You must watch..."Awkward."

For someone who claims not to follow comedy, here comes another half hour show I’m pushing to the masses.

While MTV is more known lately for shows of the Jersey Shore variety, they do have original scripted programming, and I think they’ve really scored with Awkward.

I love this show!  I watched all of season 1 in 2 days (granted, each episode besides the finale is only a half hour long and there are only 10 of them).  But yeah, clearly I really enjoyed it!  The dialogue has a fast talking Gilmore Girlsy vibe…which I like, mixed with a wacky Diablo Codyish teen slang thing (think Juno…which I’m not quite as into).  Overall, I think too much of either of these things might be irritating, but the writing never feels forced or strained.  Likewise, the actors are really exceptional and always do a great job.

Major props to Ashley Rickards who plays the lead, Jenna.  This young woman is really a star.  She’s one part snarky Ellen Page/Juno and one part wise beyond her years Claire Danes/Angela Chase.   I expect to see her in tons of things beyond this show in the future.

From a writing standpoint, I think the most important thing a writer can take away from this show is to craft three dimensional characters.  This is key on every show, but especially one with familiar character constructs (the awkward teen girl, the bitchy popular cheerleader, the popular hot jock, etc.).  I think this show just goes to show that no matter how high or low concept your show idea may be, excellent writing can shine no matter what and admittedly, Awkward. isn't really covering any new ground and yet, it always feels fresh.

Speaking of the characters, one character that stands out in particular for me is the main antagonist, Sadie Saxton, the bitchy rich popular cheerleader.  On paper she sounds pretty generic, but Sadie isn’t just some cardboard mean girl you've seen a million times before.  Sadie has issues of her own...she struggles with her weight, her mother, she likes a guy who doesn’t reciprocate her advances.  Sadie is also very smart, conniving, and does some pretty bad stuff.  Sadie always keeps me on my toes...I never know whether a scene is going to show her being horrible, or flip the script and put her in a situation that actually makes me feel bad for her...she's really fun to watch.

Anyway, the show is like this with pretty much every character and when you get to see the good and bad in everyone, it's hard to get bored.  Plus, there’s the whole fast/wacky dialogue thing which if you’re into, makes the show even more fun.

Speaking of good and bad (or pros and cons) the show also has a solid love triangle that’s really well done.  I’ve mentioned the importance of love triangles on teen shows before.  This show has one and neither guy is clearly better than the other...both have their pros and cons, which is great, interesting, and really keeps you guessing.

In a word, Awkward. is awesome…and if you missed it over the summer (like me) you can catch up on MTV.com where full episodes for the whole season are currently available.