"Quarterlife": Born on the Web, Plucked by NBC

For the first time, a show that debuted on the web has been picked up by a major network. Heady stuff—except "Quarterlife" wasn't exactly shot on a shoestring by a bunch of unknowns.

Produced by the same team that brought you "thirtysomething" and "My So-Called Life," "Quarterlife" is a made-for-the-web but slickly produced serial consisting of eight-minute video snippets. NBC just announced that it's picking up the show for broadcast in February, according to the New York Times. Episodes will still be shown on the Web first, and they'll be reworked into a traditional hour-long format for airing on NBC.

NBC execs and "Quarterlife" co-creator Marshall Herskovitz called the deal a "revolutionary step" in entertainment—but while the story of the show's inception is new, the actual series is pretty standard, network-friendly fare.

The show, which debuted in October on MySpace, chronicles the life of Dylan Krieger, a twenty-something would-be writer who's something of a wallflower among her quirky roommates and work (a dead-end assistant job at a glossy magazine), but secretly, she's vlogging—whoa!—about her life, her pals, and, you know, life in general. In episode two, Dylan's roommates are shocked—shocked!—when they find out about Dylan's video blog (hosted on a social-networking site called "Quarterlife," and naturally, you can go to quarterlife.com and set up your own Quarterlife profile). Drama ensues.

"Quarterlife" and its from-MySpace-to-NBC story are unique in that it's the first time a made-for-the-Web show is heading straight to broadcast TV, but it's only so-so encouraging for would-be producers toiling on self-made, low-budget YouTube serials. We're not talking grainy, jerky video here with amateur thespians; "Quarterlife" looks as good as any single-camera drama on network TV, with a cast of pros and what appears to be relatively big budgets. Also, NBC had another motive for picking up up the show—namely, the ongoing writers' strike, which is forcing popular series like "The Office" to close down for lack of new scripts. Still, the "Quarterlife" example goes to show that network execs are, at least, paying attention to independently produced online video; and hey, the actress who played "lonelygirl15" landed a role on a network show, although the series itself remains relegated to YouTube.

Anyone else out there watching "Quarterlife"? Post your thoughts and reviews right here.

Related:
NBC Acquires ‘Quarterlife’; Internet Series Will Run First Online [The New York Times]