MTV has been a disappointment in recent years, first for abandoning the music video format that made it worth watching in the first place, second for offering a bunch of soulless, despicable so-called “reality” series (i.e., “Jersey Shore”) between music-video award shows.
At last, the network is stepping back into scripted programming with a relevant, worthy comedy.
“Awkward,” premiering at 9 p.m. Tuesday on MTV, is a smart, funny exploration of teenage angst, a “Daria” for the new decade. If it sustains the level of the pilot, “Awkward” might even be this generation’s “My So-Called Life.”
Ashley Rickards (“One Tree Hill”) plays Jenna Hamilton, a 15-year-old high-schooler who typically feels “invisible” until she is mistakenly believed to have attempted suicide. (An accident in the bathroom results in all of the idiot adults jumping to wrongheaded conclusions. Remember, this is MTV, so the adults are always going to look like idiots.)
Suddenly, she’s famous in the halls, the object of stares and rumors, the subject of much speculation and finger- pointing.
Jenna’s internal monologue, externally represented as blog posts, is told through Rickards’ voice-over narration. Its tone is as wise as the grown ups are stupid. Her parents and a guidance counselor in particular are sitcom-style clueless and condescending.
And why not? MTV’s prime directive is presenting “our lives amplified.”
Not to worry: The writing promises to go deeper than formulaic sitcom generation clashes, artfully evoking the intensity and identity struggles of youth.
As a smart comedy, “Awkward” accomplishes a lot in the half-hour format.
The ensemble is well cast, notably Beau Mirchoff (“Desperate Housewives”) as the hunky but self-involved Matty, Jenna’s love interest, and Molly Tarlov (“Huge,” “iCarly”) as the ridiculously mean Sadie, Jenna’s nemesis. Desi Lydic (“Traffic Light,” “Two and a Half Men”) as the school guidance counselor is great fun as she single-handedly gives adults a bad name.
It’s the little things, of course, that make adolescent life such a challenge. Amplify a little accident into a broken arm in a giant cast that sticks up in the air and makes it appear that Jenna is volunteering (to answer a question in class, to go on stage for a contest), and you’ve got a clever externalization of teen trauma.
Naturally, there are important life lessons along with the punch lines to be drawn from that trauma.
The cheerleaders are uniformly mean, the cute boy is thoughtless, and the popular girls are vicious, but those too-easy stereotypes will be modified as the characters are filled out.
Creator Lauren Iungerich hits the right (sometimes risque) tone in this uplifting half-hour, and Rickards is a welcome heroine.
It’s about time MTV landed a winner.
The network has scheduled “Awkward” in a plum slot, on Tuesdays immediately following its second-highest-rated show (after “Jersey Shore”), “Teen Moms.” That series is a particularly awkward double-edged sword: Yes, it showcases high-schoolers who got pregnant and are dealing with the challenges of the living, breathing, diaper-soiling results; yes, it also spotlights the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. The debate continues over whether the several MTV teen-pregnancy series glamorize the situation.
Just a first impression: There’s more wisdom to be gleaned from the comically cynical creation Jenna on “Awkward” than from any of the nonfiction teens on “16 and Pregnant,” “Teen Mom” or “Teen Mom 2.”
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
