Just released on December 22nd, The Secret Life of the American Teenager is best described as a sensation on ABC Family! I had read some buzz about this tv series and unfortunately have been unable to see it on tv here in Canada until now. Canadians can now watch this show on Much Music (yay!) so I have some serious catching up to do. I could also pick up Volume One and Volume Two in stores which is another tempting idea.
Why all the buzz? This teen drama goes somewhere its fellow tv programming has never gone before.
Sure, we all have watched a secondary character on our favorite teen dramas either endure a pregnancy scare, or very rarely actually have a baby. Andrea Zuckerman in Beverly Hills 90210 did, but she was in college at the time. The most recent series I recall having a teen mom was Degrassi’s Mia but even then the show certainly wasn’t centered around the character’s life.
It’s a sign of the times, and probably long overdue. When I went to high school, I knew of one other student who was pregnant (uh…I went to a catholic high school with nuns….not such a good experience for that particular student let me tell you!) but that was a (long?) time ago. Now, teen pregnancy is increasingly common and hiding this aspect of teen life by not presenting it on tv is kind of ridiculous. “Let’s portray teen life without talking about that other stuff”. I think that is why The Secret Life of the American Teenager has been such a success. It’s just too bad it took this long for a network to realize that viewers would actually appreciate being a part of drama as it applies to many teens.
If you have this series on your regular programming, check it out the next time you’re channel surfing. Canadians, check out The Secret Life of the American Teenager on Much Music on Mondays. Or, if you’re like me and can’t stand not seeing a series from the very beginning, pick up Volumes One – Three on DVD now.
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