The media is abuzz with the writers' strike and reviews are not free. Television and movies have not been affected yet, but that has not stopped Andrew Wallenstien, an editor of the Hollywood Reporter from looking for the next big show on the internet. Over on NPR's Day to Day Mr. Wallenstein has a review the latest offering of Marshal Herskovitz and Ed Zwick called Quaterlife, a show that will be premiering on myspace and its own site. The show is not a typical internet offering. It will be fully produced as a TV show would be, but each episode will only be about 8 minutes long. The review is very comprehensive in its dealing with the show, its premise and its relation with the Writers Guild, Teamsters and other unions involved in production. Of course, this being NPR the review is really more of a news piece than a typical review, but this is not a bad thing. A piece of art or entertainment is created by a specific person or group for specific reasons and knowing as much as much about a piece as possible can help to make a more informed decision. Mr. Zwick and Mr. Herskovitz are subject to a great deal of praise by the reviewer do to their previous shows "thirtysomething" and "My So Called Life" and he is very excited for the show. The advantage of an audio or video review is that they can present a piece of what is being talked about. In this case, the audio clip of the show did not impress me. The characters seemed overly dramatic and characatures of real people with real problems. The reviewer was too blinded by his admiration to clearly present the show and give reasons why i should watch it other than the producers. However, due to the format and thoroughness of the presentation, I came away with a judgment on the show.

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