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A couple of years ago, I auditioned for a lil’ show called Quarterlife. It was the latest show from Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick - the same brilliant people who brought us thirtysomething, My So-Called Life, Relativity and Once & Again. The title pretty much summed it up: the plot revolved around a bunch of 25-year olds as they dealt with that strange time in one’s life when you graduate from University and realize you have no idea who you are - the inevitable “quarterlife crisis.”

I didn’t get the part (which ironically started the downward spiral that was my own personal quarterlife crisis… but I digress).

The pilot episode did get filmed though - but unfortunately it never got picked up by any major network. So now, a few years later, they’ve re-tooled it, re-wrote it, re-cast it, and now offer it as an exclusively online show.

I just finished watching the first episode. Our protagonist is Dylan, an associate editor at a women’s magazine who has begun to video blog about her life and the life of her closest friends. But how do friendships shift in the digital age when one’s personal business airs all over the World Wide Web? This is one of the many questions this show explores and, of course being a Herskovitz & Zwick project, is a question that is extremely relevant. I’m sure you’d be hard-pressed to find someone nowadays who has not had to deal with the consequences of their blogging or myspace/facebook actions.

But no matter how current and apt, the show structure is a bit bumpy. Part 1 of the first episode is a bit too self aware. Dylan talks with that know-it-all air that drives me insane, making statements such as “To say something I’d have to reveal something.” This sort of thing worked well for the introspective voice-overs done by Claire Danes in My So-Called Life. There, Danes was just thinking, honestly and openly, and we the viewer just happened to be let in. Here, in Quarterlife, Dylan is knowingly sharing her thoughts with the entire world - she is aware of her audience. And in the age of YouTube and MacBooks that come equipped with their own instant webcam, we all know how annoying most video blogs can actually be. When you get right down to it, most people don’t have a heck of a lot to say and I’m not convinced that Dylan does either.

However, in Part 2 of the first episode, the attention shifts from Dylan’s vlogging and onto the relationships of the very real, very relatable characters. Herskovitz & Zwick have a knack for creating riveting relationships and drama (out of even the very most mundane day-to-day things) and this is where the show really takes off. The episodes are very short though - but it leaves me wanting more.

Once again Herskovitz & Zwick have brought us a relevant, entertaining and heartbreaking show, reminding us how important it is to take responsibility for our actions - and isn’t that what being 25 is all about?

Ugh. Becoming a grown-up sucks.

Grade: A-

Watch the first episode of Quarterlife either on their MySpace or quarterlife.com. New episodes are posted Sundays and Thursdays.

Posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 3:15 pm by Protest The Hero and is filed under We <3 TV.

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