A New Mockumentary Set in Austin? Should Be Interesting

James Poniewozik anticipates the ABC mockumentary debuting this Fall, “My Generation”--

The Premise: In 2000, a documentary film crew followed a gaggle of high school seniors in Austin, Texas. Ten years later, it's back to catch up with them and see how actual life is living up to their optimistic, pre-9/11, pre-market collapse, pre-adulthood expectations. Among the characters that this high-school-reunion drama (with some comic notes) checks in on are an overachiever-turned-bartender, an overachiever-turned-political aide, the class wallflower, the class beauty queen, the rich kid, the school rebel now married to the class' top jock (and pregnant), and a sweethearted nebbish yearning for kids of his own. Some have been stuck in town since graduation, some have just returned because of personal crises. And.. roll cameras.

…

The mockumentary as drama has its...challenges, and on paper I wouldn't expect this one to succeed….Yet something grabbed me about the full version of the pilot. As gimmicky as the setup is, the show has a voice and some nice light touches that keep it from wallowing in premature worldweariness….I'm still not totally sure what to make of My Generation, but if nothing else it's one of the most interesting and ambitious broadcast pilots for the fall.