While it's combination of almost surreal humor and real emotion can sometimes be
well
awkward, the first season is still among the better and more honest series about teenagers I've seen.
I'm a male over 50, so I'm certainly not the target audience for this MTV show about a spunky blogging 15 year old girl dealing with the confusions and absurdities of sex, love, high school social politics, and well meaning but humorously dysfunctional parents and guidance counselors.
But after friends recommended it I started watching and found I appreciated it's frankness, quirky characters and good natured humor. I also liked how it dealt with issues like sex and drinking as simply a part of teenage life, neither preaching morality (kids have sex and no one gets pregnant, they know to wear condoms, and they do sometimes get their hearts broken) nor striving to shock.
The acting is all over the place, often cartoony, and a number of characters are little more than comic clichés, but as the the show goes along a surprising number of them reveal new sides and new depth. If not quite great, Awkward season 1 is quite good and very easy to enjoy... if you don't mind bringing back some of your own awkward memories as you realize the teen years really aren't so different now.
The second season seemed weaker to me, it started to push plot twists over character, and began to feel a little soapy. It still is a cut above average, but in reaching for more tension and 'what will happen?' moments, it lost some of the easy looseness that made season 1 so much fun.
