I just got around to watching last week’s Ugly Betty, where Amanda moves in with Betty, Wilhelmina falls for the new CFO, and Betty submits to her massive crush on Val Emmich.

Near the end of the episode, I realized I was  revisiting one of my favorite scenes from My So-Called Life. The one where Jordan sings “I Call Her Red,” and Angela totally thinks it’s about her. You remember, right? Ricky eggs her on about it, pointing out that her hair is red, so obviously Jordan’s in love.

Only the song is about Jordan’s car, not Angela, so she does her patented cry-with-the-trembling-lower -lip.

Such good TV!

It was almost as good on Uggs, when Val (or Jesse, as his character is called) sings a song about snow days, and Betty thinks it’s a reference to their conversation from earlier in the week. Just like Ricky, Hilda is there to stoke Betty’s flame, insisting that the boy wants her bad.

Except… whoops! He’s hot for Amanda.

The episode ends well, with Betty and Wilhelmina sharing a tender moment and Marc cheating on Cliff, thereby giving Michael Urie something to do other than shriek and be queeny. However, I’d have enjoyed it even more if I hadn’t predicted the “song twist” so early.

Of course, I’m sure there were lots of people watching who don’t remember My So-Called Life, so maybe they got swept away.

And hey… that plotline probably got used on a character before Angela Chase. But you identify with the one you see first.