TV producers embrace online TV with debut of 'quarterlife'

When Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick were launching production on their hit TV series “Thirtysomething,” the word “Internet” had yet to find its way into the pop-cultural lexicon. But 20 years later, they’re plugged in, hard-wired and ready to boldly delve into the digital frontier.

The seasoned producers are taking their latest project—a youth-centric drama called “quarterlife”—exclusively online. They’re touting the endeavor as the first time a “true, network-quality series” has been produced directly for the Internet, and industry insiders undoubtedly will be watching with rapt attention to see if they sink or soar.

“It’s a very risky, expensive gamble, that’s for sure,” Herskovitz, 55, says during a break in production. “But I can tell you that it’s the most fun and exciting thing I’ve worked on in years and years. It has made me feel vital and connected.”

A series about a group of creative twentysomethings struggling to find their way after college, “quarterlife” debuts Sunday with the first of 36 eight-minute “webisodes” on MySpace.com. A day after their initial MySpace posting, the webisodes also will be available on quarterlife.com, a new social network.

After keeping their distance for years, television executives and producers are finally learning to dance with the Internet. Networks are making more programming available for free on their own sites or through pay services such as Apple’s iTunes. And some cross-breeding is starting to happen as evidenced by CBS’s recent deal to develop a show based on the YouTube series, “We Need Girlfriends.”

But “quarterlife” takes the relationship in an entirely different direction. And as the most ambitious original project thus far, it may go a long way toward determining if entertainment consumers, on a mass scale, are ready to embrace episodic drama on their PCs, and whether a profitable business model can be established.

“The show certainly has a high-quality look and feel to it,” says Caroline McCarthy, a CNETNews.com staff writer who has previewed the first six episodes of “quarterlife.” “But you have to wonder if it really can be a big hit. There are still a ton of people who don’t watch any kind of video on their computers other than a few 30-second clips on YouTube.”

Interestingly enough, one development that might benefit “quarterlife” is the current Hollywood writers strike. With many television shows already going into shut-down mode, some believe that online video could be ready for its close-up.

“Obviously, (the strike) couldn’t have come at a better time for the show,” McCarthy says. “It might appeal to some people who are looking for something new to watch and are ready to change their viewing habits.”

The “quarterlife” concept was originally conceived three years ago as a pilot for ABC, which rejected it. Instead of bailing on the project, Herskovitz and Zwick revamped it for online purposes. But they’re quick to emphasize that this isn’t just another case of producers dumping a failed pilot onto the Internet.

“We started from scratch. This is a whole new story, a whole new cast, new characters,” says Herskovitz.

The veteran producer-writer, who with his longtime partner, also produced the critically acclaimed TV shows “My So-Called Life” and “Once and Again,” and big-screen flicks “Blood Diamond” and “Legends of the Fall,” admits that working on an online production is a huge come-down in some ways.

While each hour of “quarterlife”—at $400,000-plus—costs substantially more than the typical online production, the overall budget for the project is still “way less than half” of a typical network drama. Also, the crew is much smaller, and they’re forced to shoot exclusively on location because there’s no rent money for soundstages.

On the other hand, there are creative freedoms that come with a scaled-down endeavor.

“Sometimes the trappings of a big-time TV production can indeed be a trap,” he says. “With a smaller operation, we’re more mobile, more flexible and, in some ways, more creative.”

And best of all, Herskovitz maintains, there are no network bigwigs and bean-counters breathing down their necks.

“Oh, we miss them terribly!” he says, feigning sorrow. “Ed and I cry every day that we don’t have someone giving us (script) notes and telling us what to do.”

Herskovitz insists that he and Zwick, 54, wouldn’t be throwing themselves into the online world at this stage of their careers if they didn’t believe they were on the cusp of something revolutionary. They see the market as wide-open for quality video material and they believe that if they can find their niche, others will soon follow.

“Thousands of people are already watching television on their computers,” he says. “And I believe that, within five years, you’ll see a blending of the two—that there won’t be any real difference between the Internet and television.”