Jenna (Ashley Rickards) is 15 years old and high school-invisible. She loses her virginity to a popular guy, but he tells her to keep it a secret because, you know, she's a dork or whatever, and he'd be embarrassed. Soon afterwards, in one of the few funny scenes of the episode, Jenna takes an Advil, chokes on it and falls down, knocking razors and a hair dryer into the bathtub, making it look like she tried to commit suicide. (No one will believe her when she says otherwise.) Now, she's not so invisible -- everyone knows about her "attempt" -- but more embarrassingly, her arm is in a cast that keeps it permanently raised. Is she still an awkward loser? Yes. But by the end of the episode, she decides to put her visibility to good use and have fun with all of the attention she's getting.

It's an original premise -- one with definite potential -- but it's largely wasted, because Awkward has absolutely no idea of its tone, or what it's trying to say or what kind of show wants to be. There's a lot of dirty language, which is meant to be funny and show how edgy the network is, but it ends up seeming out of place and vulgar. There's a lot of Internet references, too (blogging, poking and friend requests, oh my!), but those are clearly there for the same reason as the language -- look at MTV, it's hip to the times! Worst of all, Awkward has pretty much taken the main elements from every other successful teen show or movie, mashed them all together, and hoped for the best. Let's take a look.

Quirky, insecure lead whose throaty, sarcastic, dead-pan delivery leads us through the story -- Ellen Page in Juno, Emma Stone in Easy A, and Angela in My So-Called Life. Jenna and her friends use made-up terms like "prima bitcherina" and "crap ass," but ironically, so it's cool -- it's almost identical to Juno and her best friend Leah. Remember "funbags," "pork swords," and "honest to blog"? This is like that, but not as funny.

Then there's Jenna's bitchy, superficial mom -- similar to Amy Poehler in Mean Girls, but not as ridiculous so therefore not as likable. There's the dumb-but-lovable crush, just like Jordan from My So-Called Life and Finn from Glee. There's the bitchy Christian cheerleaders, just like Quinn from Glee, and for that matter, the gals from Saved! and Amanda Bynes' character in Easy A. There's the neurotic and quirky guidance counselor that tries desperately to stay cool, which we've seen in Glee, Easy A and 10 Things I Hate About You (the movie). There's even the "I hear..." montage, in which characters from the high school speak to the camera about their thoughts on Jenna and the rumors they've heard about her. Sound familiar? How about: "I hear her hair's insured for $10,000. I hear she does commercials in Japan. Her favorite movie is Varsity Blues. One time she met John Stamos on a plane...and he told her she was pretty." It's the Mean Girls Regina George introduction montage all over again.

While some of these shows and movies end up being empowering -- for all of Glee's faults, the overall message is a good one -- Awkward is not. The lead cheerleader is made fun of for being fat, Jenna keeps her secret of having sex with Matty from even her best friends, and her happiness comes from the friend requests she gets at the end of the episode.

However, it's possible that in a way, that might be the one thing good thing about Awkward: it's cynicism surrounding high school life is realistic. When Matty tells Jenna no one can know about them, it rings true -- that relationship secrecy because of status has and will continue to happen in high school. "Sometimes being a teenager makes you want to die," Jenna writes on her blog, and it's obvious, but she's right. There might be potential with a guy Jenna meets at the end of the episode, the fake suicide attempt was somewhat funny, and the nerd-turned-popular girl journey has proven to be an interesting one before. But as long as the show keeps "borrowing" from ones before it and trying (as MTV often does) to be as hip as possible, it's not looking good.

Shouldn't the school in this show be more concerned about its apparent anorexia outbreak? Watch our video:

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