SHOWS Awkward.

ABOUT Awkward.

MTV GETS "AWKWARD.” THIS SUMMER, WITH THE PREMIERE OF ITS NEW SCRIPTED COMEDY SERIES ON JULY 19 AT 11 P.M. ET/PT

“Awkward.” Will Air Tuesday Nights Following MTV's Hit Series “Teen Mom”

MTV recently announced the addition of new scripted comedy “Awkward.” to its summer lineup, premiering Tuesday, July 19 at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT. This series takes an irreverent look at the conflict, chaos and humor that defines teenage life through the eyes of 15-year-old Jenna Hamilton, played by Ashley Rickards (“Fly Away,” “One Tree Hill”), whose life begins to change when a simple accident becomes an epic misunderstanding and is blown way out of proportion.  The 12-episode half-hour series will air Tuesday nights at 11 p.m. ET/PT following MTV's hit series “Teen Mom.”“Awkward.” will also air internationally on MTV channels around the world starting in September 2011.

“We’re extremely proud to introduce this smart, funny, irreverent - and ultimately relatable - new series to our growing slate of scripted programming,” said David Janollari, Head of MTV Programming. “With a phenomenal cast of fresh faces, coupled with a strong female voice and message of empowerment, we’re confident this show will resonate with our audience, so much so that we've given it the prime timeslot behind “Teen Mom,” one of our highest rated series.”

Narrated in the first-person voice of Jenna's blog posts, “Awkward.” captures the humor within the struggles and experiences everyone can relate to from their formative years.   The series picks up in the aftermath of the accident as she must deal with a new not-so-fun stigma, while at the same time managing the other daily drama that comes with being a teenager.  From a secret relationship with a popular guy, to being undermined by a mean girl, and parents who just don't get it-Jenna's misfortune will eventually serve as the catalyst for amazing change, but it’s not without some missteps and mishaps along the way.

The show will also feature Beau Mirchoff (“Desperate Housewives”) as ‘Matty,’ Jenna’s love interest; Molly Tarlov (“Huge,” “iCarly”) as ‘Sadie,’ Jenna's nemesis; Jillian Rose Reed (“Weeds”) as 'Tamara’ and Jessica Lu (“CSI,” “Law & Order: Los Angeles”) as ‘Ming,’ Jenna's two best friends;  Brett Davern (“Junk,” “Triple Dog,” ) as ‘Jake,’ the good natured popular kid; Greer Grammer (“iCarly”) as Lissa, a popular cheerleader; Nikki DeLoach (“North Shore,” “Love and Other Drugs”) as Jenna's mom ‘Lacey;’ Desi Lydic (“Traffic Light,” “Two and a Half Men”) as ‘Valerie,’ the school's guidance counselor; and Mike Faiola as Jenna’s dad, ‘Kevin;’ (“Seeing Other People”).

“Awkward.” was created by Lauren Iungerich who also serves as executive producer.  David Janollari and Justin Levy are the MTV executives in charge of production.

"AWKWARD." CAST BIOS

ASHLEY RICKARDS “JENNA”       
Ashley Rickards, a writer and former competitive equestrian, graduated high school at the age of 15 with honors. She is currently continuing her college education in between work.  Ashley is in post-production for the dark coming-of-age movie “Sassy Pants,” in which she plays the lead and she also recently appeared in “Fly Away,” a story centered on a mother and her autistic teen daughter.  Her past films include "Gamer" and “Spoonfed” and she has also starred in various TV shows, including “One Tree Hill,” “Entourage,” “Ugly Betty,” and “CSI:NY.”

BEAU MIRCHOFF “MATTY”      
Beau Mirchoff, a native Victorian on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, was discovered at 16 in Vancouver for his first major role, “Scary Movie 4.”  Since then, he scored a series regular role on “Desperate Housewives,” a recurring role on CBC’s “Heartland” series, and a lead in “Grudge 3.”      

MOLLY TARLOV “SADIE"
Born and raised in Manhattan, New York, Molly Tarlov attended the Little Red School House. She started studying acting at the age of ten.  As Molly got older she spent her summers at Interlochen Center for the Arts--and in Paris studying with NYU's Tisch program. Tarlov trained in a range of acting styles and eventually received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bennington College.  Additional training included The Atlantic Theater Company and the LAByrinth Theater Master Class. She went on to do several TV appearances including "iCarly" and the ABC Family series "Huge."

JILLIAN ROSE REED “TAMARA”            
By the time Jillian was thirteen, she had performed in over thirty musicals at the theater in her hometown of Northville, Michigan.  Jillian’s passion for the industry continued to grow, as did her love for the camera when she signed on with a Michigan talent agent and booked several commercials and voice-overs in the greater Detroit and Chicago markets. Since moving to Los Angeles, Jillian has established herself as a working actor landing a recurring role on the Showtime series “Weeds,” along with guest star roles on “The Middle,” “Community” and “Hung.”

BRETT DAVERN “JAKE”
Brett Davern began performing in local theatre as a young boy and while in high school, earned a scholarship to “Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center,” and then studied theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.  After graduating, he landed a role in Chad Lowe’s directorial debut, “Beautiful Ohio,” opposite Oscar-winner William Hurt, Emmy-winner Julianna Margulies and Rita Wilson.  He has also appeared in the independent feature “Junk,” starred opposite Mathew Lillard and Rachelle Lefevre in “Pool Boys” and played the introverted ‘Whisper’ in the feature film “Triple Dog.”  His television credits include “CSI: Miami,” “In Plain Sight,” “Medium,” and “Cold Case,” in which he played Kathryn Morris’ younger, troubled brother in a recurring role.

DESI LYDIC “VALERIE”    
Desi Lydic’s TV credits include CBS’s “Two and a Half Men,” FOX’s “Mixed Signals,” “The League” on FX and “The Bobby Lee Show” for Comedy Central. She also appeared in the improvised pilot “With a Bullet” opposite Jane Lynch and Ashton Kutcher's “The Real Wedding Crashers” on NBC.  She will next be seen in Cameron Crowe’s feature “We Bought a Zoo” opposite Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson as well as Jay Chandrasekhar’s feature “The Babymakers” opposite Olivia Munn.  Recent credits include the comedic feature film “Stan Helsing”and she can also be seen in the mockumentary feature film, “Darnell Dawkins Mouth Guitar Legend.”

NIKKI DELOACH “LACEY”             
Nikki DeLoach began her career in the entertainment business at the early age of eight.  By the time she was 12-years-old, she became one of the new additions to "The Mickey Mouse Club" along with Justin, Christina, Britney and Ryan Gosling.   Nikki went on to work both in the music industry, as an artist signed to RCA records and BMG, and as a successful actor in film and television.  She recently appeared in “Love & Other Drugs” opposite Jake Gyllenhaal.  She has also starred in various TV shows such as “Cold Case,” “Without A Trace,” “CSI: NY,” “North Shore” and “Windfall.” 

GREER GRAMMER “LISSA”
Greer Grammer, born and raised in Southern California is no stranger to the entertainment industry. After performing her first play at the age of 5, she fell in love with the art of performance and continued to take acting classes, voice lessons, as well as study ballet and jazz dance. She also studied musical theatre at Idyllwild Arts Academy for her freshman and sophomore year of high school before returning to Los Angeles to pursue acting as a professional career. Greer landed roles on the hit TV show "iCarly" and an independent film "Almost Kings" before booking her part as Lissa on "Awkward.”  She currently attends the University of Southern California as a Theatre major.

JESSICA LU “MING”       
Coming from a northwest suburb of Chicago, Jessica Lu spent her childhood studying dance, music, figure skating, martial arts, “swimming,” all while surviving the third grade. These talents, coupled with her outgoing personality and ridiculously good looks, eventually caught the eye of an agent and Jessica quickly grew to be one of the most sought-after child talents in Chicago, successfully gracing the city’s billboards and national ad campaigns. Shortly after receiving her Musical Theatre Performance degree at Columbia College Chicago, Jessica appeared on several series including “90210,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “Law & Order: Los Angeles.”

MIKE FAIOLA “KEVIN”
A Los Angeles native, Mike Faiola set off to college to become a journalist. It wasn’t until he graduated from the University of California, at Santa Barbara that his interest quickly shifted to acting. Mike immediately gravitated toward the talented group of actors who make up Tim Robbins’ prestigious “Actor's Gang,” where he had the privilege to train with and learn from some of the most skilled stage and screen actors in the country.  He continuously works in both film and television including a series regular role in the series “Quarterlife,” guest appearances on “Grey's Anatomy,” “CSI: Miami,” “Modern Family,” and “Ugly Betty,” as well as, the features “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” and “Seeing Other People.”

LAUREN IUNGERICH (CREATOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)              
Lauren Iungerich (pronounced: you-know-rick) started her career as an assistant to Arnold Kopelson- the academy award winning producer of "Platoon", "The Fugitive" and "Seven".  She went on to work as a feature film development executive, writing at night and on weekends. In 2000 she quit her exec job to write full-time and now works consistently in television, film and new media as a writer, director and producer.  As a writer she's developed projects for The Weinstein Company, Warner Bros., CBS Studios, The CW, Fox 21, ABC Family, Akiva Goldsman, Mel Gibson, Raja Gosnell, Kiefer Sutherland, Salma Hayek and MTV.  A self-described American Bridget Jones, Lauren has no problem embarrassing herself or writing about it.  She gives good phone. Good email. And the occassional good text.  She likes cats.  She likes tchockies. But ironically, she doesn't like cat-themed tchockies.  She's complicated like that.

The “AWKWARD. SLANGTIONARY” highlights some of the phrases featured in the show.  

Back-Up Pants
Definition:  The extra set of pants a girl or her friends keep stashed at school for monthly visitor emergencies.

Barneys
Definition:  Dorks, nerd boys, or goobers; Guys you don’t want to be seen with in public.

Big Fail Mary
Definition:  Something that does not go as planned.

Bomb-Ass
Definition:  Awesome.

Bomb-Dot-Com
Definition:  Beyond awesome.

Brabusters
Definition:  Boobs.

Brillz
Definition:  Brilliant.

Bumping Of Uglies or Bumping Uglies
Definition of:  Hooking up

Call Shenanigans or Shenanigans
Definition:   Calling ‘BS’

Carefrontation
Definition: A casual intervention facilitated with people who care about you when they think you need help.

Cheesetastic
Definition:  So cheesy it’s almost cool.

Creeper
Definition:  Stalker; Weirdo; Freak.

DTR
Definition:  Define the relationship;  The uncomfortable talk no one wants to have about their dating status.

Face-Mail
Definition:  The transparent look on someone’s face that lets you know what they’re feeling;  Saying something in person that you would normally only have the balls to say over email.

Flirtationship
Definition: A relationship that has yet to evolve past the flirting stage.

Freak-A-Deak
Definition: Reacting in a stunned or jarring way.

Friendscape
Definition: The lay of the land in regards to how many friends you have.

Genie In A Bottle
Definition: Genius

H-2-T Gorge
Definition:  Head- to-toe gorgeous.

Haiku Advice
Definition:  Nonsensical advice

Hitting Shuffle On The Subject
Definition: Changing the subject

House Arrest
Definition:  Being grounded.

Jacked-Up
Definition: Messed up.

Jell-Y
Definition:  Jealous.

Karmageddon
Definition:  The end of the world brought on by one’s own bad karma.

Kickback
Definition:  Small party; Get-together.

Lady Business
Definition:  Anything having to do with ‘lady parts’.

Lurker
Definition:  Creep;  Stalker;  Freak.

Major May-Jor
Definition:  So major you have to say it with a Spanish accent.

Nancy Drew This
Definition:  Over-Analyzing.

Neck-2-T Lasered
Definition: Neck-to-toe laser hair removal.

Obvi
Definition: Obvious.

  Old Testament  
Definition:  Out dated; Old School.

O   ver-Game-Over  
Definition: A Step Beyond “Game Over”;  The real end of gaming playing in a game or a relationship.

Pulling A Britney
Definition: Going to a crazy place.

Rank
Definition: Gross; Nasty.

Recessive Chub
Definition: Fat you can’t control with diet and exercise.

Resident Evil
Definition: Pure Evil.

Sequestered To The Kiss And Cry Zone
Definition: Having been iced out.

Shame Spiral
Definition:  Having a nervous breakdown.

TIA
Definition:  This is awkward.

Tweak
Definition: Freak out.

Uberklempt
Definition: Stoked; Excited; Amped.

Ugly Cry
Definition: Crying so hard your make-up runs and your face gets puffy.

Weird-Ometer
Definition: The scale or measurement of weird.

PRESS CONTACT

Katie Bradshaw

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212-846-5793

Rayna Schwartz

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310-752-8701

Assets: Videos

Check out the "Awkward." trailer!