Quarterlife

"Quarterlife" has been on my radar for months. I read about it in the LA Times back in November of 2007. The article by David Sarno was called, "Web-only series? Yep. Audience?" Here is a brief piece of the article:

What's wrong with this picture? On the first night of November, a group of about 15 professors, graduate students and film school alumni half-filled USC's tiny Ron Howard Theater. They came for a sneak preview of the much-anticipated Web series "quarterlife," an event hosted by the show's co-writer and director, Marshall Herskovitz."Quarterlife" is about kids a few years out of college trying to find their way in the real world. It hopes to speak to college kids, in their own language and in a medium they can relate to.

"Quarterlife" valiantly attempts to navigate a perilous strait: On one side it's a tale of young artist-types trying to get a handle on real-world living, and on the other it's an ambitious exploration of a new media genre whose waters are largely uncharted: the short-form Web drama. Which means that both its characters and its medium are experiencing rapid, whirling change on the one hand and a pervasive sense of uncertainty on the other.

Fast forward 4 months and "Quarterlife" debuts on NBC. From the above article, it never really stated that the show would end up on network TV, it stated that it was an online only show.

Indeed, "quarterlife" has its roots in a 2005 ABC television pilot called "1/4life" that did not make it to air. So Herskovitz and Zwick decided to bypass TV altogether, re-imagining the show as an Internet original -- an endeavor Herskovitz described as "a speculative wing and a prayer."

This is an interesting tidbit as well:

Widely thought to be the most expensive Web-only TV show yet, "quarterlife" is financed by a combination of venture capitalists and advertisers, according to Herskovitz, who would not offer exact budget numbers. "Quarterlife" has advertising deals with Pepsi, Target and Toyota, and it's not a leap to guess who's riding shotgun, given that one of the show's main subplots has two young filmmakers making a commercial for a Toyota dealership.

But the fact that it was created by two very successful television producers (Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick - "Thirtysomething" and "My So Called Life") and there was a very long writer's strike providing no new content, it should be no surprise that it ended up on TV.

But I didn't watch it. Not because I wouldn't have been curious, but because I just forgot.

Today, Liza who works with me sent me a note asking if I'd seen this show, "Quarterlife," not knowing anything about the previous web strategy. What was interesting was that she perceived the website being in tandem with the TV show and not a precursor. She watched the show because she thought it would be about her, or at least about people like her. Sadly she was disappointed.

What does this say about web-based TV? Well, the Liza comments don't say much at all about web-based TV, but the idea that a concept targeted (in her mind) to her didn't penetrate her world until it had debuted on the tube shows that original web long-form and semi-long-form still has a ways to go. To me that is common sense. Just look around. Do your friends watch television on the web? Sure, some watch an episode of "Lost" that they might have missed, but very few go to the web regularly to watch original series. I loved watching Clark and Michael featuring Michael Cera star of "Arrested Development," "Superbad," and most recently "Juno." But I don't know anyone in my direct circle of friends that has watched the whole series except me.

YouTube clips hovering around 70 seconds are still the way video is viewed online. But we're getting closer every day to our computers and our LCDs making sweet sweet love. Maybe next Christmas!

Because she can speak to "Quarterlife" on NBC better than I can, here is Liza's blog post about last night's debut:

Did you watch Quarterlife on NBC last night? I had been anticipating the premiere for days! I even endured parts of The Biggest Loser so that I wouldn't miss a beat! When I heard about the show I thought, "Yes! Finally! A new show that speaks to ME! For my generation! I will relate to their storylines and characters. I will be moved! It will be like watching Reality Bites when I was in college, just like that!

To quote Cezie from our AIM conversation earlier: i HATE quarterlife with a fucking PASSION

He had been watching it online for a bit so his pain runs deeper while I am just disappointed. It was just another damn CW-like teeny melodrama and pretty much made for the younger demo leading them into thinking our quarterlife moments are just like that. I seriously believed it would delve into actually feeling lost at my age. I had a quarterlife breakdown a little while ago and so did my friends and the episode didn't even remotely touch on it! It didn't even make me feel like there would be a hint of it later on!

Girl vlogs about her friends, her life, her woes. Boo hoo, boy she likes is in love with someone else. Boo hoo, someone's boyfriend may not be as interested in her as she is with him. Boo hoo the actress of the bunch is weak sauce. Give me a break! And her job woes? Almost had it but then it had to dive into the "she stole my idea" cliche. Ugh! Might as well maybe this another Gossip Girl.

I will say that the only thing I am kind of remotely interested in is the show's website. Quarterlife.com

Check it out. From my point of view it actually made me cream! I studied it for a bit today (in the midst of looking for an image to post on here) and saw that they took a social networky theme. They even have the characters (in character) vlog! Their profile pages ooze of MySpace profile-dom. They even have a community for fans who can build their own profile pages and add photos and their own vlogs if they want. They even enlish iMeem for music playlists! I get to see what "Jed" is listening to. I get to see Dylan's vlogs that were on the show and then some! This is like what we did for Chuck and Bionic but more! Now to see if they will actually keep their profiles active for a while. That would be cool!

I may have lost faith in the show but I'm gonna put my chips on the site for the geek-out factor.