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Secret Life of The American Teenager

by Cheril on July 3rd, 2008

Too bad 15-year-old Amy Juergens (Shailene Woodley) didn’t meet all-American boy with loads of boyfriend material Ben (Kenny Baumann) before she spent time with Grant High School’s drummer and resident bad boy Ricky (Daren Kagasoff) at band camp.

In the debut of ABC Family’s new teen drama Secret Life of The American Teenager on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, Amy finds out after arriving home from band camp that she’s pregnant after having sex for the first time ever with Ricky. According to ABC Family’s Web site, Amy’s character is one of more than 700,000 teen girls in the U.S. who become pregnant every year (three out of 10 girls get pregnant before the age of 20).

Considered the “good girl” of the family, smart but vulnerable Amy doesn’t know how to tell her parents Anne (Molly Ringwald, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink) and George (Mark Derwin) that she’s pregnant. Her younger sister Ashley (India Eisley) is generally the one who gets in trouble. In the first episode, Ashley’s dad is upset because she’s in trouble at school for her provocative clothing (showing her belly button).

Meanwhile at school, Amy confesses to her two friends that not only did she have very awkward, uncomfortable sex, but that she’s pregnant. Seeing Ricky for the first time since then in the school hallway, he of course, shows what kind of person he is — acting for a minute as if he doesn’t even know her name, as he plans his next conquest.

To make matters more complicated, Ben decides to switch from worshipping the popular and pretty cheerleader Grace Bowman (Megan Park) for Amy by attempting to join the band.

Grace has made a promise to her Christian parents Marshall (John Schneider, Smallville) and Kathleen Bowman (Josie Bissett, Melrose Place) to remain abstinent until marriage, but her boyfriend, good-looking football player Jack (Greg Finley) is not sure how long he can last.

Then there’s Adrian (Francia Raisa), the majorette, who you can pretty much be called the school slut (I don’t know how to put it nicely). She’s more than willing to help take the tension off of Jack but seems to have an interest in Ricky too.

Other characters include new school counselor Marc Molina (Jorge Pallo), Ricky’s therapist Dr. Fields (Ernie Hudson) and Grace’s brother (Luke Zimmerman) who has Down syndrome.

Secret Life of The American Teenager was created by 7th Heaven creator Brenda Hampton who has referred to the show as “7th Heaven with sex.” And that’s pretty much what it is. In this show, every teen is obsessed with sex in some way.

But we need to remember the reality. Teens are having sex. That’s why three in 10 teenage girls get pregnant before the age of 20. I have a 15-year-old son, so I cringe when I watch teenagers talk about sex. But there’s a different point of view I have to consider. I’m the product of a teenage mom who is lucky enough to still be married to my father after more than 37 years. My mom was only 15 years old and my dad 17 when she became pregnant. My mom at one time was this character.

What direction will this show go? It’s hard to tell. Mostly it’s sex, sex, sex in every scene but at the same time preaches abstinence. John Schneider’s family is religious and trying to keep their daughter on the right path.

In the first episode, Ben ends up asking Amy to go to the church youth party, not knowing her connection to Ricky. Meanwhile, Grace’s brother calls everyone’s attention to Jack and Adrian, who he caught kissing outside the party.

Overall, the show has potential. It would be nice to see Molly Ringwald and John Schneider lead the show to success. But how is the show going to handle the pregnancy issue? Is the show always going to be about sex? Reading comments on other Web sites about the first episode, it seems that the teen population is in love with the show. They like the characters and can relate. Others can’t stand it for its all-about-sex approach and feel that the characters are all stereotypes. Many think Grace is overly religious for her role. Living in the Bible Belt, I know many “Graces” who are fighting to stay pure, so it’s more believable for me. I guess time will tell whether the characters will be just stereotypes or true-to-life characters with their own stories.
Photo credit of Shailene Woodley: Image used with permission of Newscom

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POSTED IN: ABC Family, Drama, New TV Shows, The Secret Life of The American Teenager