Last updated: 1:36 pm
August 29, 2008
Posted: 3:38 am
August 29, 2008
TEENAGERS might be skilled at keeping secrets, but this isn't one of them.
It's "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," and it's no secret to the approximately 3.5 million teens and parents who have been watching this drama series on ABC Family about a 15-year-old "good kid" who agrees to have sex for her first and only time with an older cad and gets pregnant.
This series - created by Brenda Hampton, creator of "7th Heaven" - premiered July 1, and before you could say "Juno," it became the summer's top TV drama for teens.
"It's kind of the 'heart' show of the summer, and it's clearly struck a chord," says Paul Lee, president of ABC Family.
He said the show was developed after the network conducted intensive research into the hot-button issues on the minds of its core audience, 14- to 28-year-olds.
Apparently, those issues included sex and accidental pregnancy, and also family issues such as adultery, separation, divorce and single-parenting.
This series covers them all, but somehow refrains from dealing with any of them in the salacious manner of other teen-focused shows such as the CW's "Gossip Girl," which is being so heavily promoted in advance of its season premiere this Monday that you would assume it had a much larger following than the lowly 2.5 million viewers it managed to attract per episode in its inaugural season.
While "Gossip Girl" concerns itself with filthy-rich teens living in Manhattan, "American Teenager" is about average folks - teens and their families who live in a typical suburb and attend public school.
The cast of "American Teenager" is a combination of young newcomers and seasoned vets. Shailene Woodley plays the straight-A student, Amy, who gets pregnant; Kenny Baumann, who looks like a 15-year-old Bob Saget, plays her well-meaning boyfriend, Ben; and Daren Kasagoff plays Rickie, the upperclassman who seduced Amy at band camp.
Brat Pack legend Molly Ringwald plays Amy's mom; Steven Schirripa (Bobby Bacala of "The Sopranos") plays Ben's widower father, a Polish meat merchant known as The Sausage King (he's great in the role too); and Josie Bissett ("Melrose Place") and John Schneider ("The Dukes of Hazzard") play the parents of Grace (Megan Park), a Christian cheerleader. In addition, she has a brother with Down syndrome - Luke Zimmerman, who steals every scene he's in.
Nine episodes out of the show's first 11 have aired so far (Tuesdays at 8 p.m.). With Amy's pregnancy far from over with only two episodes to go, 12 more episodes are in production. They're expected to premiere next January.
"This is a show about really important issues, but we do it responsibly," Lee said. "I like to think we've promoted more conversation between parents and kids than was there before."
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