Quarterlife

This show got a lot of bad press, which seemed to be from people who either watched a few minutes of one segment, or didn't watch it at all but got their information from other reviewers.

I was ready to hate this show as being inauthentic and dull, but...well, a funny thing happened on the way to my bad review. I sort of forgot my preconceptions and got to know the characters. And I liked it.

There's quality writing here, and the show is nicely filmed and presented. It's a bit provincial, perhaps, and the angst of twentysomethings might be niche, but there's a lot here for everyone. And twists and turns and humor too. A fine way to spend your time...deserves a second season and a second look.

So I was genuinely surprised by this show. I wasn't expecting such a high quality show. Mostly because I was TOLD to not expect such a high quality show. I'm not sure why the reviewers have such a hate on for it. Maybe they can't appreciate good character dramas.

The characters are dynamic and complex, and you really get to know them throughout the course of the show. They deal with interesting subjects, like sexual identity and creatively "selling out", but not in a standard "look at us deal with problems" sort of way that is all too common in TV. They do it with tact and grace, and all the while the characters continue to surprise you. The ones you hated at first have beautifully charming moments that turn into truly redeeming traits. The "strong" character never stays the strong character. And you get this real sense that these characters could be real people somewhere in Chicago.

Given the fact that this show is TV quality and was independently funded speaks wonders about the crew that put this together, and you can tell every step of the way that this is a project that they cared about doing. It's not just about making a show, it's about artistically putting something out there that they love. And the audience can feel that. It doesn't happen too often with shows anymore, and that's too bad.

While the show surely isn't about everyone, as a glimpse into what the post college graduation period is like for a large group it is very genuine. Working with thousands of such students from the start of college through graduation, I am confident that most will identify with the characters, and in fact many have already emailed me saying just that.

More importantly, the show itself is entertaining and the characters likable and engaging. Far better than most of the network fair and by far one of the sleekest productions online, the show is well worth checking out, especially if you like the dramedy category of programming.

Firstly, the scripting is terrible - very clichéd, very old-fashioned, not what people are looking for in their TV anymore.

Secondly, the guy from Greek (Scott something) was OK, some of the others seemed to have just phoned it in.

Thirdly, if there hadn't been a writers strike I doubt this would have made it to air at all.

Want to watch something that is about college students figuring their lives out in their early 20's? Watch Greek on ABC Family - it is back on air on March 24 2008 at 8 pm, and it's really entertaining!!! This show, on the other hand, was just unbearably painful!

I find this show personally offensive. Everything about this show is so wrong about people in their mid-twenties. What I mean when I say this is that it makes everyone in their twenties look like overgrown babies. No one that I hang with that's in their twenties like me lives such a self-pitying existence. Just because there is an extremely large group of immature twenty-year olds in this country does not mean that everyone in my demographic eats ramen noodles in their underwear when they aren't moping around a disparaging office job. Why can't there ever be a show about young people that highlights another aspect of our lives besides unrequited love and trite dialogue drowning in pop culture references?