to writers worldwide: Please, no more.)

-- In was in the Christmas episode mentioned above that So-Called proved itself the less braver of the two shows. Angela, who never showed any interest in religion, suddenly and rather conveniently asked why the family never went to church. One of the reasons was her father had no desire to go. Nevertheless, by the end of the episode, the entire Chase family found itself in church on Christmas Eve. (Nothing screams conventional and status quo like a little Christian propaganda.) Freaks, on the other hand, featured an atheist as the main character. There probably would have been some kind of outcry...had anybody actually bothered watch the show.

-- On the surface, So-Called was more progressive in its casting. Angela's friend Rickie was both Latino and gay. (I guess the producers were trying to cover all the minorities at once.) But he was also the most sympathetic — even noblest — character on the show. While So-Called gets points for his inclusion, it nevertheless failed to make his as fully-rounded as the flawed whites. Admittedly, So-Called isn't the only show that when taking tentative steps to feature previously ignored groups in a positive manner, swings too far in the other direction, making the characters too positive. Freaks, on the othe hand, had an entire cast that was white. But since it took place in Minnesota in 1980, and — let's admit it — even today's kids segregate themselves, any attempt to shoehorn a minority into the show would have felt like tokenism.