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{{Infobox Television
{{Infobox Television
| show_name = The Secret Life of the American Teenager
| show_name = The Secret Life of the Ugly Teenager
| image = [[Image:TSLAT-title.png|250px]]
| image = [[Image:TSLAT-title.png|250px]]
| format = [[Teen drama]]
| format = [[Teen drama]]
| runtime = approx. 45 minutes (Without commercials)
| runtime = approx. 45 minutes (Without commercials)
| creator = Brenda Hampton
| creator = Brenda Hampton
| executive_producer = Brenda Hampton
| executive_producer =
| starring = [[Shailene Woodley]]<br/>[[Kenny Baumann]]<br/>[[Mark Derwin]]<br/>[[India Eisley]]<br/>[[Greg Finley II]]<br/>[[Daren Kagasoff]]<br/>[[Jorge Pallo]]<br/>[[Megan Park]]<br/>[[Francia Raisa]]<br/>[[Molly Ringwald]]
| starring = [[Shailene Woodley]]<br/>[[Kenny Baumann]]<br/>[[Mark Derwin]]<br/>[[India Eisley]]<br/>[[Greg Finley II]]<br/>[[Daren Kagasoff]]<br/>[[Jorge Pallo]]<br/>[[Megan Park]]<br/>[[Francia Raisa]]<br/>[[Molly Ringwald]]
| country = {{USA}}
| country = {{USA}}
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[[ar:الحياة السرية لمراهقة أمريكية]]
[[ar:الحياة السرية لمراهقة أمريكية]]
[[it:La vita segreta di una teenager americana]]
[[it:La vita segreta di una teenager americana]]
[[no:The Secret Life of the American Teenager]]
[[no:The Secret Life of the Ugly Teenager]]
[[zh:青春密语]]
[[zh:青春密语]]

Revision as of 19:39, 19 December 2008

The Secret Life of the American Teenager
Created byBrenda Hampton
StarringShailene Woodley
Kenny Baumann
Mark Derwin
India Eisley
Greg Finley II
Daren Kagasoff
Jorge Pallo
Megan Park
Francia Raisa
Molly Ringwald
Country of origin United States
Original languagesEnglish
Spanish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes11 (list of episodes)
Production
Running timeapprox. 45 minutes (Without commercials)
Original release
NetworkABC Family Citytv
ReleaseJuly 1, 2008 –
present

The Secret Life of the American Teenager is a television series from 7th Heaven creator Brenda Hampton. The show debuted on ABC Family on July 1, 2008.[1] The teen drama focuses on the relationships between families and friends dealing with the unexpected pregnancy of character Amy Juergens, portrayed by Shailene Woodley.[1]

The Secret Life ranked number one with the network's key demographic in its debut time slot versus cable television shows.[2] The show earned the Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer TV Show during its premiere season.

Season One will have a total of 23 episodes, split into two seasons. The first run of 11 episodes ended September 9, 2008,[1] and the second season is scheduled to begin in January 5, 2009.[3] The show has also been picked up by Canadian Broadcaster Citytv who started airing Season 1 in Canada on September 3, 2008.

Plot

The show follows a 15-year old girl, Amy Juergens, who is smart, talented, and pregnant. Additional intertwining story-lines follow Christian cheerleader Grace, who wants to wait until marriage to have sex much to the dismay of her boyfriend Jack; and Adrian and Ricky who have a casual relationship.

Cast

  • Amy Juergens (Shailene Woodley), a 15-year-old girl who plays the French horn in the school marching band. She is pregnant by Ricky Underwood. Ben, her boyfriend, offers to marry Amy and help her raise the baby.
  • Benjamin "Ben" Boykewich (Kenny Baumann), Amy's boyfriend. Ben asks Amy to marry him after he learns of her pregnancy. He constantly reminds her of his offer of marriage, with his wealthy father's support. His mother died five years ago and always goes and talks to her grave on the anniversary of her death. He loves Amy and tells her this frequently.
  • Ricky Underwood (Daren Kagasoff), a drummer in the school band. Ricky is in foster care because he was sexually abused by his father, who "stole his childhood." He is promiscuous, currently romantically involved with Grace. He is the ex-boyfriend of Adrian.
  • Adrian Lee (Francia Raisa), a promiscuous flirt and a member of the majorettes squad. She does well in school. She never knew her dad during the early years of life because her parents made a deal. She used to be with Ricky
  • Jack Pappas (Greg Finley II), a football player and Grace's ex-boyfriend. Grace ends her relationship with Jack after she learns of his and Adrian's sexual relationship. He repeatedly tries to rekindle his romantic relationship with Grace. He was also convinced by his stepfather to date her because it would make her family "happy".
  • Madison Cooperstein (Renee Olstead) is one of Amy's best friends. She unintentionally spreads gossip and rumors.
  • Lauren Treacy (Camille Winbush) is one of Amy's best friends. She causes rifts in her friendships due to her relationship with Ricky.
  • Marc Molina (Jorge Pallo), the school guidance counselor. He mysteriously disappears from school in the mid-season one finale.
  • George Juergens (Mark Derwin), Amy's father. He is discontent with his marriage and cheated on his wife with Adrian's mother. George was previously married to Mrs. Kathleen Bowman, Grace's mother.
  • Anne Juergens (Molly Ringwald), Amy's mother. She and George share a rocky relationship. She was pregnant with Amy before she was married to George.
  • Ashley Juergens (India Eisley), Amy's rebellious 13-year-old sister who creates diversions.

Recurring cast:

  • Kathleen Bowman (Josie Bissett), Grace's mother and George Juergens' ex-wife. Kathleen cheated on George with Marshall.
  • Marshall Bowman (John Schneider), Grace's overprotective father. Marshall carried out an affair with Kathleen while she was married to George Juergens. He also is the partner of the Juergens' pediatrician, Dr. Hightower, which is how he found out about Amy's pregnancy.
  • Tom Bowman (Luke Zimmerman), Grace's brother, who has down syndrome. Like Ricky, he doesn't live with his biological parents; he was adopted by the Bowmans.
  • Alice Valko (Amy Rider), one of Ben's best friends and Henry's girlfriend since third grade. She knows a lot of the statistics about high school students and sex. Despite insisting that she is not ready to have sex early in the season, she and Henry eventually do have sex.
  • Henry Miller (Allen Evangelista), one of Ben's best friends and Alice's boyfriend since third grade. He is conflicted about his relationship with Alice, especially after meeting Ashley. Nevertheless, Henry and Alice have sex toward the end of the season.
  • Dr. Ken Fields (Ernie Hudson), Ricky's therapist and Lauren's father.
  • Jason Treacy (Andrew McFarlane), Lauren's brother and Madison's eventual boyfriend.
  • Leo Boykewich (Steve Schirripa), Ben's widowed father. He is known as "The Sausage King." He comforts Anne after she learns the truth about George.
  • Cindy Lee (Paola Turbay), Adrian's mother. She works as a flight attendant and is rarely home. She and George had an affair.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Secret Life of the American Teenager episodes

Production

The Secret Life of the American Teenager proposed to Fox approximately a decade ago. Fox eventually turned the show away. After a refusal from Lifetime, Hampton eventually drafted six scripts for the show and submitted them to a variety of networks including The CW and ABC Family. ABC Family took up the show, which is produced inhouse for a modest budget of $1.5 million per episode, below the average $2.5 million for a primetime television network series.[4]

Reception

The Secret Life of the American Teenager received mixed reviews during its premier season. It was criticized for wanting "to be a slow-motion version of Juno but [settling] for being an obvious, stereotype-laden teen soap..." by Variety.[5] It was praised 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..." by the New York Post. [6]

Despite the love crazy reviews,[7] 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.[8] Starting with the show's sixth episode, The Secret Life received higher total viewership ratings than any of The CW's Gossip Girl episodes.[9]

Despite tough competition from the series premiere of 90210 on The CW, The Secret Life defeated the first hour of 90210 in viewers 12-34 and females 12-34, and brought in some of its best ratings for the series, in its mid-season finale episode. [10] The mid-season one finale saw The Secret Life beating 90210 in all their key demographics and also in total viewers [2].

Season One Weekly Ratings

Episode # Title Air Date 18-49 Viewers Reference(s)
1 "Falling in Love" July 1, 2008 0.9/3 2.82 [8]
2 "You Are My Everything" July 8, 2008 0.9/3 2.81 [11]
3 "I Feel Sick" July 15, 2008 0.8/3 2.48 [citation needed]
4 "Caught" July 22, 2008 1.1/4 3.09 [12][13]
5 "What Have You Done to Me?" July 29, 2008 1.2/4 3.58 [12]
6 "Love For Sale" August 5, 2008 1.4/5 4.09 [12]
7 "Absent" August 12, 2008 1.3/4 3.70 [14]
8 "Your Cheatin' Heart" August 19, 2008 1.4/4 3.91 [15]
9 "Slice of Life" August 26, 2008 1.3/4 3.65 [16]
10 "Back to School Special" September 2, 2008 1.3/4 3.55 [17]
11 "Just Say No" September 9, 2008 1.8/5 4.54 [18][19]

DVD releases

Season Number of Episodes Special Features Region Release Date
1 11 Behind the scenes with the cast of The Secret Life of the American Teenager 1 December 30, 2008
2

Trivia

This was not the first time that Shailene Woodley and John Schneider have been in a production together. They both starred in the 2005 Hallmark Movie, Felicity: An American Girl Adventure as Felicity and Mr. Edward Merriman, father and daughter.

References

  1. ^ a b c The Secret Life of the American Teenager show listings The Futon Critic. Accessed August 24, 2008.
  2. ^ ABC Family Orders 13 Additional Episodes of "Secret Life" ABC Family. Accessed August 24, 2008.
  3. ^ ABC Family Brings Back ‘American Teenager,’ ‘Kyle XY’
  4. ^ Dempsey, John. (August 15, 2008) [1]
  5. ^ Lowry, Brian. (June 30, 2008) The Secret Life of the American Teenager review Variety. Accessed August 24, 2008.
  6. ^ Stasi, Linda. (June 30, 2008) Good Daughter Comes Home with Bad News in 'Secret Life' New York Post. Accessed August 24, 2008.
  7. ^ The Secret Life of the American Teenager review listing MetaCritic.com. Accessed August 24, 2008.
  8. ^ a b Kissell, Rick. (July 2, 2008) ABC's 'Wipeout' stays strong Variety. Accessed August 24, 2008.
  9. ^ Hibberd, James (2008-07-30). "Latest 'Secret Life' more popular than 'Gossip Girl". The Live Feed. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
  10. ^ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20080904abcfamily01
  11. ^ Kissell, Rick. (July 15 208) TV originals drive small ratings gain Variety. Accessed August 24, 2008.
  12. ^ a b c Kissell, Rick. (August 6, 2008) 'American Teenager' stays hot Variety. Accessed August 24, 2008.
  13. ^ Kissell, Rick. (July 23, 2008) 'Secret' a teen dream Variety. Accessed August 24, 2008.
  14. ^ Kissell, Rick. (August 19, 2008) Olympic Games wins ratings gold Variety. Accessed August 24, 2008.
  15. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/nielsens-charts.htm
  16. ^ http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/39210607/m/598107421/p/2
  17. ^ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20080904abcfamily01
  18. ^ http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117991982.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&query=secret+life+of+the+american+teenager
  19. ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/09/10/abc-familys-secret-life-smacksdown-cw-and-90210/5048

External links

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