Quarterlife
Encyclopedia
Quarterlife is an American web series
, also briefly an NBC
television series
, created by Marshall Herskovitz
and Edward Zwick
, the creators of Thirtysomething and Once and Again
, and producers of My So-Called Life
. The show is about a group of twenty-something artists who are coming of age in the digital generation.
According to its official website, Quarterlife is the first Internet series to have been created alongside a social networking website, quarterlife.com.
The regular cast includes Bitsie Tulloch
, Kevin Christy, Mike Faiola, Scott Michael Foster
, Michelle Lombardo
, Maїté Schwartz, and David Walton
.
announced on November 17, 2007, that the network had acquired the rights to air Quarterlife on broadcast television in early 2008, after the episodes have been broadcast on the Internet. In February 2008, NBC announced that Quarterlife would premiere on Tuesday, February 26, 2008, with the show moving to Sunday nights immediately afterwards. The show garnered dismal ratings for its first episode, approaching levels not seen on NBC since the XFL
, and teen demographic and general household ratings lower than a Democratic presidential debate
airing at the same time on sibling cable network MSNBC
. NBC announced that the series was canceled after airing only one episode.
Its remaining episodes would air on its sibling channel Bravo following the NBC cancellation. The show only had 3.1 million viewers in its debut—the worst in-season performance in the 10 p.m. hour by an NBC show in at least 17 years. The show also got pummeled in the adults 18-49 demographic, where it managed only a 1.6 rating. The show aired on E! in Canada in simulcast, but all reference to the show has been removed from their website since the cancellation. Full episodes can still be viewed on the NBC and Fox
sponsored video site Hulu.com.
and the official Quarterlife site. It garnered the third-highest views of any scripted series in Myspace history. In five months, total online views for the series—on Myspace, Quarterlife, and YouTube—were over 9 million. After the series was picked up by NBC
, some of the hour-long episodes were made available on the NBC and Hulu
websites. During this time, Herskowitz claimed the show accrued an average of 300k views per episode.
The first season was released online in 36 parts, each approximately eight minutes, from November 2007 to March 2008. These were combined into six hour-long episodes for television.
Web series
A web series is a series of episodes released on the Internet or also by mobile or cellular phone, and part of the newly emerging medium called web television. A single instance of a web series program is called an episode .While the popularity of web series is continuing to rise, the concept...
, also briefly an NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
, created by Marshall Herskovitz
Marshall Herskovitz
Marshall Schreiber Herskovitz is an American film director, writer and producer, and currently the President Emeritus of the Producers Guild of America. Among his productions are Traffic, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond, and I Am Sam. Herskovitz has directed two feature films, Jack the Bear and...
and Edward Zwick
Edward Zwick
Edward M. Zwick is an American filmmaker and film producer noted for his epic films about social and racial issues. He has been described as a "throwback to an earlier era, an extremely cerebral director whose movies consistently feature fully rounded characters, difficult moral issues, and plots...
, the creators of Thirtysomething and Once and Again
Once and Again
Once and Again is an American television series that aired on ABC from September 21, 1999 to April 15, 2002. It depicts the family of a single mother and her romance with a single father...
, and producers of My So-Called Life
My So-Called Life
My So-Called Life is an American teen drama television series created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. It originally aired on ABC from August 25, 1994, to January 26, 1995 and was distributed by The Bedford Falls Company with ABC Productions. Set at the...
. The show is about a group of twenty-something artists who are coming of age in the digital generation.
According to its official website, Quarterlife is the first Internet series to have been created alongside a social networking website, quarterlife.com.
The regular cast includes Bitsie Tulloch
Bitsie Tulloch
Elizabeth Tulloch is an American actress.-Early life and education:Tulloch was born in San Diego, California but grew up in Spain, Uruguay, and Argentina. Bitsie isn't a contraction of Tulloch's birthname, Elizabeth, but an homage to her unusually-nicknamed grandfather, a WWII bomber pilot...
, Kevin Christy, Mike Faiola, Scott Michael Foster
Scott Michael Foster
Scott Michael Foster is an American actor. He is best known for his role of "Cappie" on the ABC Family series Greek.-Biography:...
, Michelle Lombardo
Michelle Lombardo
Michelle Helen Lombardo is an American model and actress.-Biography:Lombardo, who is of Italian and Irish descent, is originally from Glastonbury, Connecticut...
, Maїté Schwartz, and David Walton
David Walton (actor)
David B. Walton is an American actor, best known for his roles in four shows on NBC. He played Dr. Rick in Fired Up. He was also a series regular on Cracking Up, as Liam Connor.Walton is a 2001 graduate of Brown University....
.
Main characters
- Dylan Krieger (Bitsie TullochBitsie TullochElizabeth Tulloch is an American actress.-Early life and education:Tulloch was born in San Diego, California but grew up in Spain, Uruguay, and Argentina. Bitsie isn't a contraction of Tulloch's birthname, Elizabeth, but an homage to her unusually-nicknamed grandfather, a WWII bomber pilot...
) is a self-proclaimed writer who works as an associate editor at a magazine called Attitude. She keeps a video blog on the social networking website Quarterlife. - Debra Locatelli (Michelle LombardoMichelle LombardoMichelle Helen Lombardo is an American model and actress.-Biography:Lombardo, who is of Italian and Irish descent, is originally from Glastonbury, Connecticut...
) is Dylan's best friend and roommate. She works in her father's appliance store. Debra has anxiety problems. - Lisa Herford (Maїté Schwartz) shares the apartment with Dylan and Debra. She is in acting school and works as a bartender. Lisa also reluctantly becomes a singer for a band despite her low self-confidence.
- Jed Berland (Scott Michael FosterScott Michael FosterScott Michael Foster is an American actor. He is best known for his role of "Cappie" on the ABC Family series Greek.-Biography:...
) is next-door neighbor to the girls and a film maker fresh out of film school. - Danny Franklin (David WaltonDavid Walton (actor)David B. Walton is an American actor, best known for his roles in four shows on NBC. He played Dr. Rick in Fired Up. He was also a series regular on Cracking Up, as Liam Connor.Walton is a 2001 graduate of Brown University....
) is Jed's business partner and roommate. He is also Debra's ex-boyfriend; Danny and Debra broke up after he cheated on her. - Andy Melman (Kevin Christy) is Jed and Danny's 'sidekick', assisting them in the production of their videos.
- Eric Greensohn (Mike Faiola) is an old friend of Debra's who comes to visit her and then stays to pursue a relationship with Dylan. Eric is an environmental activist.
Other characters
- Vanessa (Majandra DelfinoMajandra DelfinoMajandra Delfino is an Alma Award-nominated Venezuelan-American actress and singer best known for her role as Maria DeLuca on the television series Roswell and Georgia's best friend, Jo Pye on the State of Georgia.-Personal life:Delfino was born in Caracas, Venezuela, the daughter of an...
) is a free-spirited girl who dates Jed, Andy, and Danny. - John (O. T. Fagbenle) is a musician who asks Lisa to join his band, and also dates her.
- Brittany (Barret SwatekBarret SwatekBarret Swatek is an American actress and comedian who has appeared in movies such as The Forty Year Old Virgin, Lethal Weapon 4, and On Edge. She has also appeared in TV shows such as American Dad, Just Shoot Me, and currently recurs as hilarious teacher Ms. Sommers on10 Things I Hate About You...
) is Dylan's boss who has some unresolved feelings towards Dylan. - Carly (Bree TurnerBree Turner-Childhood and family:Turner was born in Palo Alto, California. Her father is a former pro-football player for the Washington Redskins. In 1995, Bree graduated from Monte Vista High School in Danville, California, where she was voted 1994 Homecoming Queen, class of 1995...
) is a car saleswoman with whom Danny has an affair. - Josh (Mark MatkevichMark MatkevichMark Matkevich is an American actor best known for appearing as Drue Valentine in 17 episodes of the television program Dawson's Creek. Matkevich has also had recurring roles on Ed and Joan of Arcadia...
) is a bartender and co-worker of Lisa. - Mindy Krieger (Lolita DavidovichLolita DavidovichLolita Davidovich is a Canadian film and television actress.-Early life and career:Davidovich was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of immigrants from Yugoslavia. Her father was from Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and her mother was from Slovenia; she spoke only Serbian during her early years...
) is Dylan's mother.
Television
NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
announced on November 17, 2007, that the network had acquired the rights to air Quarterlife on broadcast television in early 2008, after the episodes have been broadcast on the Internet. In February 2008, NBC announced that Quarterlife would premiere on Tuesday, February 26, 2008, with the show moving to Sunday nights immediately afterwards. The show garnered dismal ratings for its first episode, approaching levels not seen on NBC since the XFL
XFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
, and teen demographic and general household ratings lower than a Democratic presidential debate
United States presidential election debates
During presidential elections in the United States, it has become customary for the main candidates to engage in a debate...
airing at the same time on sibling cable network MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
. NBC announced that the series was canceled after airing only one episode.
Its remaining episodes would air on its sibling channel Bravo following the NBC cancellation. The show only had 3.1 million viewers in its debut—the worst in-season performance in the 10 p.m. hour by an NBC show in at least 17 years. The show also got pummeled in the adults 18-49 demographic, where it managed only a 1.6 rating. The show aired on E! in Canada in simulcast, but all reference to the show has been removed from their website since the cancellation. Full episodes can still be viewed on the NBC and Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
sponsored video site Hulu.com.
Episodes
Each part of the series premiered nearly simultaneously on MySpaceMySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and the official Quarterlife site. It garnered the third-highest views of any scripted series in Myspace history. In five months, total online views for the series—on Myspace, Quarterlife, and YouTube—were over 9 million. After the series was picked up by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, some of the hour-long episodes were made available on the NBC and Hulu
Hulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
websites. During this time, Herskowitz claimed the show accrued an average of 300k views per episode.
The first season was released online in 36 parts, each approximately eight minutes, from November 2007 to March 2008. These were combined into six hour-long episodes for television.
External links
- Official site
- Quarterlife on MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Quarterlife on NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
- Art Film Talk #23 Marshall Herskovitz – Interview with the co-creator of the show, November 30, 2007 (audio).