Just caught the preview for the latest "web phenomenon" to cross over onto terrestrial media.Lifeless pilot episode. Their stuff on the web isn't too interesting either. Maybe Generation Y right now is a bit too myopic, conforming, and materialistic. A bit like my sister. A bit like Paris & Perez Hilton. Tell 'em GARY!
Could it be that simply replicating what boring twentysomething white kids are doing with their boring lives isn't very fascinating? Could it be that just because some of them are vloggers doesn't make them cutting-edge characters?
The show is paraded as coming "from the producers of My So Called Life and Thirtysomething." Yet, thus far, Quarterlife lacks any of the charm or the soundtrack of those two series.
Two things stood out.
Firstly, most of the 30-minute episode was just a Toyota commercial. Nothing wrong with solid sponsorship or product placement. But for me I draw the line whenever a storyline is adjusted to fit around the blatant advertisement. And this was comically blatant: half the time was spent in and around a Toyota dealership in Santa Monica! Pathetic. Something you'd expect to see as an entry in a YouTube competition for a Prius commercial, or some direct-mail promotion hitting frat houses.
Secondly, the setting is west LA and the premise is supposedly to encapsulate today's twentysomething milieu. But this current crop of under-30s happens to be by far the most culturally diverse population ever in America. Just a token gay dude and token black chick? 1-800-555-L-A-M-E.
Of course if the showrunners did the right thing and hired me as a Consultant, then I'll delete this post and declare that all is forgiven.
