If I were 20-something, I’d say is sick, and I’d mean that as a compliment.
Because I’m closer to the ages of the creators of “quarterlife,” I’ll call it a realistic coming-of-age drama that’s also a clever experiment in bridging the gap between television and the Internet.
Whether or not the series, debuting this month on NBC, evolves into a Nielsen hit, it is bound to point the way toward more back-and- forth between old-fashioned TV and the Web.
In the pilot, viewers meet a 20-something who is making a painfully honest weblog, and her circle of friends who variously play back the weblog on a screen within the screen, watching themselves and hearing intimate details of their lives. Meanwhile, a few of the guys are taping a commercial and editing it digitally onscreen, talking about the shots as we observe through the viewfinder. In a later episode, a group of musicians downloads a concert webcast and explains how it works. The camera goes in and out of the online world.
This mash-up of platforms is the next leap for broadcast TV beyond the “Gossip Girl” Web diary and “CSI’s” venture into Second Life.
“quarterlife,” the brainchild of Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, actually began as a television series concept for ABC, evolved into an Internet project and now has made its way back to television on NBC. The creators, having previously nailed a time-specific authenticity in “My So-Called Life” and “thirtysomething,” now move on to capture a new era, plus a new way of making television.
The show was “wrought for the Internet and then delivered to a television network as a completed entity, without the network even seeing the scripts beforehand,” the creators said in a written announcement. They’ve staked a claim for independent production, meaning they own and control the show.
“quarterlife” premieres Feb. 26, at 9 p.m. on KUSA-Channel 9. The series moves to an 8 p.m. Sunday slot on March 2.
If you’ve explored the online site, you know quarterlife is divided into “channels” — like acting, health, love, mind, music, money, photography and writing — that beckon users to relate, vent and connect. With active topics (“sound off on Valentine’s Day” was a recent one), and scenes from the show, as well as actor profiles and “QL character blogs,” the broadcast and Internet components merge and feed back and forth.
The series tracks six creative people in their 20s, with frequent shots of the “quarterlife” online site.
The standout is Bitsie Tulloch (who had a part on the Internet serial “Lonelygirl15”) as Dylan, whose overly honest video blog gets her into trouble with her friends. Clearly, Dylan has need for therapy but prefers to free-associate online.
Plugged into change
The rest of the circle includes Danny (David Walton) and Jed (Scott Michael Foster), as aspiring filmmakers. Lisa (Maite Schwartz), a bartender who wants to be an actress but who is more talented as a singer; Andy (Kevin Christy), a computer geek who may turn out to be vaguely cool; and Debra (Michelle Lombardo), the least articulated character. They’re coming of age feeling politically aware and empowered, ranting against SUVs and global warming. The possibility of change is in the air.
They’re steeped in introspection and bent on finding creative new uses of 21st century technologies.
In other words, these characters embody a particular American moment the way Hope and Michael (Mel Harris and Ken Olin) did, rehabbing an old Victorian on “thirtysomething” in 1987, the way Angela (Claire Danes) did with soulful high-school angst on “My So-Called Life” in 1994.
“quarterlife” first launched on and on in 2007. The Internet series comprises 36 eight-minute “webisodes,” with two new episodes available each week. Old-school fans will catch the weekly hour on NBC from the couch. Those in the first quarter of their lives may prefer to catch it on , YouTube, Facebook or Imeem.
Is the drama in the scripts equal to the drama of launching in different technologies? Luckily, the characters are involving, their stories are evolving and the enterprise is highly watchable beyond the innovative production particulars.
oanne Ostrow’s column appears Tuesday, Friday and Sunday: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
