Before 10 Things I Hate About You's Kat Strafford was the rebellious school shrew, before She's All That's Laney Boggs was the geeky oddball and before Felicity was a brainy beauty, there was Daria, the queen of teen misfits.

Originating as a character on the now defunct MTV classic Beavis and Butthead, Daria grew into an original television show with her own five-year MTV cartoon stint.

Now, Daria's high school career, and alas, the show, have gone out with a bang in the Daria finale Is It College Yet?, which premiered commercial-free at 8 p.m. Monday on MTV.

The premise is rather obvious through the movie's title. Daria and the gang are graduating from high school, which is a feat that brings with it some dilemmas, depicted accurately and poignantly by Daria's writers, voice actors and artists.

Each character has real-life, relatable issues: Daria and boyfriend Tom apply to the same snooty, elitist university, best friend Jane dreads rejection from art school, school-sweetheart Jodie has different college dreams than her parents do for her and helium-voiced little sister Quinn copes with a friend's alcohol problem.

Yes, it turns out that cartoons can portray more than princesses, superheroes and talking animals.

In its five years, Daria examined the horrors and joys of high school from the point of view of a bitter, hilarious and outspoken outsider — Daria — and her family (hyper and annoying), friends (sarcastic and few) and nemeses (cheerleaders and Fashion Club members).

However, the toon's recent transformation from stand-alone sardonic episodes to soap opera-ish sap has not always been for the best. Is It College Yet? and much of the fifth season embraced a sort of melodramatic style more fitting to Dawson's Creek than to the once innovative cynical comedy.

I only wish that Is It College Yet? exhibited the same off-key humor and twisted analysis of high school life as the earlier classic episodes of Daria, such as the musical extravaganza "Daria!" or the urban legends flashback "Legends of the Mall."

Daria, even in its weakest moments, was a more entertaining, better quality social commentary than many of its teen-media peers.

The show presented an animated world where women have the power, kids are sharper than dim-witted adults are, and the popular crowd appears shallow and ridiculous.

While Is It College Yet? is not the strongest hour and a half of Daria, it's a fitting end to an era, full of the enduring elements that will make Daria fans like me miss our favorite caustic-mouthed, original outsider heroine.

Yet, my mourning period will have to wait, as will yours, because you can catch Is It College Yet? on the MTV re-run cycle.

The movie will be airing next at 6 p.m. tomorrow and repeating several times throughout next week.

Check mtv.com for times and details.