Culture

NBC acquires new Internet series 'Quarterlife'

In deal described as "revolutionary step," show will air as drama series on network after it has played on several Web sites.

Nov. 24, 2007 4:00 a.m. PT

2 min read

NBC has concluded a first-of-its-kind deal to acquire the talked-about new Internet and social-network series "Quarterlife" for distribution as an hourlong drama series on the NBC network after it has first played in eight-minute segments on several Web sites.

Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, and Marshall Herskovitz, one of the show's creators, described the deal Friday as a revolutionary step in the creation of television entertainment.

NBC will begin broadcasting the series, which will not be affected by the current writers' strike because of its ownership structure, probably in February. By then it will have completed a run of eight-minute episodes on MySpace.com as well as on the "Quarterlife" site itself.

That site, beyond being a home for streaming video of the series, is intended to be a destination and social-networking location for what it calls "artists, thinkers, and doers."

"Quarterlife" deals with a group of creative 25-year-olds and how their personal lives are described in the blog of the lead character, a would-be writer named Dylan Krieger.

Though they would not disclose the exact terms of the deal, Silverman and Herskovitz said NBC had agreed to become a partner in the "Quarterlife" concept, by paying a license fee that Herskovitz said was much less than what is paid for conventional shows.

NBC will be able to replay the episodes on its Web sites after the broadcasts and will sell the negatives of the episodes internationally. But for as long as the series runs, the episodes will first appear on the "Quarterlife" Web site.

The idea originated more than a year ago when Herskovitz and his longtime partner, Ed Zwick, decided they had to find a way to create entertainment that would be free of corporate ownership--and creative interference.