September 23, 2010 – The Mockumentary Series My Generation Premieres on ABC
“It was the year 2000. Bill Clinton was president, Britney Spears was on top of the charts, and in Austin, Texas, a documentary film crew followed nine students through their senior year at Greenbelt High School.”
On September 23, 2010, the mockumentary series My Generation premiered on ABC. The series followed a group of nine kids graduating in the year 2000, and how their lives were ten years after. The series was cancelled after two episodes due to low ratings, and the final six episodes have since been available online. The series was based on the Swedish series Blomstertid, and was originally known as Generation Y. It was created by Peter Magnusson and Martin Persson, and starred Michael Stahl-David as Steven Foster, Daniella Alonso as Brenda Serrano, Mehcad Brooks as Rolly Marks, Kelli Garner as Dawn Barbuso, Jaime King as Jackie Vachs, Julian Morris as Anders Holt, Keir O’Donnell as Kenneth Finley, Sebastian Sozzi as The Falcon, Anne Son as Caroline Chung, and Elizabeth Keener as the Filmmaker.
The pilot episode begins with a look at the nine students interviewed for the documentary. When asked to describe the future in one word, the answers range from “prosperity” to “discovery” to “victory.” Ten years later, they look at how the kids are doing, especially after so much has changed in the world. Steven Foster, known as “The Overachiever,” lives in Kauai, Hawaii; he didn’t graduate from college, surfs most of the time, and tends bar at a place called “The Last Wave.” He likes his life, although it’s not the success that he’d planned on in high school. Brenda Serrano, known as “The Brain,” lives in DC as a lawyer, working for a congressman from Massachusetts. In high school, she wanted to be a scientist, but went into pre-law after the 2000 election. After her interview, she heads to lunch with Falcon, known as “The Rock Star.” He’s a producer and a DJ, these days. He asks her if she’s still pining over Anders, her high school boyfriend, and although she acts as though she’s not, she’s shocked to find that he’s married.
Anders married Jackie Vachs, “The Beauty Queen.” She dreamed of being an actress, but she was on season 2 of The Bachelor, and refuses to talk more about it. She’s even more touchy when Brenda is brought up, and Anders, “The Rich Kid,” looks uncomfortable being around Jackie. Back in Hawaii, Steven gets a phone call from Caroline Chung, “The Wallflower.” He doesn’t remember who she is, although she reminds him that they slept together on prom night. She then drops the bombshell that she got pregnant from that one night, and they have a nine-year-old son together. The documentary moves on to Kenneth Finley, “The Nerd,” who is now an elementary school teacher. When he was in high school, he wanted to get married and have kids. He dated Dawn Barbuso, “The Punk,” in high school, and although they live together now, she’s actually married to Rolly Marks “The Jock,” and carrying his child, and staying with Ken until Rolly gets back from his tour in Afghanistan. Ken also teaches Caroline’s son Tom, although he doesn’t know that Steven is Tom’s father. Caroline finally admits to Ken who the father is, who was good friends with Ken.
Steven comes back to Greenebelt, but hasn’t talked to Caroline yet. He refuses to talk about his dad, although the audience doesn’t know why. He gets another call from Caroline, but lies and says he isn’t in town yet; as he talks to her, he runs into Jackie, who tells him that Dawn is having a baby shower, and he is surprised to find that she married Rolly. Jackie then tells him she heard about his dad, but Steven swiftly changes the subject. She says that she married Anders, although she and Steven flirt, albeit awkwardly. The documentary turns to Anders, who is still obviously in love with Brenda. His parents didn’t like Brenda, it seems, though he won’t say anything. Back in DC, someone asks Brenda if she wants to be set up on a date, but she refuses initially, although the camera shows that Brenda is also still hung up on Anders; when this is revealed, she changes her mind and decides to go on the date. At Steven’s mom’s house, Falcon arrives to see him. Steven admits to Falcon that Jackie flirted with him. Ken decides to donate his sperm to help women who want to have a baby, although he is very awkward about it. When they ask at the Cyrobank about his family history, he freezes up when he has to explain that his father is dead.
Back at Ken’s house, Dawn prepares for a Skype chat with her husband Rolly, and she tells the camera how she hated high school and its labels, but she loves Rolly to death. Rolly doesn’t like the fact that Dawn lives with Ken, but he allows it because it makes her happy. The love between them is evident, and she worries about him constantly. In Afghanistan, Rolly shows off the sonogram of his baby. They show footage of the friendship between Anders and Rolly, and after graduation, Rolly went to Stanford on a basketball scholarship. The day after 9/11, he joined the Army, feeling like he needed to do something. In the middle of class, Ken gets a call that upsets him. The Cyrobank called to let him know that he’s infertile, and he is devastated. Brenda goes on her date, although it’s not going well, as her date is repulsive, and she walks out. At Dawn’s baby shower, there’s tension between Dawn and Jackie. Caroline comes to the party and greets Dawn; when she runs into Falcon, she asks if he’s talked to Steven. Steven knows about Caroline’s kid, and she’s furious that Steven hasn’t come to see her, and shows a lot more backbone than she had in high school.
Steven is still dragging his feet, and thinks that maybe he should see his dad first, when Caroline runs by him on the street. She is furious that he never called her, and when he scares Tom, Caroline can’t deal with his behavior, and takes off. Back in DC, Brenda gets a call from her father; her mother had a stroke, and she needs to head back to Texas. Ken sits in front of his father’s grave, still deeply depressed, and goes to a bar to drink. At the bar, he runs into Steven, and punches him. It turns out that Steven’s father was arrested in the Enron scandal, and Steven had to drop out of school. Kenneth’s father committed suicide, as the scandal wiped out all of his savings, and Kenneth blames Steven. Later that night, Steven and Jackie meet at a bar, and she tells the camera to back off. When Kenneth gets home, Dawn asks why he missed the shower. He pulls out a present for her, but he soon breaks down as he’s so upset. She thanks him profusely for taking care of her, and calls him Uncle Kenneth, wanting him to be part of her family. At the bar, Steven and Jackie are getting along well, but he interrupts and calls Caroline, as he wants to make it up to her and be a father to their son.
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