I will only rate the first three seasons of this show, since those are the ones written by Lauren Iungerich and the ones where the characters and story actually function properly. Awkward. will forever remain one of the most underrated and delightful shows about high schoolers to ever grace our televisions (like My So Called Life and Freaks & Geeks before it). Jenna's bildungsroman was captivating, hilarious, and beyond important in a world where love triangles remove autonomy from teenagers.

Genuinely quite witty and raunchy and funny in its first season or two, achieving something like a female-centric American Pie meets an R-rated Mean Girls for television (albeit with the swearing/nudity bleeped/blurred out), with a mystery subplot ("Who wrote the letter?") tying the season together. It has now gotten reaaallly long in the tooth, though. I'm only still watching out of momentum and because this is the last season. The stories and jokes are tired. Season 1 was great, though.

S1

Stopped watching after season 3.

What sets Awkward apart from most high school dramas is the acerbic writing and flawed characters that blend stereotypes rather than strictly adhering to them. There is a unfortunate decline in quality over the 5 season run, but there are definitely moments of gold throughout. The cast make it worth watching and evolve over the series, encouraging you to constantly change who you root for. A surprise hit from MTV, but one whose effect can be felt into 13 Reasons Why.

Started strong but two or three seasons in, it becomes unfunny and uninteresting.