Airs: Tuesdays at 8/7c
Network: ABC Family
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Review - "The Secret Life of the American Teenager"
Reviewer: Charise Payne
Rating:
"The Secret Life of the American Teenager" premiered on July 1 with 2.8 million viewers tuning in, which cemented the show in ABC Family's summer line-up. The show follows the life of Amy Juergens (Shailene Woodley), a polite yet shy band geek, and, in her father's words, "liked by the boys" because of it. What he doesn't know is how much she is "liked by the boys", because when she goes to band camp for the summer, Amy is impregnated by the school stud.
Though it does have a good cast (Molly Ringwald, Jossie Bissett, Renee Olstead, and Mark Derwin), the script is wanting. The show is full of clichés (the mother making pot roast, the beautiful blonde virgin, the Latin temptress, the younger sister trying to push the limits, the clueless parents). At one point, I felt like I was watching a John Hughes film, which would have been great if the script would have been able to handle the clever dialogue and banter of one of his films, but it couldn't.
The show has some interesting characters and some storylines that I am interested in seeing again, but overall, it lacks depth. It is taking serious subject matter, like teenage pregnancy, and being very flippant with it. The series feels disjointed, like it couldn't decide if it was a drama or a comedy. It needs to make up its mind.
"The Secret Life of the American Teenager" is the brainchild of Brenda Hampton, creator of the famed "7th Heaven", so the series has a built-in target audience and is good for families to watch together. It has some Christian themes which are not-so-subtly thrown in your face, but the intent is good. But unless it improves shortly, the audience will waver.
I like what the show it trying to do: bring teenage life and problems back into the discussion at family dinner, but I don't like how they are going about it. I was really hoping for a new "My So Called Life", something with meat and witty dialogue, but as of yet, it ain't happening — let's hope it improves.
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