The Carrie Diaries is an American teen drama television series developed by Amy B. Harris as a prequel to Sex and the City and based on the book of the same name by Candace Bushnell, which focuses on Carrie Bradshaw during her junior year of high school in 1984, as she explores life in New York while interning at a law office.
The series premiered in the USA on The CW on 14 January, 2013.
The Carrie Diaries premiered in South Africa on M-Net Series Showcase (simulcast in HD) on Wednesday 10 July 2013, at 19h30. It later aired on DStv's Vuzu channel. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
The series premiered on Vuzu on Wednesday 30 April 2014, at 20h30. New episodes broadcast weekly. There are 13 episodes in the first season.
Synopsis
Before she was a fashion icon, before her column in the New York Star, before Mr. Big, Carrie Bradshaw was an innocent 16-year-old girl living in suburban Connecticut.
The year is 1984, and Carrie's mother has just passed away over the summer, which means Carrie has to grow up fast. Her younger sister Dorrit is more rebellious than ever, and their father Tom is overwhelmed with the responsibility of suddenly having to care for two teenage girls on his own.
Carrie's friends – sweet, geeky Mouse; sarcastic and self-assured Maggie, and sensitive Walt – make life bearable, but a suburban life in Connecticut isn't doing much to take her mind off her troubles.
Even though the arrival of a sexy new transfer student named Sebastian brings some excitement to Carrie's world, she is struggling to move on from her grief.
So when Tom offers Carrie the chance to intern at a law firm in Manhattan, she leaps at the chance.
The energy of New York City turns out to be exactly what Carrie needs, and her eyes are opened wide at the glamour and grit all around her.
When she meets Larissa, the style editor for Interview magazine, she's thrilled and inspired by the avant-garde club culture, performance art and amazing individuals that make up Larissa's world.
Larissa becomes an instant role model, and her influence gives Carrie a new perspective on every relationship in her life.
While Carrie is experiencing new things, her friends are facing their own challenges. Carrie's friends Maggie and Walt have been a couple for two years, and though Maggie is more than willing to take the next step, Walt keeps putting off sex while he struggles with his own identity.
It's hard for Carrie because she loves them both, and what she doesn't know is that Maggie is hiding a secret – her affair with an older man.
Adding to the drama surrounding first sexual encounters, everyone in the group is surprised when studious, reserved, over-achieving Mouse suddenly confesses that she and her Princeton-student boyfriend had sex – and that he's been avoiding her ever since.
Though she's trying to be there for her friends, Carrie has her own new romance with Sebastian to think about.
Beneath his cool, bad-boy exterior, Sebastian has known his share of hurt. He reveals to Carrie that his own mother recently left the family, so he understands the sense of loss that comes with losing a mother.
Unfortunately for Carrie, Sebastian's good looks also catch the attention of the most popular – and most experienced – girl at school, Donna LaDonna, who immediately sets out to challenge Carrie for Sebastian's affections.
On the home front, Carrie and her sister Dorrit are still clashing as they come to grips with their mother's passing in different ways. Dorrit's pain – along with the fact that she is 14 – leads her to rebel against all authority figures, while Carrie is doing her best to keep up the illusion that everything is fine.
Carrie's next challenge will involve the internship that has opened up this new world to her. The job at the law office means nothing to her, but being in the city means everything, and she will soon have to decide whether to defy her father, leave the law office and take the first step toward a writing career.
For young Carrie Bradshaw, friends and family will always have a big place in her heart, but she's suddenly seeing everything in a brand new light, thanks to the most important man in her life – Manhattan.
The series stars AnnaSophia Robb as Carrie Bradshaw, Austin Butler as Sebastian Kydd, Ellen Wong as Mouse; Katie Findlay as Maggie Landers, Stefania Owen as Dorrit Bradshaw, Brendan Dooling as Walt Reynolds, Chloe Bridges as Donna LaDonna, Freema Agyeman as Larissa Loughton and Matt Letscher as Tom Bradshaw.
Based on the novels The Carrie Diaries and Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell, The Carrie Diaries is from Fake Empire in association with Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Amy B. Harris (Sex and the City, Gossip Girl), Josh Schwartz (Hart of Dixie, Gossip Girl), Stephanie Savage (Hart of Dixie, Gossip Girl), Len Goldstein (Hart of Dixie) and Candace Bushnell.
Seasons
Season 1 (13 episodes)
Chanel: MS Showcase | Premiere: 10 Jul 2013 | Finale: 2 Oct 2013 | Wed, 19h30
Channel: Vuzu | Premiere: 30 Apr 2014 | Finale: 23 Jul 2014 | Wed, 20h30
Season 2 (13 episodes)
Channel: MS Showcase | Premiere: 3 Dec 2013 | Finale: 25 Feb 2014 | Tue, 18h00