TV Preview
'Quarterlife,' a little show with big eyes
By Diego Vasquez
Feb 26, 2008 - 1:12:09 AM

This is one in a series of Media Life previews of those programs.
 
Name of show 
“Quarterlife”
 
Timeslot 
NBC, Sunday 9 p.m. (premiere airs tonight at 10)
 
Plot synopsis 
“Quarterlife” began last November as an online-only series from “My So-Called Life” and “thirtysomething” creators Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick. It launched on MySpaceTV.com and quarterlife.com with two eight-minute webisodes premiering each week.
 
The series focuses on Dylan (Bitsie Tulloch), a young woman whose video blog on quarterlife.com chronicles the inner workings of her social circle, which includes filmmakers Danny (David Walton) and Jed (Scott Michael Foster), wannabe actress and bartender Lisa (Maite Schwartz), a super geek named Andy (Kevin Christy) and Debra (Michelle Lombardo), who is still way too dependant on mom and dad.
 
On her blog, Dylan discusses the things most young-skewing dramas focus on, including jobs, friendships and relationships. In tonight’s premiere she reveals the secret crush Jed has on Debra and a co-worker steals an idea from her.
 
Outlook 
“Quarterlife” is the first show to move to broadcast after premiering on the web, though it’s not the first new media offering to be picked up by TV. Comedy Central’s “Lil Bush” first premiered on mobile phones.

As such, “quarterlife” has piqued the interest of media buyers and many others in television.

Its challenge will be in drawing viewers. The subject matter is young-skewing---life in the blogosphere--and just how much appeal it will have outside that demographic is in doubt.

The series has a few advantages heading into tonight’s premiere. It leads out of “The Biggest Loser,” which has done solidly for NBC all season, drawing a 3.3 rating among 18-49s last week despite airing against Fox’s “American Idol.”
 
Also, “quarterlife” faces weak competition in the 10 p.m. slot. CBS has “Jericho,” which posted a 2.0 among 18-49s last week, while ABC will air a “What Would You Do?” edition of “Primetime.” Last week ABC pulled just a 1.8 among 18-49s in the slot with an episode of “Boston Legal.”
 
But “quarterlife’s” regular Sunday 9 p.m. timeslot could be a little dicier. This week it airs against a new episode of Fox’s “Family Guy,” which is No. 18 this season among 18-49s with a 4.6 season-to-date average rating, as well as ABC’s new show “Oprah’s Big Give,” which could draw a big audience, albeit a different one than the very young people “quarterlife” targets.
 
It will also face repeats of CBS’s “Cold Case” and CW’s “Girlfriends” at 9 p.m. on Sunday.
 
The buzz 
Media people say “quarterlife” likely would have never made it to the air this season if it hadn’t been for the writers’ strike.

But that doesn’t mean it’s dead on arrival.

Anything but. Whatever ratings it draws will be far overshadowed by its pedigree as an internet-originated series and perhaps as a harbinger of things to come.  
 
Indeed, it reflects a trend we see across media, notably in the music industry, where independent artists showcase their work online. Its promise is to reinvigorate the creative process of television, opening it up to just about anyone with the wherewithal to get a video up and running on the internet. 
 
"It could be a wave of the future,” says Brad Adgate, senior vice president and corporate research director at Horizon Media. "You can put something online and it’s available to anyone, including studio heads."
 
In a sense, if it needs a comparison, “quarterlife” is somewhat like NBC's "The Office," a quirky show that the network picked up on the gamble that an audience would catch up with it in time, which is just what happened.

How well “quarterlife" does becomes all the more important as NBC moves ahead on plans to roll out a 52-week-season. It will need more series to carry it through the summer, and without incurring the huge costs of traditional scripted series. 

What critics are saying
“This bunch is not always likable, but they are always interesting. NBC, which seems totally obsessed with cheesy reality, might have lucked out and gotten a potential classy hit dumped in its lap.” – Tom Jicha, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
 
“Don’t let the hype scare you, or bewitch you. Let ‘quarterlife’ stand on its own merits as a TV drama, when NBC airs the debut tonight at 10. It certainly can.” – Diane Werts, Newsday
 
“If you’re not a white, gorgeous, privileged 20-something trying to make inroads in the Los Angeles acting/producing/media circuit, you may have a hard time relating to the characters and their lives. (Picture a scripted version of MTV’s ‘The Real World,’ overloaded with sexual tension and situations that seem either tender or tedious, depending on your perspective.)” – Brad Walters, The Washington Post