The TV Chick

I love television. I watch a ton of it. I write about it. I can’t get enough of it. Of course, there are those shows that I just adore so much that I choose to review every week. And then there are those I want to enjoy without taking notes that I try to cover as much as I can. But only a few times have I watched a show and been compelled to write about it right away. Watching Awkward was one of those moments. I saw all the ads and put it on my to-do list to check out at some point, as I generally eat up the teen angst. It’s my thing. But this weekend, I finally played catch-up on the four episodes that aired and after each one, I needed more. I couldn’t even wait a minute to move on to the next episode.

So, here are the basics: Awkward centers around Jenna Hamilton (played by the fantastic Ashley Rickards), a fifteen year old high school student who has a very unfortunate accident that looks like a suicide attempt. She gets a ridiculous arm/half body cast that keeps her arm up in the air and suddenly, she’s “that girl.” And there’s Matty McKibben (played by the super cute Beau Mirchoff), who she has a giant crush and lets him give her the “hymen hammer” (one of my favorite of many great sayings from the show) at camp. But of course, back at school, he doesn’t want to go public. And there’s Jenna’s two best friends, Tamara and Ming, who are sweet and awkward right along with her.

And what is the high school without the queen bitch? Sadie is the cheerleader who thrives on making other people miserable. I can think of plenty of people from my high school and my life who are like this. But I digress. The writing is smart, Jenna’s narration is fantastic (I find that sometimes narration can take away from the story) and the characters are hilarious. With high school shows, you run the risk of total over-the-top humor and unrealistic characters, but I found something very real to Jenna’s voice. There was something I instantly connected to. The show reminds me of Daria, except without the cartoons. And I was crazy about Daria, so that is a big compliment.

Awkward is seriously a huge and lovely surprise for me. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed it. I wished it was an hour long, and I’m sad I have to wait for new episodes. And yesterday, it was announced that MTV renewed the show for a second season. This is not surprising, seeing as MTV is just starting to expand their scripted television with Teen Wolf and Awkward. I have enjoyed both, but Awkward has no gimmicks other than the fact that high school is awkward. For everyone. And I think that’s what makes this show so good. Seriously, watch it. I promise, you will laugh and you won’t regret it.

Be sure to check out an all-new episode of Awkward, tonight at 11 PM on MTV!