Earlier this week, FOX’s “Lonestar,” universally viewed by critics as the best new network drama, bombed in the ratings and became a candidate for the fall’s first cancellation. Perhaps the opposite will prove true and ABC’s “My Generation,” one of the season’s worst new dramas, will breakout as a ratings success. The reality for ABC is that said “bizarro world” logic is “My Generation”‘s only hope of survival.
The show, which was at one brief moment the most buzzed about new drama pilot, is simply abysmal. As one of the most contrived, poorly-acted and horribly-written series on television, its premiere produces more laughs, albeit unintentionally, than timeslot comedies like “The Big Bang Theory” and “30 Rock” will garner Thursday night.
Most tragic about the embarrassment of a show is the fact that the concept–a documentary film crew catches up with a group of diverse high school classmates ten years after their graduation–is actually quite promising. Like FOX’s short-lived “Reunion,” there is some merit to the idea of chronicling how one’s transition into adulthood can mirror, or fail to mirror, one’s dreams and expectations as a child. Adding the mockumentary element is a bit cliched at this point, but it theoretically gives the opportunity for more character exploration, enhancing an already-promising premise.
Unfortunately, “My Generation” succeeds in finding every possible way to destroy the appeal of that premise. There is not a single element of the show that works, and it is impossible to conceive anyone investing his energy and emotions into this series.
Topping off the recipe for disaster is the absolutely atrocious narration and interviewing from Elizabeth Keener, who comes as close to rivaling Michael Moore’s annoying documentary commentary as possible. From her unappealing voice, to the totally “phoned in” storytelling to her character’s obnoxiously intrusive interview style, everything about the narration falls flat. The shortcoming in this category was one of the most notable things about the pilot ABC initially sent to critics, and it is absolutely baffling that she was not replaced.
There are bigger problems than the narration, both in terms of the fundamental handling of the idea and the execution of the storytelling and character development. While the premise is admittedly strong in theory, the actual manner in which it is related to the characters and environment of this show is ludicrous. In order to deliver something current and on-brand with ABC’s young-skewing dramas, it made sense to keep the characters relatively young; they graduated high school in 2000 and are thus ten years removed from the period in which they expressed their ambitions, dreams and goals to the filmmaker. But from the perspective of showing how things have changed over time, the ten year gap feels a bit hollow. Songs like Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady” and Sisqo’s “Thong Song” are supposed to provide an element of nostalgia and era authenticity, but how far have we really moved away from that generation?
Yes, as the premiere tells viewers, events like the Enron scandal, 9/11 and subsequent resulting wars and George Bush’s presidency have greatly impacted society, but have they really transformed day-to-day life? Does anyone reflect on those wacky old days in which cars used to get 20 miles per gallon instead of 30? Those days when the Internet was just a little bit slower? It simply comes across as absurd to act as if 2000 was really “the good ol’ days.”
Beyond the fundamental premise flaw is a consistent failure for this show to do anything that is subtle and creative; every contrived bit of storytelling can be reduced to an almost comical cliche. The high school overachiever who wanted to be successful? He now lives a directionless life of surfing on the beach. The nerdy kid who wanted nothing more than a family? He does not have a family. The beauty queen who wanted nothing more than glamour? She’s a failed “The Bachelor” contestant who is now living a dull, Stepford-esque marriage with “the rich kid,” who was dating another one of the characters in high school. The “rock star?” He’s a sleazy DJ who drinks in the middle of the day.
Yes, there is some validity to the commentary, “we don’t always get what we want.” But in introducing no characters who got exactly what they wanted (and some getting the exact opposite of what they wanted), “My Generation” totally hinders any opportunity for character development. How do you craft interesting stories and distinguish characters if all but one of the character’s primary emotion is unhappiness over the fact that life did not turn out as planned? And why is every character’s life reduced to an absolute binary? There are lifestyle outcomes other than “successful overachiever” or “unsuccessful waste of life.” There are options other than “marry the beautiful airhead” or “marry the cute, intelligent girl.” There is a middle ground between “rock star” and “lowly DJ.”
The decisions one makes while growing up cannot be reduced to absolute rights and wrongs; this show’s attempt to ignore that reality is nothing short of embarrassing.
Adding insult to injury regarding the fact that none of the high school cliches got exactly what they wanted is the fact that the all of the characters have stayed connected in improbably unrealistic ways. One character, “The Wallflower,” had an unplanned pregnancy with another chronicled character the night of prom. A character who broke up with his girlfriend, one of the students being followed, ended up marrying a different one. “The Punk” is living with “The Nerd” while her husband, “The Jock,” is at war. He, however, wants her to instead move in with “The Beauty Queen” and “The Rich Kid.” And those do not even begin to describe silly in comparison to how history has affected these individuals.
Need an example? Of the nine students being “filmed,” two were directly affected by the Enron scandal. It gets better. The father of one of the students was a senior executive involved in the fraud; the other student’s father was an investor who lost a fortune when the stock crashed. This underlying need to connect everything, and to a ridiculous extent at that, undermines the series by coming off as excessively goofily and unbelievable. Real people do not function in the manner of this show, and what good is a sociological soap if the characters do not come across as real people?
Even if one were to accept the improbable setup, he would still have a tough time swallowing the show’s actual storytelling. It is as if the writers have never interacted with other humans; no character’s behavior or dialogue reflects how actual people act. Even characters and their actions are reduced to utter cliches in order to prove something relevant for the story. Case-in-point: “The Brain,” who is now a lawyer with virtually no social life due to her busy schedule and heartbreak after the split with “The Rich Kid,” is set up on a date. Instead of just inserting a guy who does not click with her, the character they introduce is outrageously obnoxious and unlikable–at one point, he gets in close and says, “I have a small penis, but I know how to use it.” Was there really no way the writers could have come up with a more realistic bad first date scenario?
Displaying their supposedly high-class, happy marriage for the camera, “The Rich Kid” and wife “The Beauty” demonstrate their pretentious wine-tasting prowess for the filmmaker. Do the writers really think wealthy, married couples are incapable of doing anything else.
All of the aforementioned criticism also assumes that viewers can suspend their disbelief about the manner in which the filmmaker “captures” everything. These people have been in the adult world for ten years, and yet it just so happens that they are all having defining life moments (one’s father takes ill, one learns he has a child, etc.) just in time for the camera to come back. How the filmmaker manages to be present for certain things (such as “The Punk” flashing her husband over webcam) is beyond comprehension.
The acting does not help. No cast member demonstrates anything in the way of legitimate acting chops, and save for “The Punk” (Kelli Garner) and “The Overachiever” (Michael Stahl-David), no actor has even the minimum presence required to properly function in a soap setting (and Garner receives the benefit of playing the only character who isn’t truly devastated by how her life has turned out). The actors simply have no idea how to develop beyond the script, and as the script is so shallow and lacking, the result is a bunch of nameless faces that leave no mark whatsoever.
And while the acting is never truly beneficial, it is sometimes downright detrimental to the series. Take “The Nerd” (Keir O’Donnell). While his emoting ability probably places him in the upper tier of this cast, his inability to remember that he is not still playing the creepy Todd from “Wedding Crashers” really makes his scenes come across as disturbing. O’Donnell’s character has never wanted anything more than a good family, and he shows a particular fondness for having children. Yet in combining the creepiness of ‘Todd’ with the general weirdness of how depressed he gets over his lack of success in having a child, he comes across as someone no parent should want near their children–especially not as a school teacher (his role in ‘the present’). Scenes involving his relationship with ‘roommate’ “The Punk” are equally as disturbing; he, at one point, derives a masturbation fantasy out of seeing her pregnancy-enlarged breasts (to the actor’s credit, the manner in which this is scripted and directed is just as disgusting and unnecessary).
The new series for 2010 have been, on an overall basis, excessively disappointing, but no network has failed to deliver quality moreso and as blatantly as ABC. For a network that put “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Boston Legal” and “Grey’s Anatomy” on the air in a single season less than a decade ago, it is absolutely outrageous that shows as unappealing as “The Whole Truth” and as absolutely horrendous as “My Generation” could make the air. This is just a bad show, and while one can never count out the potential for a ratings halo effect from “Grey’s Anatomy” (which follows at 9PM), one can count on hating himself if he opts to watch the season premiere Thursday night.
The laughably bad “My Generation” premieres September 23, 2010 at 8PM.