WesternAnimation Great Show, go watch it.
Simply put, As Told By Ginger is a great show. Or at least it's a great show to match my tastes. The characters are strong and develop very subtly but very definitively throughout the series. I imagine it was a show that was designed to grow with its audience. Some of the earlier episodes might seem juvenile or aesopy to an older watcher taking an interest but it steadily develops at a natural pace into something quite marvelous. This slow development really suits it as the show's major theme is growth. In the beginning each episode is pretty separate with only the occasional continuity nod here and there, mirroring how preteens tend to view situations, but as it develops it's continuity gets stronger as their problems become less clear cut an easy to solve in 20 minutes. It becomes a full on serial by the end season 3 that you will likely be binge watching.
The animation doesn't display the characters in the most flattering light and while that might turn some people off, I think it's a wonderful design choice. Despite being an animated show it's very much about real life, especially early to mid teen life, where a lot of things are awkward. A nice change of pace I find when it seems every fictional character in existences is beautiful.
As Told By Ginger has great characters, good writing, some interesting situations, brilliant casting and fantastic pacing. If you're reading this review then you probably have a passing interest to see it already so I suggest you go do so now. If you're still debating the idea then I advise you to at least watch the emmy award winning episode
WesternAnimation Great, Classic Show
Man, this show has a special place in my heart. As someone who grew up working class in Connecticut, I often felt like I was watching my own life when I watched Ginger. The writers clearly put a lot of love and effort into the characters and setting, completely nailing middle school life for single-parent kids surrounded by well-meaning, but ultimately unsympathetic wasps. The show has a lot to say about social class and what it's like to not be
WesternAnimation Bland with a capital B
It by no means is a horrible show, but As Told By Ginger is just one of those shows where you watch it and you go: ".....What else is there to watch?". You have cookie cutter characters everywhere: from the main character, to her less popular band of friends, to the resident Alpha Bitch and her clique, to the annoying little brother, to the snobby rich kid. They all do what you expect during their days in school. They all just walk around and either angst, fight over a boy/girl, play pranks on each other or a combination of the three. No interesting plots or any new twist with the story lines that do crop up in this series. It's just them being bland, with bland personalities, bland conflict, and a overriding sense of generic bland blandness.
Now, this was my opinion as a kid. Now that I grew up into a young adult that understands what the characters go through as their junior-high days roll on...... Yeah, still bland. I can appreciate the people behind it trying to bring attention to the conflicts that people will recognize going through their preteen years. That being said, it's bland, cookie cutter and watching it, I just didn't care. At all.