The Carrie Diaries

The Carrie Diaries is the prequel to the hit show Sex In The City and will air on The CW Network. The show stars AnnaSophia Robb (Soul Surfer) as the young Carrie Bradshaw living life in the 80’s and looking to find her new life in Manhattan, someday. Until then Carrie has to deal with the passing of her mother, the rebelliousness of her younger sister, and her Father who has been forced to settle into his role of dual parent. Then of course there is all the rocky terrain of adolescence as she navigates the love and lockers of High School.

After watching the show I kind of shrugged and rolled my eyes at the fact that The CW Network has again loaded one of their shows with very pretty boys and girls with too much money and too much drama. I was absolutely prepared to allow my bias to write out a very damaging review of The Carrie Diaries. I really was. Then as I mulled it over for the day I realized that the show, as corny and bad as it seemed, really hit the idea of the time and place right on the nose.

This is a show about adolescence and dealing with adolescent issues such as sex and crushes and everything else that goes along with being a teenager. While I did find the basic set up of the show a bit too convenient it all works itself out. As stupid as the conversations on the show about sex are they actually do sound just like conversations between teenagers who know nothing about it or who are to immature to handle talking about it without throwing out sentences like, “Maybe he’ll jam his hot dog in your keyhole”. Just stupid kids saying stupid things, but it works because fact of the matter is the portrayal is spot on. 

As far as the overabundance of drama goes. Anyone else remember high school? It was all pretty much inconsequential and forgettable moments that we thought meant the world. Of course we meet Bradshaw during a time in her life where the drama scale is tipped way into the dramatic. Mother has just died, sister is having issues, her friends lives are evolving at a quicker rate then hers, and of course there is the guy she likes and the quick formation of a love triangle forming. It’s typical CW stuff but again, it all fits into the young life of Bradshaw.

While I might not lift this show up on my shoulders and parade it around as the next greatest thing to come into existence it seems to fit the mold for entertainment that young teen girls and 45 year old women are buying into. Whether or not it will prove itself a bit further down the line or find itself getting the hook (no show comes to mind on The CW that didn’t last a million years) will be revealed later. Until then I’ll just jot this one down as a very good look at teenage life with a great soundtrack and a CW formula that hasn’t failed yet. As always final judgments is yours. Enjoy.