Quarterlife Makes the Leap from Web to TV

• Feb 26, 2008 03:00 AM ET
• by G.J. Donnelly

Tonight marks the premiere of Quarterlife (10 pm/ET, NBC), a new series from Marshall Her­skovitz and Edward Zwick that chronicles the angst-ridden lives of creative twentysome­thing pals. But what sets the drama apart is its unique gestation — it was ultimately developed specifically for the Web.

According to Her­skovitz, a Quarterlife pilot was originally filmed for ABC in 2005, but, dissatisfied with the re­sults, he overhauled the concept. "It became more about a girl [Bitsie Tulloch's Dylan] who blogs and tells the secrets of her friends," Herskovitz explains. "It was a perfect vehicle for an Internet series." Herskovitz and Zwick took their self-financed pilot to MySpace, which began airing the show in 8- to 15-minute installments last November. The results attracted 250,000 viewers per webisode. Says Herskovitz, "Our the­ory was if you brought the same level of qual­ity to the Internet that you bring to TV, people would watch it and advertisers would buy it."

NBC agreed, and, with the specter of a writ­ers' strike, it licensed the series in September before its premiere on the Web. (On TV, the 36 webisodes will air as six hour-long stories.) Regard­less of Quarterlife's origins, as they did in thirtysome­thing, My So-Called Life and Once and Again, Herskovitz and Zwick have used their gifts for realism and intro­spective dialogue to create a stylish, insightful portrait of an emerging generation that's worth logging on to.

For TVGuide.com's own take on Quarterlife, read our Strike Recovery Guide.

Check out Quarterlife clips in our Online Video Guide.

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