Though countless television shows over the years have highlighted the everyday exploits of sexually-active teenage characters, only a select few of them have ever managed to capture what being a teenager actually feels like. Shows like Gossip Girl and Dawson's Creek may be good, soapy entertainment, but I certainly didn't know anyone who looked, talked, or acted like Blair Waldorf when I went to high school.

Thankfully, MTV lately seems to be making a conscious effort to trend toward more realism-based programming aimed at younger demographics (contrived reality shows like Jersey Shore aside),...