When the “lifecasting” site Nonsociety launched earlier in the summer, it attracted a fair amount of blog attention but never really congealed: while the concept of three women discussing sex, fashion and technology topics was interesting, the site failed to be much more than a blog/vlog hosting platform, relying on people’s interest in the lives of Julia Allison, Meghan Asha and Mary Ramblin to attract hits. The girls clearly had chemistry together and plenty of funding to guarantee a high-quality product — but the format was too open-ended and lacked the coherency needed to build a real audience.
However, the potential of that initial premise is fulfilled in today’s soft launch of TMI Weekly, the Nonsociety’s first official web series venture, and Next New Networks’ big move to build a channel devoted to “style” — or, translated, young women with Blackberries and all six seasons of Sex and the City on DVD. Approaching the show from that young woman’s perspective (i.e. — an audience member with no Wired subscription), what does one find? Overall, a well-packaged chat show (at three minutes an episode, calling it a “talk show” seems like a stretch) that’s only a little bit in danger of being too pleased with itself.
TMI Weekly’s schedule will release three episodes a week, each focused on sex, technology or fashion, and for the most part everyone manages to stay pretty much on topic. Asha goes over some vaguely cool “green gadgets” — wind and solar-powered recharging devices that are well-intentioned but vaguely impractical. Style with Ramlin is light on tips in its first go-around (which is a shame, as that’s a topic rife with potential for how-tos and advice), focusing on the girls getting ready for the opening of the Met in dresses worth $10,000. It’s tempting to whine about the average viewer not being able to relate to that experience, but when they talk about the way you feel in a new gown, that feeling is shattered. Because you know what? When I bought a new dress recently, I DID feel special the first time I wore it. Granted, it was a $40 jersey slip, not a designer ball gown. But the point stands.
The weakest segment of the first episodes is Allison’s three minutes. The dating etiquette of the 21st century is so complicated and bizarre that episodes devoted to issues like “do I text someone who stood me up?” are a great idea, but the initial execution is confusing (at least one commenter is unsure if Allison is citing one or two incidents in her story about the guy who sent 37 texts). Also, encouraging audience participation is great, but why is Allison asking us what she should text to this guy? Isn’t she supposed to be the expert? Shouldn’t we be asking her?
The short length and decent production values (sound quality varies in the first episodes) keep the series highly watchable, but while the informal nature of the conversation is engaging it also opens TMI up to its greatest vulnerability: Julia Allison’s digressions. Brief asides about Asha not getting laid and Allison’s dog farting just aren’t funny, the tech episode isn’t served at all by Allison bringing up that both Ramblin and Asha can’t enter a room without looking for someplace to charge up their phones, and when Allison reads out loud some of the 37 texts she received from her suitor, most of them relate to her slightly notorious public image: “Thanks for ruining our culture and my night!” says text No. 15 — not exactly a scenario faced by the average gal on the go. But, given a chance to build an audience among its demographic, TMI Weekly stands a real chance of working. So long as it manages to be a little less about its hosts and more about their subject matter.
