Snap judgment: NBC's 'quarterlife'

TheBookPolice Fri, Feb 29, 2008 at 11:59 AM EST

Don't worry, Annie. No one has to watch anymore.

erin Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 01:40 PM EST

Sooooo bad. So so so so bad. But I couldn't turn it off! It really was like a car wreck. Everything about it was bad. There was only one charcter that I didn't want to kill and that was geeky kid with the glasses. That's it. The show made me violently angry, and I am a pacifist. Something went very wrong here.

josher Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 01:11 PM EST

I have watched and enjoyed everything the creators of this show have put on TV, especially thirtysomething. I watched quarterlife's first episode and won't be tuning in again. What a bore!

Robbie Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 01:07 PM EST

The lead is very unappealing and unattractive and the production values are terrible. This show was destined for failure, and the fact it made it this far is astonishing.

Todd Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 01:05 PM EST

I have to admit I didn't hate this show like most of the posts on here. I think I liked most what it was trying to do, even if it felt a little forced at times. There is a lack of dramas on tv that deal with the odd span of your life after college and before pure adulthood. I would watch another episode of this before watching something like Greys Anatomy anyday.

FunkyRedrum Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 12:49 PM EST

This show was craptacular. I will definitely not be watching it again. And it was almost like a car accident as I could not stop watching. Eck!

Lynny Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 10:59 AM EST

You nailed it with the Winona Ryder in Reality Bites. I thought it was kind of dull. I did have the thought that if I was in my early twenties (Iam 32), I would have loved it. I guess this is what it's like getting old.

LK Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 10:50 PM EST

i admit i watched this online..a good amount of the episodes got slightly better after the first couple..the skinniest girl with brown hair can not act whatsoever..she should be lucky nbc picked this up because her acting should stay online

NineDaves Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 08:51 PM EST

annie, i love you. i love you because i had the EXACT reaction. on premise, i thought i might be able to connect with this show. but it was terrible. about minutes into the show, i was already screaming at the tv, and rolling my eyes. could the problem be that these former thirtysomething writers have no idea what twentysomethings are like?

Anonymous&Annoyed Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 08:40 PM EST

Because a character from GREEK was on it? Like that flimsy excuse for a show is better than this?! Agggh, modern TV watchers make me sad.

Katya Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 08:27 PM EST

I watched it solely because Cappy from Greek (aka Scott M Foster aka Jed on Quarterlife) was on it. I really didn't find it that great at all. But I did love this line:
"A sad truth about my generation is that we were all geniuses in elementary school, but apparently the people who deal with us never got our transcripts because they don’t seem to be aware of it."

Ceballos Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 07:57 PM EST

In short, thanks for ruining my Tuesday night, "Quarterlife"!

Ceballos Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 07:54 PM EST

Annie, watching this last night, I was right there with you about the main character. I love how she's so confessional and willing to reveal the deepest darkest secrets...of her friends.

As someone who also has their own blog, I kinda hated the portrayal of a writer from this show. And it's not because I'm full of self loathing (I actually love myself), but because it was SO ridiculously OFF. She HAS to write?! "We blog to exist...". Well, I barf to make the queasy feeling go away.

There were a couple of things I liked (though they had nothing to do with Dylan). I thought Marshall Herskovitz killed in his cameo as the acting teacher.

Unfortunately, my girlfriend is going through a major identity crisis and REALLY identified with the main character, so she got really mad at me for trashing the main character. I had to spent an hour explaining that just because I criticized a wishy washy unrealistic character on TV, didn't mean that I thought the same things about her.

Rob Grizzly Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 07:44 PM EST

Quarterlife is talky. talk talk talk. It drove me nuts, but like you annie, I'm willing to bare with it for a few more eps at least- maybe it gets better?

Snarf Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 07:30 PM EST

What's the "net"?

Melanie Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 07:17 PM EST

The transitive property doesn't always hold, Annie. Rock beats scissors and scissors beat paper, but that doesn't make rock beat paper. Maybe you don't have to disgust yourself!

Brandon Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 07:10 PM EST

Oh wow. More "this is so unoriginal" screeds. Yawn. I find it very realistic and would rather spend my time watching this than American Idol or any of CBS's interchangeable crime dramas.

Bianca Reagan Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 06:54 PM EST

Hee hee! You're funny, Annie. I like how the show is so meta for you. I called it "The New Black Donnellys", meaning it's stinky poo. So why will I be tuning in for episode 2 . . . ?

DanOregon Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 06:23 PM EST

I don't know whether I found the characters too naive, self-important or just kind of shallow, but I do know one thing - they weren't compelling. Enjoy the show Annie.
We mock a lot of networks for their bad taste in TV shows, but rarely do they NOT put something on that is really great. They got it right the first time.

Green Gummi Bear Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 06:14 PM EST

I was waiting all day for you guys to post something on this show, because I HATED it with such venom I had to release it. It was AWFUL! It was the WORST thing I have ever seen, I wanted to kill ALL of the characters, and the writers most of all. I think this is the real reason they striked, they saw this and could not stand that one of them thought this was a good idea. I won't even try to talk about the lead girl...and the overplayed archtypes...the "hot" actress who of course sleeps with everyone but feels so bad about it she's an alchololic...oh, and she can't act because she's afraid of showing herself...which of course just one bout of kareoke will cure her and "make her feel". Who did NOT see this coming a mile away. My God, I should work in this industry, hell my dog could have written that. And of course the main boyfriend was a jerk, though the "popular", "hot" girl (WHAT?!?) is just innocent when she almost does the same thing her boyfriend does. Man bad, girl good.

Elizabeth Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 06:01 PM EST

I watched it only because I hated the first episode of My So Called Life and we all know how that turned out - great show. I think they're guilty of doing some of the same things in this pilot - overgeneralizing and putting every stereotype possible into the first episode. I'll probably continue to watch, but I did have a couple of other problems with it. 1) I think Dylan's character is the type that every girl is supposed to see herself in. I also, was like, that was totally me in my twenties! In love with boys who didn't like me "that way" etc. Also, she seems like the type of girl who actually would stand out in a crowd, so I didn't really believe her character. I thought she was too attractive although you could tell she's thinking, I'm totally the next Claire Danes! I think she and her popular best friend, who looks like she would have been in the smoking lounge in my high school were somewhat miscast.

Trixie Firecracker Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 05:52 PM EST

I watched the first few minutes and was instantly bored and annoyed by the show. It was just so terrible (and I am a 20-something white person - still bored).

Jenners Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 05:38 PM EST

I have to agree with you about quarterlife at the beginning. The first several episodes (online not NBC) were so self-obsessed and whiny. And at times, it continues along that same vein in later episodes. However, it also finds its center as the episodes progress and I found myself actually caring about the characters. Particularly, the Lisa gives some very good performances and I am really rooting for "alien" Andy to kick snobby Danny's a##.

Jenners Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 05:38 PM EST

I have to agree with you about quarterlife at the beginning. The first several episodes (online not NBC) were so self-obsessed and whiny. And at times, it continues along that same vein in later episodes. However, it also finds its center as the episodes progress and I found myself actually caring about the characters. Particularly, the Lisa gives some very good performances and I am really rooting for "alien" Andy to kick snobby Danny's a##.

Ep Sato Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 05:15 PM EST

Annie B, I feel your pain. Back when I started working for a Senator in 2000, me and several colleagues were put in the "who's new on the hill" section in Roll Call. Across the spread from our photo was the cast of some new show called "DC", which featured Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack from Saved by the Bell) and Jolene Blalock (T'pol from Enterprise).

The tv series was the most unrealistic send ups of DC. These broke interns lived in this massive house (without income, straight up impossible in this housing market) and characters took a METRO to Georgetown, even though there is NO metro station in Georgetown! The awful show only lasted two episodes, but I cringed at the thought that someone might have seen that show and assumed that working on Capitol Hill was anything like that crap series. Hopefully, Quarterlife will last just as long...

Vicky Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 05:14 PM EST

I've watched it online. Trust me. It doesn't get better....

idigress Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 04:59 PM EST

I have seen a few of the epidoses online, including this first ep. I stopped watching online and it is safe to say that I will not be wasting any TiVo space for this show. I will leave it to you to let me know if something MAJOR happens that I need to see.