Sadly Over-hyped

Perfect cast and a good story

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

I agree with some of the reviews that the Carrie Diaries show has a good plot that does draw in its viewers. Unfortunately, the second season has made me less interested in viewing the show.I was very interested in the show, because it eluded to the Sex and the City TV show on HBO. Yes, the two shows are not supposed to be based on the same thing; however, this show uses the same characters and references from Sex and the City. Hence, people should expect viewers to want things to stay consistent with the original television broadcast.Nonetheless, Carrie Diaries begins very well and was quite captivating. Unfortunately, as I began watching the second season, Carrie became extremely annoying, primarily because her problems have the same routine in every episode -- she lies about how she feels, the problem builds, she explodes with the truth, and everyone is confused and mad. In special cases, she breaks up with someone... again. After about three episodes of the same thing, I was over it, especially since the script sounds like it is repeating itself. Her character has slowly become unrelatable. In fact, at this point, I have tried to skip through her parts and move onto the other characters, because their problems are more understandable and they have real drama happening.My last negative comment is that the second season had too much stuff crammed into one season. It was as though they wanted to touch on every major epidemic of the 80s in one season. They did not really build on these epidemics, which made it seem crammed and confusing.On a positive note, I absolutely love the actors in the show and the characters. I am not bashing their acting skills because AnnaSophia Robb is a great actress. Furthermore, I love the Larissa character and how everyone really works well together. It was simply the plot of the story. I would love for this show to have another season but with some alterations.P.S. : Also, I honestly thought it was too much having her younger sister have sex before even getting into high school. I understand that sex at that age happens, but it still should not be portrayed as a good thing like it was on the show.

At first it might seem strange to take a series that helped define HBO and put the prequel on, of all places, the CW, but it ends up making more sense and actually working out – as a targeted drama – quite well.In the arc of the story, long before there was Sex and the City, with the columnist, shoe-lover and perpetually single Carrie, there was The Carrie Diaries, featuring a 16-year-old version of Carrie, but also based on the books of Candace Bushnell.THE CARRIE DIARIES': 8 THINGS TO KNOW The Carrie Diaries is set in 1984 and stars AnnaSophia Robb as Carrie, who lives in Connecticut with her sister Dorrit (Stefania Owen) and their father, Tom (Matt Letscher). In this version, Carrie's mother has recently died and Tom is left to raise two teenage girls – no easy task. The younger Dorrit is rebelling more openly (pot, stealing, illegal videotaping of Purple Rain, etc.) than Carrie, who is called upon to be something of a surrogate mom. But at 16 she has other interests, namely the cute rich kid/rebel Sebastian (Austin Butler) and the lure of another man – Manhattan. Yes, that last line comes straight from The Carrie Diaries and it's clumsy, as are a number of others, but there's something sweet and engaging about this series even though it's not so much about drawing hearts on notebooks as it is learning to party in Manhattan.THE CW: STILL DOING WHATEVER IT IS THAT IT DOES That is to say that Robb is an adorable teen Carrie who spent the summer grieving for her mother and is clearly a girl who has been brought up well. But she's also entering a period of sexual awakening, and that will certainly take the sweetness out of it for some people (or not, depending). In the show, Carrie is not the popular girl. She hangs out with a small group of best friends who help her out. There's Mouse (Ellen Wong), Maggie (Katie Findlay) and Maggie's boyfriend Walt (Brendan Dooling). In the second episode there's a shot of Maggie on her knees in front of Walt. And in the first episode, Mouse, who comes off as pretty straight-laced, talks about losing her virginity to her older boyfriend and describes it thusly: "It was like putting a hot dog through a key hole." Luckily, there aren't too many of those lines. But still, you can't unhear it.Ah yes, so everybody's been laid except Carrie. Well, Maggie and Walt haven't had sex even though Maggie's practically mounting him at every opportunity. What's holding back Walt? He's just coming to terms with the fact he's gay. And besides, Maggie's two-timing him already anyway with a local cop (her father is the police chief).Remember, this is the prequel to Sex and the City -- it just hasn't morphed into the HBO version of adult sexcapades. But it's to be expected that The Carrie Diaries will be more forthright as it deals with these coming-of-age issues.Ironically, since Carrie is still a virgin, there's still something quite innocent about the series – at least that part of it. More popular girls are trying to tempt Sebastian away, but he's still hooked on Carrie and her curly hair. It's kind of quaint and far less cynical than Gossip Girl.But that might change. Because Carrie desperately wants to get out of Connecticut and we all know how hard she will fall for Manhattan. In this show, her father gets her an internship in Manhattan and when, on a shopping trip, she meets Larissa (Freema Agyeman), a stylist for Interview magazine (Carrie's favorite), the art and fashion world and people of the late night begin to have a real allure for Carrie. The connections to her later life are being made.Now, Carrie Diaries isn't perfect. Sharing a pedigree with Sex and the City makes for a tough comparison. But it's certainly a perfect CW show. Everybody looks young and pretty, etc. But at least in The Carrie Diaries, they're not vampires or comic book characters. They are real people with plausible emotions. And in the hands of Josh Schwartz (Gossip Girl, The O.C.), Amy Harris (Gossip Girl), Bushnell and two other executive producers from the CW's Hart of Dixie, the storytelling has a chance to be handled maturely.It's just important to remember that – voiceovers and wild dresses aside – the prequel is still a couple of boroughs removed from the original.

No matter how well intentioned "Carrie Diaries" is, things just do not gel with Sex and the City. I don't think SATC fans will like this series.Major miscasting: First of all Anna Sophia Robb's facial features are too different from Sarah Jessica Parker - her round eyes and heart shaped face make her completely unimaginable in the role of a young Carrie. There must have been a young actress more similar to SJP. Background inconsistencies: The story suffers in that the family background isn't right for the character of Carrie Bradshaw. I know SATC hardly showed any of Carrie's family but what they have now just isn't right. A sullen younger sister is so wrong - Carrie never mentioned a sister in the whole SATC. Should have been an only child. Her father also seems too upper middle class for Carrie's bohemian persona.Kudos to the production for creating an 80s Manhattan - can't be that easy. The friends are mildly interesting, the slut, the gay guy etc. bring to mind an earlier Samantha and Stanford. Her love interest Austin Butler isn't that cute. Overall it's a series that shouldn't have been made.

Let me start by saying that I was very much looking forward to this show. As a sort-of-fan of some of the CW shows, I was very curious how this would turn out to be. Unlike Gossip Girl and 90210, for example, I really wanted this to be a sincere show about a girl living outside the city. To quote one of the other reviewers, 'no drama just for the sake of drama'. I've had enough of all that, so I really wanted this to be a refreshing show. Obviously, I didn't expect it to be anything like SATC, but I was hoping it would give me the same kind of satisfied feeling. To be honest, that is exactly what it is. It's refreshing, it's honest and it's satisfying. I absolutely love it! Unlike others, I don't really care about the facts not being completely accurate, I just really like the look and feel of it. The way AnnaSophia shapes her role of Carrie is amazing; innocent, yet curious for what's out there. I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the season!