by EMILY BEZERRA Social Media Coordinator
The new TV series “The Carrie Diaries” premiered January 14 and wrapped up its first season on April 8. Unfortunately, the series received mixed reviews and may not receive a second season to redeem itself.
“The Carrie Diaries” is based on the novel of the same name by Candace Bushnell. The plot is designed to be a prequel of the hit television series Sex & the City. “The Carrie Diaries” portrays the main character of Sex & the City, Carrie Bradshaw, as a 16-year-old during the 80s.
Bradshaw is played by the beautiful AnnaSophia Robb, who also narrates the series.
It is 1984 and Bradshaw is a junior in high school. After her mother’s death, Bradshaw has been her family’s rock, keeping an eye on her rebellious 14-year-old sister Dorrit (Stefania Owen). Bradshaw is trying to branch out and find her passion, which requires a lot of sneaking around behind her over-protective father’s (Matt Letscher) back.
When Bradshaw’s dad scores her an internship at a law firm in the city, the quirky teenager is excited. However, she is ecstatic when she runs into Larissa Loughlin (Freema Agyemen), the hip style editor for the famous fashion magazine “Interview,” and is offered an internship there.
Although “The Carrie Diaries” is one of my personal favorite TV shows, the new teen drama has received lukewarm reviews from critics, which are jeopardizing its chances of a second season.
“It’s a cute show, but it’s not amazing. It’s not nearly as interesting as ‘Pretty Little Liars’,” says sophomore Meagan Valentino.
Make no mistake that Robb’s performance on the show has been highly acclaimed. However, the show itself has failed to keep some critic’s interest.
“The characters are bland. The younger actors are too untrained to invest them with life; the more experienced performers do the best they can with what little they’ve been given,” claims Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture magazine online. “The Carrie Diaries is mostly about one thing – wanting to cash in on ‘Sex and the City’.”
One of the harshest reviews the show received is from the Hollywood Reporter: “It’s kind of quaint and far less cynical than ‘Gossip Girl’. It’s just important to remember that – voiceovers and wild dresses aside – the prequel is still a couple of boroughs removed from the original.”
An unimpressed Mike Hale of the New York Times writes: “It’s relatively inoffensive: a fair to middling CW teenage soap opera with some nice performances. It’s not relationship material, but you wouldn’t feel guilty about spending a night with it.”
Although The Carrie Diaries suffered multiple bad reviews from critics, it received much positive feedback from the social media community. Thousands of excited teenage girls expressed their liking of the show via Twitter.
One tweets reads: “Just watched Carrie Diaries, get me that bag and GET ME TO NEW YORK!!!”
Another tweet read: “‘The Carrie Diaries’ was sooo good! I’m excited for next weeks episode!”
“The Carrie Diaries” had a strong start, receiving over a million views on its first few episodes. However, as time went on, the series was only receiving about 800,000 views per episode. A second season has yet to be granted to the cute new show.