I am – Hercules!!

A drama about twentysomethings – an aspiring journalist, an aspiring actress and a pair of aspiring filmmakers among them – from “thirtysomething” masterminds Ed Zwick, 56, and Marshall Herskovitz, 57, “quarterlife” began life as a rejected ABC pilot that evolved into a bunch of webisodes on that newfangled Internet I keep reading about.

ABC probably made the right call. As a fan of “thirtysomething” (or at least the DDA-centric series “thirtysomething” evolved into) I must say I find “quarterlife” pretty awful, riddled with tin dialogue and annoying, unrelateable (if physically attractive) characters who often do not behave as normal humans do.

USA Today gives it two stars (out of four) and says:

… it's possible that part of the problem with Quarterlife is that they've observed their twentysomething characters too well. Fairly or not, there's a good chance many viewers will have a visceral, negative reaction to the show in the same way that some despised thirtysomething simply because they hated boomers. The bigger question is whether anyone of any age will want to commit to these characters on a weekly basis. To varying degrees, they're self-absorbed, self-satisfied and so convinced they know everything that they're seemingly immune to absorbing any life lessons — including learning from their own mistakes. Brimming with angst and anger and that feeling that every moment is of earth-shattering importance, these are people who are uncomfortable in their own skins and may make you equally uncomfortable in yours. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… plays more like a rerun than the sort of groundbreaking, trend-setting show the team is known for. … It really is the most vanilla group of twentysomethings in captivity, a faraway kingdom of young people dreamed up by folks who haven't been twenty-anything for a very long time …

The Washington Post says:

… they're an insufferable lot for the most part -- cutesy and coy and as precious as kitties with balls of twine. … The hard part is caring whether who knows who's gone goofy about whom and whether they'll wind up in each other's arms, or thoughts, or thrall. One mustn't expect a game of musical beds, however; on this show, even the sex seems sexless. Nothing can happen to anyone without a preface, a preamble and a few thousand words of stammered inquiry. … what made it to the screen is something that is no stranger to television -- whether it's aired or wired, blogged or beamed, uploaded or downlinked -- and that something, sad to say, is mediocrity, with a portion of sheer annoyance thrown in.

The Chicago Tribune says:

Though it soon settles into the standard patterns of an above-average (if overwrought) drama, the first episode of "quarterlife" may make you regret the creation of the Internet. … Whether it's authentic to the experience of the average twentysomething is not something I, at the advanced age of 41, can judge. I can say that "quarterlife" frequently comes off as what two established, Hollywood big shots would come up with after deciding to depict the lives of the Young People Today. …

The Philadephia Daily News says:

… though the abbreviated installments of the online "quarterlife" had annoyed me with their very brevity, at an hour, NBC's "quarterlife" seems to drag on forever. …

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… The "quarterlife" pilot is, strangely, both artificial and semi-realistic at the same time. While all of Dylan's direct address grows tiresome and sometimes sounds too much like the hyper-literate kids of "Dawson's Creek," she nails it when she notes, "The sad truth about our generation is we were all geniuses in elementary school, but apparently the people who deal with us now never got our transcripts because they don't seem to be aware of it." Alas, Tulloch's delivery makes it less-than-clear if Dylan is being serious and sincere or that she's in on the joke that today's twentysomethings grew up in a time when every Little League player earned a trophy just for showing up. … As frustrating as it is fascinating, watching the "quarterlife" characters is like gazing at animals in a zoo: You may recognize some human-like characteristics in their behavior, but too many decisions they make in their day-to-day lives bewilder the observer.

The Milwuakee Journal-Sentinel says:

… At its best, "quarterlife" has something of the insight, the wit and the messy, complicated humanity of much of Zwick and Herskovitz's previous work. At its too-frequent worst, it indulges in the sort of navel-gazing, coyness and aren't-we-hip pretension that makes even a longtime fan of their stuff like me cringe a little. …

The Boston Herald gives it a “C-minus” and says:

… raw and insightful this series is not. While “My So-Called Life” gave a voice to a generation grappling with difficulties of adolescence, “quarterlife” only gives 20-somethings a bad name. … If Dylan were my friend, I’d give her a smack upside the head.Her antics feel like they would be more appropriate in an episode of “Dawson’s Creek” than a show about young adults trying to make it in the world. But this type of melodrama will make “quarterlife” a guilty pleasure for many viewers. …

The Boston Globe says:

… just plain creepy. … an excruciatingly self-conscious look at an age group for whom, supposedly, privacy is irrelevant. Rather than developing a clique of layered individuals, as they've done before, Herskovitz and Zwick deliver a small culture of flat, irritating generational emblems. …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… NBC's gambit to condense the 36 pieces into six network episodes is not without its issues. For starters, every commercial break tends to have a trumped-up dramatic feel, since in reality those stoppages signaled the end of a segment designed to tease you to watch another. But in fact "quarterlife" overcomes that stylistic shortcoming to deliver a slick, heartfelt soap opera populated by believable young characters and a quick-cut feel that dexterously walks the fine line between perpetual bathos and wry humor. Nobody is better at crafting this kind of ensemble dialogue, blended with "Big Chill"-esque interaction, than Herskovitz-Zwick, and this Net-generated hour is no exception. …

Variety says:

… well done and watchable, certainly comparable with some of the better angst-ridden "College is over, what do I do now?" dramas. … it's all pretty familiar, been-there, logged-onto-that territory, but Herskovitz, partner Edward Zwick and their various associates -- including the young cast -- exhibit an admirable facility for zeroing in on the awkwardness of relationships …

10 p.m. Tuesday. NBC.

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