Parents' Guide to

The Carrie Diaries

By Emily Ashby, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Sex and the City prequel is edgy but has merit for teens.

TV CW Drama 2013
The Carrie Diaries Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

age 16+

Based on 11 parent reviews

age 18+

Highly innapropriate

The show starts by depicting virginity as a thing to "check off". The clothes wore do not meet real life school dress code. One of her friends is basically raped by an older guy (she is a minor and he is an adult in college) and she describes the experience as "hurting a lot and me wishing for it to be over already"=RAPE. Instead of using this to target that as rape, when she tells it, it is normalizedand also is idealised as "good". This is HORRIBLE. As an adult, I did not make it past the first 10 minutes of the first episode. Also, if you are a Sex and the City fan, you might not be able to deal with the inaccuracies. In SAC, Carrie states that her dad was NOT in the picture, he abandoned her and her mom. Here, her mom died? And she lives with her dad? She yells in her room (a teenage tantrum) over what to wear? Is this the obnoxious model we want for our future young leaders to be? NO. So, not, we are NOT watching this at home.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much consumerism
1 person found this helpful.
age 17+

The initials "CW" are a tip off

If you want your sons and daughters to begin down the road of Sex and the City, dehumanization and objectification as sexual objects, this show is for you. Ditto if you want them to never have a trusting, meaningful and Godly relationship with their future spouses.
1 person found this helpful.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (11):
Kids say (25):

THE CARRIE DIARIES is based on a series of books by Sex and the City creator Candace Bushnell and follows Carrie's formative teen years when she's first introduced to the big city. Both the show itself and Robb in particular have big shoes to fill in following fan-favorite Sex and the City and the iconic Sarah Jessica Parker, respectively. To her credit, Robb meets the challenge head on, attempting to channel Parker's appearance and mannerisms and daring you not to love her smart, well-spoken character who's driven more by her personal goals than she is by sexual infatuation or lust.

That said, the '80s-set show does lack a clear vision of its target audience. To fully appreciate The Carrie Diaries, you should be a fan of Sex and the City, but instead, the show is geared toward teens who likely haven't seen the original. What's more, if your teen does get drawn into Carrie's story, it's likely they'll want to see where she winds up, which will lead them straight to the HBO series known for steamy love scenes and frank talk about bedroom habits. But if you can set aside the connection between the two shows and judge this one on its own merit, there's a lot to like in its presentation of positive friendships, family relationships, and Carrie's passion to fulfill her dreams.

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate