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« Quarterlife
Episode Recap: "Pilot"
Well, as one who's been watching the series, as I mentioned in the first post on this blog, in the webisode format, the most surprising thing to me about the longer form version of the pilot is that instead of giving scenes more space, if anything the transitions are just as abrupt and the pace is actually quicker, and I'd suggest more satisfying, than as seen in five to ten minute dollops.
The plot is pretty straightforward: the series begins as a study of six post-collegiate young people who are trying to find their way in the world, in terms of business, artistic and related forms of achievement, and personal relationships. Three women, Dylan (Bitsie Tulloch, who had a recurring role in that other web drama, Lonelygirl15), Debra (Michelle Lombardo), and Lisa (Maite Schwartz), share a large apartment in Chicago; Dylan and Debra have been friends since before high school. Across the way, in the same apartment complex, Debra's boyfriend Danny (David Walton) lives in a smaller apartment with his film-school classmate and now would-be pro partner Jed (Scott Foster); their somewhat geekier tech/assistant, Andy (Kevin Christy), lives in a basement room in the same building which doubles as their editing suite. Jed is hung up on Debra, who is having a few doubts about Danny, even as he is having doubts about her, while Dylan has a serious crush on Jed (and Andy might only be joking about his lust for Dylan). So far, a younger-pitched Friends crossed with No Exit. Lisa, perhaps the most conventionally attractive of the three roommates, apparently takes on a string of casual lovers, including her abusive acting teacher; she makes her living as a bartender. Debra, having trouble completely leaving the nest, is unhappily employed in her father's office; Dylan is no more content with her position as an Editorial Associate at a fashion magazine, where her vapid immediate superior (a deft Barrett Swatek) mocks, then steals, Dylan's suggestion of an earthy-crunchy insert in the magazine to diversify its appeal. Dylan manages to utterly embarrass herself while trying to stick up for herself and claim the credit at a staff meeting of the magazine, but decides, as she describes her feelings in the video blog that is the glue for the episode and initially for the series, that if she doesn't challenge herself and stand up for herself, she'll never change (she avoids use of the word "mature," which might be advised on her part). In the course of her blogging, on the Beta version of an online community called quarterlife, she also gives rather blunt opinions of her friends' lives and interests, which doesn't endear her to any of them, at least initially; Lisa, the first to call her on it, argues with her and leaves Dylan in tears. Meanwhile, the young men get themselves an offer to shoot a car dealership commercial, which raises tensions between Jed and Danny, both over matters of esthetics vs. customer satisfaction, and also because Danny is clearly interested in dallying with Carly (Bree Turner), one of the dealership's salespeople, while Jed gets what he hopes aren't completely mixed signals from the cheated-on Debra. By episode's end, Lisa and Dylan have made up, having had a slightly drunken (on Dylan's part) discussion of why they admire each other, and Danny and Jed have realized their mutual dependence, and Lisa gives a command performance of karaoke, something she'd been too shy to do previously. The rest of the core cast listen appreciatively while exchanging meaningful glances.
Producer/creators Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick served in the same or nearly the same function for, among other work, the hit tv series thirtysomething, the one-season cult tv series My So-Called Life, the sadly overlooked and similarly shortlived Relativity, and Once and Again, my choice for the best dramatic serial US television has yet produced. With quarterlife, this is first time in that progression that the new series isn't better than the last one, and I suspect two aspects that they seem to be working on in the webisodes contribute to that: the first is the limited amount of time the short format allows for introducing plot elements and letting them develope (everything has to be punchy in the small bites, not necessarily a bad thing, but even in the NBC version of the pilot, we're not yet actually standing on the rug before it's being pulled out from under us--we don't feel the sense of betrayal the other characters have as a result of Dylan's blogging as fully as we might with more time to establish the relationships, for example. The other is that this is also their first series since thirtysomething to not almost immediately deal at length with intergenerational relationships; My So-Called Life was almost forced to, as the the partners have noted in interviews and elsewhere, since the younger cast members could only work so many hours per week and no more, so the focus of the series was expanded to include their parents and others. This approach toward how they interacted with fully-imagined and sympathetic characters was a model that was explored even more fruitfully in the next two series. If Life was "teensomething," then Relativity was "twentysomething" and Once and Again was "fortysomething," but each was also a panoramic view of the protagonists' family lives and other interactions...quarterlife in comparison in its early webisodes, and in the television pilot, is focused solely on its early/mid-twenties characters, and no one who can't be described thus is fleshed out. (Happily, in later webisodes, this begins to change a bit.)
So, while quarterlife is filled with young adults who sometimes seem to act more like young teens, it's still an interesting, and at times fascinating, experiment in "multi-platform" drama...the dialog, so far, is stronger than the dramatic incident, and the characters are at their most believable when teasing one another. And on the quarterlife site, you can even find at least one quite funny and not completely affectionate viewers' parody video.
All the webisodes, of course, are there, as well...as I suspect the NBC versions will be available on NBC's site, perhaps even without the NBC bug in the corner (theirs aren't the most distracting or obnoxious, but they are among the most insistent and constant). The regular slot for quarterlife on NBC will Sundays at 9p, ET...across from such cable favorites as The Wire and The L Word, and "Philly's own" Cold Case, albeit the last is in strike-driven repeats. With Breaking Bad and the retitled Masterpiece on as well in late Sunday primetime, we're fortunate to be able to catch most or all of these at will via recording or same-day/week repeats or the web.
For more on quarterlife, please see our Online Video Guide.
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Feb 27, 2008 12:26 AM
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Having not seen the online "Quarterlife" episodes before today, my roommate and I (we're both 24) were pretty quickly sucked in to this show ... and already rooting for Dylan and Jed as a couple. However, I have to agree with you, Todd, that I wish there was more time in the the show pace to develop the relationships we're starting to see.
I've been watching "My So-Called Life" for the first time thanks to the new DVD set, and "Quarterlife" is not as good as that, but I think it shows a lot of potential. But that's just my own humble quarterlife perspective.
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Feb 27, 2008 3:13 AM
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Well I have to say that the acting is pretty bad, Michelle Lombardo (Debra) specifically. It made it a little painful to watch. For the internet it might have been good enough for big 3 broadcast? No.
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Feb 27, 2008 5:35 AM
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I didn't watch the Internet version, but I have to say I won't be tuning back into the TV version next week. It was just horrible. Bad acting, bad story, just bad all around.
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Feb 27, 2008 6:07 AM
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I liked, not loved, the show. Somehow or other, I got the impression the webisodes and the tv episodes were going to be different. I know the pilot, with it's introduction of characters would need to be the same, but I thought it would be fascinating if we saw the same events, but from a different character's viewpoints.
I'm also amused that this year we have two blue eyed brunette girls named Dylan on TV (this & Desperate Housewives), mostly because I'm the mother of a blue eyed brunette daughter named Dylan.
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Feb 27, 2008 8:09 AM
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I was surprised at how much I liked the show. And as a 20-something associate editor myself I totally related to Dylan. I look forward to seeing what happens next. It's not perfect, but it has a lot of potential.
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Feb 27, 2008 8:52 AM
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I will swallow a handful of thumbtacks before I watch another episode of this swill!
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Feb 27, 2008 10:13 AM
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I really liked the show... and I'm not really sure why everyone else seems to hate it so much. If people are upset that these 20somethings sometimes act like teenagers - then they're kind of missing the point aren't they? Because as far as I can tell - this show is about precisely how ungrown-up you are when you're finally grown-up. Maybe all you other 20somethings feel like you have life completely figured out and you're totally matured... but if you think that you're probably wrong.
Anywho - I thought it had it's glitches - the acting was a little superficial and it was light on action. But the drama all felt very real. As for Dylan complaining... that's sort of what drama does. No one would want to hear her wax poetic about how great her life is anymore than how bad it is.
The only thing that has me holding off on committing to the show is the revelation that Jed is only a short-term character. Apparently he's committed to Greek and will definitely be leaving quarterlife. Which is crap because I thought he was one of the best characters and the dylan-jed thing seemed like the perfect dynamic to bring people in.
Whatever. Maybe they'll get a clue and keep him on. And maybe all these people who don't see potential will get a clue too. Just my thoughts.
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Feb 27, 2008 11:15 AM
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Okay - I have never watched any of the online episodes so I came into this show fresh. I enjoyed it at first and thought that it was okay, but I admit to getting sucked in and really liking this show. I was never a fan of thirtysomething or My So Called Life but I have to say that I will be tuning in Sunday to see the next episode.
At first, I kind of compared the show to a cross between Gossip Girl, and October Road - Gossip Road or October Girl maybe but I backed off of that at the end and think that it is closer to Party of Five.
I loved it!
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Feb 27, 2008 11:28 AM
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This show was really, really, really bad. It did not have a point and this show really needs a head liner to carry it. I will not be watching it again. I have placed 3 thumbs down on my tivo.
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Feb 27, 2008 11:59 AM
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leytonw5 - where did you hear about Jed being a part-time character? I totally agree with you - he was the best part of the show. Is there an article about this somewhere? Thanks!
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Feb 27, 2008 2:01 PM
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Did no one else notice this is an updated (cough - rip off - cough) of Reality Bites? They even pulled a couple lines of dialog straight from the movie. Just sayin...
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Feb 27, 2008 3:44 PM
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As someone who has watched the webisodes, I was bummed that all they did was cut and paste the webisodes into an hour long show. If that's what we have to look forward to I'd rather watch the 8 minute episodes w/o commercials for free on their site.
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Feb 27, 2008 9:25 PM
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Bitsie Tulloch did not play LonelyGirl15. Bree was played by Jessica Rose. I believe Bitsie came into the "series" later, long after I got bored with the whole thing, but she definitely didn't play the title role.
I found the premise of this show ridiculous. How could Dylan have been so naive to think that NOBODY would see her video confessions online?! I know it's common for the MySpace generation to put everything about their personal lives on the web. To then get upset when her friends didn't like the personal things she said about them seemed insane. What did she think would happen? I don't think I'll be giving this another look. Too bad because I've always been a fan of other shows from Herskovitz and Zwick.
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Feb 27, 2008 11:35 PM
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Amen sea_gal! I totally got the Reality Bites vibe. The "irony" statement to Dylan's boss, her relationship with Jed, even the blocking of scenes (especially in the kitchen - almost a complete reverse of the kitchen in Reality Bites - I thought for sure someone would use toilet paper as a coffee filter).
And Lisa is the Janeane Garafolo character - empty sex all the time.
Not sure if I'll stick with this show, but my favorite part was when Dylan vlogged that they were all geniuses in grade school - didn't anyone get their transcripts? Brilliant.
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Feb 28, 2008 8:53 AM
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