All the way back in September, we brought you word of
Quarterlife,
a new Internet television series which would début in
November. And as of last week, it was released on to the world.
Quarterlife has had just short of two weeks to make some first
impressions with the public – and the press – and,
quite surprisingly the show, produced by Hollywood notables Ed Zwick
and Marshall
Herskovitz, has managed to nab itself some fairly good
reviews.
Some
bad ones have
cropped up – one published yesterday in The
New York Times is an example – but not too many,
so one could safely argue for overall critical acclaim rather than
critical vilification.
Well, here comes another few good words. Not so much about
the
content of the project, of course, so much as the project
itself.
A Look At The Project
You
know, its delivery method, the viewing experience, how it stacks up
against the stuff you typically see in a prime time slot on
commercial-supported broadcast television during a weekday (or weeknight,
as it were).
Basically the stuff you generally look to us to analyze
and opine over.
The reasons for Quarterlife’s goodness are pretty
plain and
straightforward. First, it’s not only a MySpace-based
provision. It’s
got a website of its own. Which is fairly attractive.
It’s
not too
“in-your-face”, and neither is it difficult to
understand. It’s well
assembled. Not at all MySpace-ish, which, though not entirely
off-putting if done right, isn’t the best Web viewer can get,
by any means.
Wonderful Video Quality
And, oh the video quality. The wonderful, wonderful video
quality.
If you’ve got a nice, speedy Internet connection
(it’s doubtful that
you’ll be able to experience the higher definition available
with a
basic DSL hookup, though, who knows, you might get lucky),
you’ll get
to choose a near-DVD-like resolution.
And all nicely fitted to the video
window
within your browser, obviously – which, let’s be
very clear about, is
worlds ahead of what you’ll find anywhere in the realm of
YouTube.
Really, spend 10 minutes or so going through a couple of
episodes
(three have been posted thus far, the fourth arrives Sunday evening;
every Thursday and Sunday come new episodes) and you’ll
simply dread
having to venture back to the realm where 320-by-240-pixel spaces
remain the norm.
10 Minute Long Episodes
As far as the 8-to-10-minutes-per-episode distribution model
goes,
it’s actually quite tolerable. Some will certainly want more,
while a
few will think it a stretch to watch eight or more full minutes of Web
video in one shot. (Pausing is possible, but what’s the fun
in that?)
In the middle, however, there’s likely to reside a
comfortable majority
that enjoys the storyline as it’s edited at present.
And if
we’re to be
technical about it, two episodes per week run a total count just shy of
20 minutes, and many sitcoms operating on a one-show-per-week schedule
(yes, I know, Quarterlife is a drama, but just go forward with the
analogy anyway) run a total of 22. So all in all, the arrangement seems
reasonable.
The Best Of Its Kind
Alright, here’s the gist of it. Quarterlife
isn’t Heroes for the
Web. Nor is it Lost. Nor is it a derivation of any other superbly
crafted television series. But it is one of the first major
professionally produced Internet television shows to be delivered so
far, and it certainly sits amongst the best of its kind, for
sure.
Yes,
it’s a bit predictable, and there are plenty of unoriginal
touches here
and there. But those things are evident in most of the stuff you see
piped through a cable box a pair of rabbit ears already, so, it can
hardly be faulted much for playing it “safe and
ordinary”.
What it is, in a nutshell, is a decent piece of entertainment,
and
something that I can imagine being observed as something of a model for
what’s to come in 2008 and beyond. For that, it’s
gets my stamp of
approval.
How about you? Think Quarterlife deserves the praise
(or the criticism) it’s getting? Let us know. Post your
comments below!
Paul Glazowski is a contributing author discussing the social networking world, his work can be found on Profy.com
