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==Production==
==Production==


''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' is an [[ABC Family]] production. It has a low $1.5 million-an-episode budget, which is $1 million below the average for a broadcast network primetime series. It was created and executive-produced by Brenda Hampton, creator of 11 season long ''[[7th Heaven]]'', the longest-running hit in the WB/CW's history, and produced by ABC Family in association with Brendavision. <ref name=moreeps></ref> ''Secret Life'' is number one with the network's key demographic in its debut time slot versus cable television shows. <ref name=moreeps></ref> It currently has over 3 million viewers on Monday nights.
''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' was created and executive-produced by Brenda Hampton, creator of 11 season long [[7th Heaven]], and produced by ABC Family in association with Brendavision. <ref name=moreeps></ref> It has a low $1.5 million-an-episode budget, which is $1 million below average for a broadcast network primetime series. ''Secret Life'' is number one with the network's key demographic in its debut time slot versus cable television shows. <ref name=moreeps></ref> It currently has over 3 million viewers on Monday nights.


[[The Secret Life of the American Teenager (Season 1)|Season 1]] began with 11 episodes broadcast from July 1, 2008 to September 9, 2008. After a hiatus, 12 first season episodes aired beginning January 5, 2009, for a total of 23 episodes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/11/abc_family_brings_back_america.php |title=ABC Family Brings Back ''American Teenager'', ''Kyle XY''|date=November 11, 2008 |publisher=TVWeek.com |first=Vlada |last=Gelman|accessdate=January 11, 2009}}</ref> The show has also been picked up by Canadian Broadcaster [[Citytv]], which started airing the show in [[Canada]] on September 3, 2008.
[[The Secret Life of the American Teenager (Season 1)|Season 1]] began with 11 episodes broadcast from July 1, 2008 to September 9, 2008. After a hiatus, 12 first season episodes aired beginning January 5, 2009, for a total of 23 episodes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/11/abc_family_brings_back_america.php |title=ABC Family Brings Back ''American Teenager'', ''Kyle XY''|date=November 11, 2008 |publisher=TVWeek.com |first=Vlada |last=Gelman|accessdate=January 11, 2009}}</ref> The show has also been picked up by Canadian Broadcaster [[Citytv]], which started airing the show in [[Canada]] on September 3, 2008.
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===Development===
===Development===


Hampton first pitched the show more than a decade ago to [[Fox]] when Susanne Daniels was head of programming, but was eventually passed over. The project followed followed Daniels to [[Lifetime]] but met a similar fate. A frustrated Hampton wrote six scripts on spec and submitted them to other networks, including the CW, which had carried ''7th Heaven''. Finally, she zeroed in on ABC Family because it was playing off the reruns of "Heaven" and was scouring the community for original scripted hours as part of a new programming initiative.
Hampton first pitched the show more than a decade ago to [[FOX]] when Susanne Daniels was head of programming, but was eventually passed over. The project followed followed Daniels to [[Lifetime]] but met a similar fate. A frustrated Hampton wrote six scripts on spec and submitted them to other networks, including the CW, which had carried ''7th Heaven'', the longest running hit in WB/CW history. Finally, she zeroed in on ABC Family because it was playing off the reruns of "Heaven" and was scouring the community for original scripted hours as part of a new programming initiative.


Despite its controversial center around an unwed, pregnant 15 year old, ABC Family took the leap although Laura Caraccioli-Davis, executive VP of the media buyer Starcom, says lots of advertisers held back from buying time in the show, taking what she calls "a wait-and-see attitude." <ref name="varietyhampton"></ref>
Despite its controversial center around an unwed, pregnant 15 year old, ABC Family took the leap although Laura Caraccioli-Davis, executive VP of the media buyer Starcom, said advertisers held back from buying time in the show, taking what she called "a wait-and-see attitude." <ref name="varietyhampton"></ref> The show began casting as the "Untiled Brenda Hampton Project".<ref> http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20080402abcfamily01 </ref> ''The Secret Life'' was originally planned to be titled ''The Sex Life of the American Teenager'', but Hampton explained that the biggest problem with the name was that "when you Googled it, you'd call up a bunch of porno sites." [[ABC Family]]'s parent company [[Walt Disney]] would not have approved of that.<ref name="varietyhampton"></ref>


''Secret Life'' is the first teen drama centered around a pregnant teen character. Larry Novenstern, Executive Vice President of National Electronic Media for Optimedia Intl., calls "Secret Life" a cross between ''7th Heaven'' and ''[[Juno]]''. Kate Juergens, executive VP of original-series programming and development for [[ABC Family]], says of the series, "We're not sugar-coating teenage pregnancy, but dealing with the very real consequences of it."<ref name="varietyhampton"></ref> However, Hampton doesn't see the series becoming too dark. Comparing "Secret Life of the American Teenager" to "7th Heaven," she said, "It's the same show in that hopefully it's kind of a serious topic with people teen pregnancy but at the same time there's funny things running underneath it and although a lot people never saw the humor in '7th Heaven' I thought there were some pretty funny things about it. It certainly wasn't 'Fat Actress' but still I come out of a background in comedy so I hope there's always something fun about the show but there is the serious and dark side with the teen pregnancy."<ref name="futonbrenda"> http://www.thefutoncritic.com/rant.aspx?id=20090112_teenager </ref>
''Secret Life'' is the first teen drama centered around a pregnant teen character.<ref name="teensecret"> </ref> Kate Juergens, executive VP of original-series programming and development for [[ABC Family]], says of the series, "We're not sugar-coating teenage pregnancy, but dealing with the very real consequences of it."<ref name="varietyhampton"></ref> However, Hampton doesn't see the series becoming too dark. Comparing "Secret Life of the American Teenager" to "7th Heaven," she said, "It's the same show in that hopefully it's kind of a serious topic with people teen pregnancy but at the same time there's funny things running underneath it and although a lot people never saw the humor in '7th Heaven' I thought there were some pretty funny things about it. It certainly wasn't [[Fat Actress]] but still I come out of a background in comedy so I hope there's always something fun about the show but there is the serious and dark side with the teen pregnancy."<ref name="futonbrenda"> http://www.thefutoncritic.com/rant.aspx?id=20090112_teenager </ref> Larry Novenstern, Executive Vice President of National Electronic Media for Optimedia Intl., calls "Secret Life" a cross between ''7th Heaven'' and [[Juno]].

''The Secret Life'' was originally planned to be titled ''The Sex Life of the American Teenager''. Hampton said the biggest problem with that was that "when you Googled it, you'd call up a bunch of porno sites." [[ABC Family]]'s parent company [[Walt Disney]] would not have approved of that.


[[Image:Brenda hampton.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Brenda Hampton, creator and writer of ''Secret Life''.]]
[[Image:Brenda hampton.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Brenda Hampton, creator and writer of ''Secret Life''.]]


Hampton claims she "just never grew up" and finds her own teen voice and inspiration from "somewhere back there in the 60s." <ref name="futonbrenda"></ref> She takes great pains to try to capture how young people talk. "I like all of our actors, and the younger ones, in particular, have opinions," she says. "They'll come to me and tell me if some of their dialogue doesn't sound right to them." Hampton listens, and will sometimes let them tinker with their lines; however, Hampton adds that if she disagrees, the dialogue stays as written. [[Bob Thompson]], founder of the Bleier Center for TV and popular culture at Syracuse U., says, "She has the ability to write a show that appears old-fashioned and earnest, without a lick of irony. But if you listen carefully, the show is filled with dialogue that's hip and crisp, as if you're listening to a real cell-phone conversation between two teenagers." <ref> http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117990639.html?categoryid=2522&cs=1&query=The+Secret+Life+of+the+American+Teenager</ref>
Hampton claims she "just never grew up" and finds her own teen voice and inspiration from "somewhere back there in the 60s." <ref name="futonbrenda"></ref> She therefore takes great pains to try to capture how young people talk. "I like all of our actors, and the younger ones, in particular, have opinions," she says. "They'll come to me and tell me if some of their dialogue doesn't sound right to them." Hampton listens, and will sometimes let them tinker with their lines; however, if Hampton disagrees, the dialogue stays as written. [[Bob Thompson]], founder of the Bleier Center for TV and popular culture at Syracuse U., says, "She has the ability to write a show that appears old-fashioned and earnest, without a lick of irony. But if you listen carefully, the show is filled with dialogue that's hip and crisp, as if you're listening to a real cell-phone conversation between two teenagers." <ref> http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117990639.html?categoryid=2522&cs=1&query=The+Secret+Life+of+the+American+Teenager</ref>


To the culture mavens who bring up ''Juno'' and ''[[Knocked Up]]'', two hit movies about single women grappling with being pregnant, as forerunners of ''Secret Life'', Thompson says the similarities are only superficial. The two movies, she continues, "wrapped themselves in the vestments of irony and comedy to sidestep the difficult issue of an unwanted pregnancy."
To the culture mavens who bring up ''Juno'' and [[Knocked Up]], two hit movies about single women grappling with being pregnant, as forerunners of ''Secret Life'', Thompson says the similarities are only superficial. The two movies, she continues, "wrapped themselves in the vestments of irony and comedy to sidestep the difficult issue of an unwanted pregnancy."


ABC Family ends every episode with a public-service announcement, generally from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy urging parents and teens to communicate with one another about sex. The January 19th and 26th episodes, which featured a theme of sexual abuse, ended with a PSA urging abuse victims to call the Boys Town National Hotline.<ref> http://www.boystown.org/AboutUs/NewsandEvents/archives/Pages/BoysTownNationalHotline-AmericanTeenager.aspx </ref> The PSA makes it look as though Hampton is collaborating with the groups on the scripts, which she says is false. "I don't rely on any outside organization," she says. "I make this stuff up myself." Hampton dislikes the addition primarily because "The PSA sounds like an apology for the fact that we're dealing with teenage sex. I don't think we should apologize for that."
ABC Family ends every episode with a public-service announcement, generally from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy urging parents and teens to communicate with one another about sex. The January 19th and 26th episodes, which featured a theme of sexual abuse, ended with a PSA urging abuse victims to call the [[Boys Town (organization)|Boys Town National Hotline]].<ref> http://www.boystown.org/AboutUs/NewsandEvents/archives/Pages/BoysTownNationalHotline-AmericanTeenager.aspx </ref> The NCOPTUP also published a discussion guide for parents and teens for every episode of season 1.<ref name="teensexsecrets"></ref> The additions make it look as though Hampton is collaborating with the groups on the scripts, which she says is false. "I don't rely on any outside organization," she says. "I make this stuff up myself." Hampton states that she dislikes the messages primarily because "The PSA sounds like an apology for the fact that we're dealing with teenage sex. I don't think we should apologize for that."


But, otherwise, Hampton says ABC Family leaves her alone, giving her more freedom than most of the network's other shows by slapping a TV-14 advisory on the episodes. As she puts it: "I can have a character say the words oral sex, but you won't hear her say 'Jesus Christ.' "
But, otherwise, Hampton says ABC Family leaves her alone, giving her more freedom than most of the network's other shows by slapping a TV-14 advisory on the episodes. As she puts it: "I can have a character say the words oral sex, but you won't hear her say 'Jesus Christ.' "

Revision as of 20:56, 3 May 2009

See also: Secret Life (disambiguation)
The Secret Life of the American Teenager
GenreDrama
Created byBrenda Hampton
Developed byBrenda Hampton
Written byBrenda Hampton
Jeffrey Rodgers
Caroline Kepnes
Jeff Olsen
Chris Olsen
Elaine Arata
Directed byRon Underwood
Anson Williams
Jason Priestley
John Schneider
Lindsley Parsons III
Keith Truesdell
StarringShailene Woodley
Daren Kagasoff
Mark Derwin
India Eisley
Greg Finley II
Kenny Baumann
Jorge Pallo
Megan Park
Francia Raisa
Molly Ringwald
Opening theme"Let's Do It(Let's Fall in Love)" by Molly Ringwald
Country of origin United States
Original languagesEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes23 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerBrenda Hampton
Running timeAprox. 44 minutes
Original release
NetworkABC Family
Citytv
ReleaseJuly 1, 2008 –
present
Related
7th Heaven, Juno

The Secret Life of the American Teenager (often shortened to Secret Life) is a television series created by Brenda Hampton. It first premiered on ABC Family on July 1, 2008. The show was renewed for a second season consisting of 24 episodes on February 9, 2009[1], which are expected to begin airing on June 22, 2009.[2] The series focuses on the relationships between families and friends and how they deal with the unexpected teenage pregnancy of character Amy Juergens, who is portrayed by Shailene Woodley. [3]

The series received generally negative reviews from most mainstream critics when it began broadcasting, but was extremely well received among viewers. The pilot episode broke the record for highest rated debut for ABC Family, beating KYLE XY, with 2.82 million viewers, and the season one finale brought in 4.50 million viewers, beating the night's Gossip Girl which had almost half its usual number of viewers. The show earned the Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer TV Show during its premiere season. [4] The Secret Life of the American Teenager currently airs on Monday nights at 8/7 c on ABC Family in the U.S. and on Citytv in Canada.

Production

The Secret Life of the American Teenager was created and executive-produced by Brenda Hampton, creator of 11 season long 7th Heaven, and produced by ABC Family in association with Brendavision. [3] It has a low $1.5 million-an-episode budget, which is $1 million below average for a broadcast network primetime series. Secret Life is number one with the network's key demographic in its debut time slot versus cable television shows. [3] It currently has over 3 million viewers on Monday nights.

Season 1 began with 11 episodes broadcast from July 1, 2008 to September 9, 2008. After a hiatus, 12 first season episodes aired beginning January 5, 2009, for a total of 23 episodes.[5] The show has also been picked up by Canadian Broadcaster Citytv, which started airing the show in Canada on September 3, 2008.

Following the success of its first season, ABC Family announced on January 31, 2009, plans to renew Secret Life, following the cancellation of its hit sci-fi TV show, Kyle XY. The official press release was released on February 9. The show was renewed for a 24 episode second season which is scheduled to begin airing on Monday, June 22, 2009 at 8|7C.[6] [7][8][9]

Development

Hampton first pitched the show more than a decade ago to FOX when Susanne Daniels was head of programming, but was eventually passed over. The project followed followed Daniels to Lifetime but met a similar fate. A frustrated Hampton wrote six scripts on spec and submitted them to other networks, including the CW, which had carried 7th Heaven, the longest running hit in WB/CW history. Finally, she zeroed in on ABC Family because it was playing off the reruns of "Heaven" and was scouring the community for original scripted hours as part of a new programming initiative.

Despite its controversial center around an unwed, pregnant 15 year old, ABC Family took the leap although Laura Caraccioli-Davis, executive VP of the media buyer Starcom, said advertisers held back from buying time in the show, taking what she called "a wait-and-see attitude." [10] The show began casting as the "Untiled Brenda Hampton Project".[11] The Secret Life was originally planned to be titled The Sex Life of the American Teenager, but Hampton explained that the biggest problem with the name was that "when you Googled it, you'd call up a bunch of porno sites." ABC Family's parent company Walt Disney would not have approved of that.[10]

Secret Life is the first teen drama centered around a pregnant teen character.[12] Kate Juergens, executive VP of original-series programming and development for ABC Family, says of the series, "We're not sugar-coating teenage pregnancy, but dealing with the very real consequences of it."[10] However, Hampton doesn't see the series becoming too dark. Comparing "Secret Life of the American Teenager" to "7th Heaven," she said, "It's the same show in that hopefully it's kind of a serious topic with people teen pregnancy but at the same time there's funny things running underneath it and although a lot people never saw the humor in '7th Heaven' I thought there were some pretty funny things about it. It certainly wasn't Fat Actress but still I come out of a background in comedy so I hope there's always something fun about the show but there is the serious and dark side with the teen pregnancy."[13] Larry Novenstern, Executive Vice President of National Electronic Media for Optimedia Intl., calls "Secret Life" a cross between 7th Heaven and Juno.

File:Brenda hampton.jpg
Brenda Hampton, creator and writer of Secret Life.

Hampton claims she "just never grew up" and finds her own teen voice and inspiration from "somewhere back there in the 60s." [13] She therefore takes great pains to try to capture how young people talk. "I like all of our actors, and the younger ones, in particular, have opinions," she says. "They'll come to me and tell me if some of their dialogue doesn't sound right to them." Hampton listens, and will sometimes let them tinker with their lines; however, if Hampton disagrees, the dialogue stays as written. Bob Thompson, founder of the Bleier Center for TV and popular culture at Syracuse U., says, "She has the ability to write a show that appears old-fashioned and earnest, without a lick of irony. But if you listen carefully, the show is filled with dialogue that's hip and crisp, as if you're listening to a real cell-phone conversation between two teenagers." [14]

To the culture mavens who bring up Juno and Knocked Up, two hit movies about single women grappling with being pregnant, as forerunners of Secret Life, Thompson says the similarities are only superficial. The two movies, she continues, "wrapped themselves in the vestments of irony and comedy to sidestep the difficult issue of an unwanted pregnancy."

ABC Family ends every episode with a public-service announcement, generally from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy urging parents and teens to communicate with one another about sex. The January 19th and 26th episodes, which featured a theme of sexual abuse, ended with a PSA urging abuse victims to call the Boys Town National Hotline.[15] The NCOPTUP also published a discussion guide for parents and teens for every episode of season 1.[16] The additions make it look as though Hampton is collaborating with the groups on the scripts, which she says is false. "I don't rely on any outside organization," she says. "I make this stuff up myself." Hampton states that she dislikes the messages primarily because "The PSA sounds like an apology for the fact that we're dealing with teenage sex. I don't think we should apologize for that."

But, otherwise, Hampton says ABC Family leaves her alone, giving her more freedom than most of the network's other shows by slapping a TV-14 advisory on the episodes. As she puts it: "I can have a character say the words oral sex, but you won't hear her say 'Jesus Christ.' "

ABC Family can't resist taking regular swipes at Gossip Girl, a popular CW series about socialite teenagers with elaborate marketing campaigns. Despite its publicity, Secret Life regularly harvests more viewers than Gossip Girl despite reaching millions fewer homes. [10].

Series Overview

Centered around teen Amy Juergens, The Secret Life of the American Teenager explores how Amy's pregnancy affects her, the baby's father, her friends, and her family. The news of her pregnancy puts additional strain on her parents' already rocky marriage, but actually brings Amy closer with her younger sister Ashley, her new boyfriend, Ben, the father of her baby Ricky, as well as with other teens at the fictional Ulysses S. Grant High School in California. Amy's world expands as she learns that virtually every teen at Grant High carries a secret or unexpected problem.

Episodes/U.S. Ratings

Timeslot Season Premiere - Viewers Season Finale - Viewers Viewers
(in millions)
Season 1
Tuesday 8:00 P.M. (July 1 - September 9, 2008)
Monday 8:00 P.M. (January 5 - March 23, 2009)
July 1, 2008 (2.82)[17]
March 23, 2009 (4.50)[18]
 3.51
Season 2
Monday 8:00 P.M. (June 22, 2009)
June 22, 2009 [19]
TBA
N/A


Cast and characters

Main article: List of characters in The Secret Life of the American Teenager
  • Shailene Woodley portrays Amy Juergens, daughter of George and Anne Juergens, older sister of Ashley Juergens, and mother of John Juergens. Before her pregnancy, Amy she is often referred to as the nicer, sweeter and more sensible Juergens daughter. She is a fifteen year old Freshman, and has a passion for playing the french horn in the school band. She becomes pregnant after a one night stand at band camp with Ricky Underwood. After the incident at band camp, Amy began dating her current boyfriend, Ben Boykewich, whom she wants to marry. Amy and Ben are subsequently married in a wedding chapel, but because they got married with fake IDs, their marriage is not legal. Amy contemplated abortion and adoption, but finally decided to keep her baby. She plans to raise John with the help of the baby's father, Ricky, and her boyfriend, Ben. She also plans to work in the church nursery school.
File:The-secret-life-of-the-american-teenager-begins.jpg
Shailene Woodley as Amy Juergens
  • Molly Ringwald portrays Anne Juergens, the mother of Amy and Ashley Juergens and the estranged wife of George Juergens. After discovering George was cheating on her with Adrian's mother, Cindy Lee, Anne separated from him and filed for divorce. She is supportive of Amy, but feels Amy needs to understand the responsibility of teen parenthood and should not rely on her parents to raise her baby for her. Due to her impending divorce, Anne took a job in architect office and has begun dating her boss, architect David Johnson.
  • Mark Derwin portrays George Juergens, the father of Amy and Ashley Juergens and estranged husband of Anne Juergens. He owns a furniture store. He was previously married to Kathleen Bowman, Grace's mother, before marrying Anne. He also had a brief affair with Adrian's mother, Cindy Lee, which led to Anne filing for divorce. George regrets his affair, realizes he is deeply in love with Anne, and desires to reunite his family. He lived in his garage until the season 1 finale when he and Ashley moved.
  • India Eisley plays Ashley Juergens, Amy's 13-year-old sister. Ashley is sarcastic, dresses in a vintage style, cares nothing about what others think of her, has few close friends, and is a bit of a know-it-all. Ashley speaks in a monotone. She is the first member of the Juergens family to learn of Amy's pregnancy and has consistently supported keepinglater, is the one who convinces Amy to keep the baby. Ashley is eventually given the privilege of naming her newborn nephew, Amy and Ricky's son, which she decides on John. She appears to be interested in two boys: Henry, one of Ben's best friends, and Thomas, a home schooled boy whom she met at a bus stop. Later on, Ashley moves out of her home with her father. Upon seeing her sister go through child birth, Ashley vows to delay having sex.
  • Kenny Baumann portrays Benjamin "Ben" Boykewich, a kind-hearted 15-year-old freshman who plays the cymbals in the school band. He is also the boyfriend of Amy. He is very devoted to her and completely fixated on her. Ben is the heir of a wealthy meat company owned by his father, who is known as The Sausage King. He plans to marry Amy, and use his fortune to raise the baby with her. His father forces him to get a job in the family butcher shop rather than take for granted his fathers wealth to aid Amy and her baby. He despises and even admits to being jealous of Ricky at first, but the two end up starting a friendship after agreeing to work together to help support Amy in raising the baby.
  • Daren Kagasoff portrays Richard "Ricky" Underwood, a sixteen year old sophomore with a troubled past and emotional issues resulting in his promiscuity. He is in therapy throughout the show, but does not respond very enthusiastically. He is Grant High's official "bad boy" and the drummer in the school band. He is the son of Bob Underwood, a domestic abuser, child molester, and drug addict, who is currently in prison. His biological mother is also a drug addict and still lives on the streets. Ricky is currently in foster care and lives with his foster mother, Margaret. In a one night stand at band camp, Ricky impregnated Amy. Although he was initially cold toward Amy, desired no part in the baby's life, and was un-remorseful for his actions, Ricky's attitude and personality slowly change with the support of good-girl Grace, whom Ricky dated for some time. After a confrontation with his father, Ricky tells his therapist he has learned to love himself and has fallen in love with Amy. Since claiming love for Amy, Ricky has not been involved in another relationship, including his on-again, off-again casual relationship with Adrian. He is currently employed in the Boykewich family butcher shop and plans to help raise his son with the help of Amy and Ben.
File:Secret-life-of-the-american-teenager-ensemble-jpg1.jpg
The main cast of Secret Life. From left to right: Jack, Grace, Ricky, Amy, Ben, Adrian.
  • Francia Raisa portrays Adrian Lee, a sixteen year old sophomore known as the "school slut". Adrian is a Majorettes and secretly excels at schoolwork. Adrian's flight attendant mother is often away from home either because of her job or because of a man and Adrian's father was absent from his daughter's childhood. As such, Adrian is emotional under a tough exterior. She enjoys feeling loved, and so continues her on-off casual relationship with Ricky. Adrian quickly fell in love with her step-brother Max, who pursued a true relationship with her instead of simply sex. Prior to meeting Max, Adrian had oral sex with Jack in order to make Ricky jealous, thereby breaking he and Grace up, and was jealous of Grace's later relationship with Ricky. However, the girls have since formed a close friendship. Grace helped Adrian to find her father, date Max, and tries to coach her to "act like a lady". With Grace's encouragement, Adrian at times reluctantly offers Amy support but tends to resent and be jealous of Amy for carrying and birthing Ricky's baby.
  • Megan Park portrays Grace Kathleen Bowman, a perky and sweet fifteen-year-old sophomore. Grace is Grant High's head cheerleader and a devoted Christian. Grace's father is Marshall Bowman, a doctor whose career she hopes to emulate. Her mother is Kathleen Bowman, George Juergens' ex-wife. She has an adopted brother, Tom, who has Down's Syndrome. Grace has a very loving, respectful, and open relationship with her family, but has grown from following their rules and advice to making her own decisions about matters such as boys and sex. She previously dated Jack, but broke up with him after he had oral sex with Adrian. Grace forgave both Adrian and Jack, and formed a friendship with Adrian. She also dated Jack again behind her parent's backs, but broke up with him in favor of Ricky (a pairing Adrian was jealous of). Grace and Ricky's relationship ended when Ricky broke up with her to protect her from his abusive father. Once Bob Underwood had been sent back to prison, Grace tried to resume their relationship, but stopped after Jack informed her Ricky had been having an affair with Adrian and Ricky decided to focus on Amy. Grace and Adrian's enmity climaxed in a fight in a school hallway, but the two forgave each other and continued their friendship. In the Season 1 Finale, Grace and Jack get back together. Grace had originally planned to wait until after medical school and marriage for sex, but tells Jack that although she is not ready for sex yet, she is unsure whether she wants to wait until marriage. She has started taking birth control pills, just in case she decides to have sex.
  • Greg Finley II portrays Jack Pappas, played, a sixteen-year-old sophomore on the football team. Jack is the step son of the priest. The summer before his sophomore year, Jack began a relationship with Grace, partially in an effort to keep her well-to-do family at his step-father's church. He quickly falls for Grace and after their first date asks her for a closed, committed relationship. However, Jack is distraught when Grace informs him she wants to wait until after marriage and medical school for sex. Fretful, Jack has oral sex with Adrian for which Grace breaks up with him. Jack regrets the end of their relationship and projected serious efforts into trying to win back Grace. However, Grace began to date Ricky instead. Unsure of how he feels about sex and waiting until marriage, Jack tries to keep his mind off it by doing good deeds. He sees a way to do this by claiming that he made the fake IDs used for Amy and Ben's wedding, although he really didn't. Jack is assigned to do community service as his punishment, and begins mentoring an inner-city teenage boy named Duncan. Jack had a brief fling with Duncan's older sister Shawna, four years old then Jack, but discovers he still has strong feelings for Grace and ends the affair in favor of resuming his relationship with Grace.
  • Jorge Pallo plays Marc Molina, the new guidance counselor at Ulysses Grant High School. At the beginning of the season, Grant High students, particularly Ben, Adrian, and Jack, sought counseling of every kind from Molina. However, as events such as Amy's pregnancy and Adrian's relationship with her step-brother unravel, he starts to restrict himself to solely academic counseling in order to avoid becoming entangled in inappropriate affairs. Molina recently married his jealous girlfriend(played by Constance Marie), although he believes she is the wrong person for him. His wife, Virginia Molina is now pregnant with their first child which was revealed when she shows up at Amy's Baby shower.


DVD releases

Each Secret Life episode is released on DVD in seperate volumes. Volume One is sold as Season One, while Volume Two is sold as Season Two. However, because there is only one season of Secret Life so far, each volume is part of the first season.

Season One

DVD Name Ep# Disc# Region 1 Region 2 (UK) Region 4 Special Features
Volume 1 11 3 December 30, 2008[20] TBA TBA Deleted Scenes, Cast Interviews, Gag Reel, Episode Commentaries, 7 Featurettes.
Volume 2 12 3 June 16, 2009[21][22] TBA TBA Behind-the-Scenes featurettes with the cast, exclusive music video from Strange Familiar

Reception

The New York Post praised the series for having a set of characters that are "...real and come from families of all stripes — from intact to single-parent households to one boy in foster care..."[23]. However, most mainstream critics haven't embraced the show, indicting it as a TV-series version of an afterschool special, "filled with didactic messages and a lotta wooden acting," in the words of Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly.[10] The New York Times claimed that "The Secret Life of the American Teenager” must surely be the collective effort of an anti-pregnancy cabal. [...] ABC Family means well but could not have done worse. “Secret Life” doesn’t take the fun out of teenage pregnancy, it takes the fun out of television" and calls the show a "Prime-Time Cautionary Tale".[24] Variety Magazine reports that "ABC Family's latest original drama wants to be a slow-motion version of "Juno" but settles for being an obvious, stereotype-laden teen soap [...] based on first impressions, "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" should probably stay a secret."[25]

Brenda Hampton doesn't mind the poor reviews, saying, "I'd rather get good ratings and bad reviews than bad ratings and good reviews".[10] Despite its lackluster critical reviews,[26] The Secret Life received the highest premiere viewership ratings ever for an ABC Family original program. The pilot episode brought in 2.82 million viewers and a 0.9/3 share in the 18-49 year old demographic. The Secret Life also scored high in the female demographic, registering a 6.5/24 among female teenagers and a 3.1/11 among 12-34 year old females. The premiere only ranks behind the first season finale of Kyle XY in terms of viewers for an ABC Family program.[27]

The Secret Life mid-season finale episode of season one defeated the first hour of the much-publicized series premiere of 90210 on The CW in viewers 12-34 and females 12-34, beating 90210 in total viewers and all their key demographics, and bringing in some of the best ratings of the season for the The Secret Life.[28][29] The season one finale brought in 4.50 million viewers and was the highest rated telecast on March 23, 2009 in viewers aged 12–34 and the number one scripted telecast that night. The episode also beat 90210, which had 2.20 million viewers, more than half the usual number. [30] The season one finale episode garnered 4.5 million viewers, and was ABC Family's No. 1 telecast on record among females 12-34. It was the No. 1 scripted telecast on TV that night in viewers 12-34 and cable's No. 1 scripted telecast in total viewers. [31]

Regarding to The Secret Life's advertising, Laura Caraccioli-Davis, executive VP of the media buyer Starcom, says, "Nielsen numbers will do the talking in the advertising community, which has a deep respect for success."

  • Official website
  • The Secret Life of the American Teenager at IMDb
  • Template:Tv.com show
  • Villarreal, Yvonne (January 3, 2009). "Secret Life of the American Teenager explores teen pregnancy". The Los Angeles Times. LATimes.com. Retrieved January 11, 2009.

References

  1. ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/02/09/abc-familys-the-secret-life-of-the-american-teenager-picked-up-for-second-season/12476
  2. ^ "Show listings: The Secret Life of the American Teenager". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c "ABC Family Orders 12 Additional Episodes of Secret Life" (PDF). ABC Family. July 17, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  4. ^ http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2009/03/secret-life-vs-gossip-girl.html
  5. ^ Gelman, Vlada (November 11, 2008). "ABC Family Brings Back American Teenager, Kyle XY". TVWeek.com. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  6. ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/01/31/kyle-xy-canceled/11898
  7. ^ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3if2f60011563fe80f312a992e0e0c68c1
  8. ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/02/09/abc-familys-the-secret-life-of-the-american-teenager-picked-up-for-second-season/12476
  9. ^ http://community.abcfamily.go.com/blogs/secret-life-american-teenager/secret-life-will-return-june-22
  10. ^ a b c d e f http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117990639.html?categoryid=2522&cs=1&query=The+Secret+Life+of+the+American+Teenager
  11. ^ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20080402abcfamily01
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference teensecret was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ a b http://www.thefutoncritic.com/rant.aspx?id=20090112_teenager
  14. ^ http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117990639.html?categoryid=2522&cs=1&query=The+Secret+Life+of+the+American+Teenager
  15. ^ http://www.boystown.org/AboutUs/NewsandEvents/archives/Pages/BoysTownNationalHotline-AmericanTeenager.aspx
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference teensexsecrets was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Kissell, Rick. (July 15 208) TV originals drive small ratings gain Variety. Accessed August 24, 2008.
  18. ^ http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2009/03/secret-life-vs-gossip-girl.html
  19. ^ http://community.abcfamily.go.com/blogs/secret-life-american-teenager/secret-life-will-return-june-22
  20. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Life-American-Teenager-Season/dp/B001ILFUAA/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1234388007&sr=8-7
  21. ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Secret-Life-American-Teenager-Season-2/11441
  22. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Life-American-Teenager-Season/dp/B001UREJXQ/ref=pd_cp_d_1?pf_rd_p=413864101&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001ILFUAA&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=19ATRYE17E2E6HRD1JK2
  23. ^ Stasi, Linda (June 30, 2008). "Good Daughter Comes Home with Bad News in Secret Life". New York Post. NYPost.com. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  24. ^ Stanley, Alessandra (July 1, 2008). "A Teenage Pregnancy, Packaged as a Prime-Time Cautionary Tale". New York Times. NYtimes.com. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
  25. ^ Lowry, Brian (July 1, 2008). "The Secret Life of the American Teenager". Variety Magazine. Variety.com. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
  26. ^ "Review listing: The Secret Life of the American Teenager". MetaCritic.com. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  27. ^ Kissell, Rick (July 2, 2008). "ABC's Wipeout stays strong". Variety.com. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  28. ^ "ABC Family's The Secret Life of the American Teenager Defeats the First Hour of CW's Highly-Promoted 90210". TheFutonCritic.com. September 4, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  29. ^ Seidman, Robert (September 10, 2008). "ABC Family's Secret Life Smacksdown CW and 90210". TVbytheNumbers.com. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  30. ^ http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2009/03/secret-life-vs-gossip-girl.html
  31. ^ http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2009/03/secret-life-vs-gossip-girl.html
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