My Generation is an American mockumentary television series that aired on the ABC network in the fall of 2010. The one-hour comedy drama, produced by ABC Studios, follows a group of high school classmates in Austin, Texas in 2000, then revisits them ten years after graduation. The series premiered on September 23, 2010,[1] and was canceled by ABC on October 1 due to the first two episodes' poor ratings.[2]
My Generation | |
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Also known as | Generation Y |
Genre | |
Based on | Blomstertid aka On God's Highway by Peter Magnusson & Martin Persson |
Developed by | Noah Hawley |
Starring |
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Composer | Jeff Russo |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 8 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Cinematography | Todd McMullen |
Running time | 42-45 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | September 23 September 30, 2010 | –
The series follows a group of young adults whose lives were being filmed for a documentary just before their graduation from fictional Greenbelt High School in Austin, Texas in 2000. The group includes the Overachiever, the Beauty Queen, the Nerd, the Punk, the Jock, the Brain, the Rich Kid, the Rock Star, and the Wallflower. Their hopes and dreams for the future were recorded, and as they meet up ten years later, they find that things do not always go as planned. Several of the characters' lives after high school are affected by or tied to real-world events such as the September 11 attacks, the Enron scandal, and the War in Afghanistan. The series is set in the present with flashbacks to the past.[3][4]
My Generation is based on the Swedish series God's Highway (Blomstertid).[5] The pilot script, originally titled Generation Y, was written by Noah Hawley.[6] ABC gave a production order for the pilot in January 2010.[6]
In early February, Keir O'Donnell and Michael Stahl-David became the first actors cast in the pilot.[7] Julian Morris, Daniella Alonso, and Kelli Garner then joined the ensemble cast in late February,[8] followed by Anne Son.[9] Jaime King and Mehcad Brooks came on board in early March,[10] followed quickly by Sebastian Sozzi, who booked the final principal role a few days later.[11][12]
Filming began in mid-March.[13] Craig Gillespie directed the pilot. In May 2010, ABC announced it had added the series to the 2010-11 schedule with a fall 2010 premiere planned.[14]
Amid low ratings, ABC canceled the show on October 1 after airing only two episodes. In early November, ABC made the remaining 6 unaired episodes available online.[15]
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | U.S. viewers (millions) | Original air date | |
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1 | "Pilot" | Craig Gillespie | Noah Hawley | 5.22[16] | September 23, 2010 | |
A documentary filmmaker who filmed a group of nine teenagers shortly before their high school graduation finds out what happened to them ten years later. Steven is living in Hawaii working as a bartender when Caroline calls to tell him their one-night stand on prom night resulted in her having a now-9-year-old son. Brenda is living in Washington, D.C. and catches up with Falcon, who tells her her high school sweetheart Anders is now married to Jackie. Kenneth now works as a fourth-grade teacher, but his longtime dream of having children is dashed when he finds out he is infertile. Dawn is now married to Rolly; Rolly is deployed in Afghanistan, and Dawn lives with Kenneth. | ||||||
2 | "Home Movies" | Michael Katleman | Noah Hawley | 3.94[17] | September 30, 2010 | |
Steven agrees to meet his son for the first time. Brenda returns to Austin due to her mother's stroke and has an awkward meeting with Jackie. Rolly is wounded in Afghanistan but hides it from Dawn. Kenneth convinces Dawn to take a birth preparation class, but she immediately feels uncomfortable around the other couples. The filmmaker explores Steven's past, particularly his strained relationship with his father, and learns for the first time that Steven has an older brother who was thought to have run away at age fifteen, days before he was meant to go off to college, because of the pressure he was feeling from his father. The filmmaker also explores Dawn's past, particularly her relationship with her parents and brother, revealing that when Dawn was seventeen her mother abandoned her and her younger brother Vincent leaving them on their own. To support her brother Dawn dropped out of school and began looking for jobs to save money so her brother could go to college. | ||||||
3 | "Truth and Reconciliation"[18] | Dean White | Bob DeLaurentis | N/A | N/A | |
The filmmaker explores the breakup of Brenda and Anders – "Branders" – in 2000. Steven travels to New York City to talk with an English teacher from high school, Mr. Balcone, and stays at Falcon's apartment during the visit. When Falcon is slapped in the face at a cafe by a beautiful woman, we find out that she is his wife, whom he met during the New York blackout of 2003, and that she has filed for divorce. Rolly has one of his soldiers explain Rolly's theory of Kenneth's designs on Dawn, and convinces Dawn to look at a house Rolly's mother has agreed to make the down payment for as a gift to the couple. The filmmaker reveals to Brenda that Anders had bought an engagement ring before graduation in 2000. When Brenda confronts Anders, he explains that his father threatened to slander her father if Anders continued the relationship. | ||||||
4 | "Birth/Rebirth"[19] | Seith Mann | Andi Bushell | N/A | N/A | |
5 | "The Bed In"[15] | Jamie Babbit[20] | Salvatore Stabile | N/A | N/A | |
6 | "On the Road"[15] | Stephen Kay[21] | Jon Cowan | N/A | N/A | |
7 | "Homecoming"[15] | Daniel Attias[22] | Adam Stein | N/A | N/A | |
8 | "What Comes Next"[15] | Tucker Gates[23] | Liz Phang | N/A | N/A |