Their So-Called Lives

Quarterlife

Premieres Tuesday at 10 p.m. on NBC; airs regularly Sundays at 9 p.m.

Basic story: Books and songs have been written about the phenomenon of the "quarterlife crisis," but Dylan Krieger (Bitsie Tulloch) and her L.A. friends deal mostly with dramas of their own doing. In the premiere episode, Dylan's pals become peeved when they discover she's airing their dirty laundry on her video blog. And

. . . well, that's about as deep as their problems go. The series was written and created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, who perfected the art of scripted realism with such series as "My So-Called Life" and "thirtysomething." Kevin Christy, Scott Michael Foster, David Walton, Maite Schwartz and Michelle Lombardo round out the cast of relative newcomers.

What it faces: After its Tuesday premiere, NBC does the show no favors, planting it on Sunday next to the debut of "Oprah's Big Give," Winfrey's charity-fest on ABC. It's also up against CBS's "Cold Case" and the Fox animated duo "Family Guy" and "American Dad."

What you'll love: In the Gen-Y spirit of instant gratification, you can have the entire six-episode series now if you want it: It's already aired in its entirety on the Internet as a series of eight-minute webisodes, all of which are available at www.quarterlife.com.

What you won't: If you're not a white, gorgeous, privileged 20-something trying to make inroads in the Los Angeles acting/producing/media circuit, you may have a hard time relating to the characters and their lives. (Picture a scripted version of MTV's "The Real World," overloaded with sexual tension and situations that seem either tender or tedious, depending on your perspective.)

Bottom Line: During an election season in which young adults are starting to shake their apathetic rap, this series brings "Generation Whine" back down a notch.

-- Brad Walters