The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Season One
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Actor: Daren Kagasoff, Ken Baumann, Megan Park, Molly Ringwald, Shailene WoodleyBrand: ABC Family
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 173 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-12-30
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: ABC Family
Product features:
- 2008 Teen Choice Award
- Bonus Feature - On Set With the Cast
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
- English language with Spanish and French subtitles
- Widescreen (1.78:1)
DVD Reviews of The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Season One
DVD Review: This is not an after school special type of drama, it's a well-written, enjoyable series worth checking out!
Summary: 4 Stars
The ABC Family series "THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER" has definitely caught a lot of attention and eventually becoming ABC Family's top rated show.
Whereas the film "JUNO" was a popular film about teenage pregnancy, fortunately for "THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER", the series goes much more in depth of the one night stand, ramifications of being pregnant at a young age and the fact that sex is in the minds of many young teenagers and how some can practice abstinence and some find it very hard to do just that.
The series primarily focuses on the life of Amy Juergens (Shailene Woodley). Your typical girl next door. A 15-year-old who plays the French Horn in a band and part of a typical American family ala dysfunctional. She is devastated to find out that she is pregnant and doesn't know what to do, doesn't know how to explain it to her family and doesn't know if she can have a baby.
Meanwhile, her mother Anne (Molly Ringwald) is worried about her dad, George (Mark Derwin). George seems to be going on these business trips but in reality is having an affair. Amy has a 13-year-old sister named Ashley who is very rebellious.
But things have changed for Amy at band camp when she had sex with playboy drummer, Rickey. Although it lasted only seconds, it was enough to get her pregnant and now she must face the inevitable. Being 15-years-old and now pregnant.
But the series also has other teenagers at Ulysses S. Grant High School who have their own sort of problems. The others who have their own storyline in the series are:
Benjamin "Ben" Boykewich (Kenny Baumann) - A teenager who is Amy's boyfriend and will do anything for her. His father is "the sausage king" and his mother died several years ago. He offers to marry Amy. He has never been in a relationship before, thus sometimes he says things in the wrong moment. Although close to his father, when it comes to how he should approach his relationship with Amy, he listens to his best friends Henry and Alice and when times get tough, he seeks out the help from the school guidance counselor, Marc Molina (Jorge Pallo).
Rickey Underwood (Darren Kagasoff) - Rickey is the father of Amy's baby. He is the drummer in the band, very manipulative and a player. His "bed buddy" is Adrian but his goal is to have sex with devoted Christian, Grace Bowman. Rickey also is seeking therapy through Dr. Ken Fields (Ernie Hudson) due to being molested by his father when he was young and being bounced around in several foster homes.
Adrian Lee (Francia Raisa) - Very intelligent but somehow strayed in the wrong path and is a flirt who engages in sex with different guys. She is a majorette and always wonders who her real father is. She sleeps with Rickey and believes that a bad girl deserves a bad boy like him. She has slept with Grace Bowman's boyfriend Jack.
Grace Kathleen Bowman (Megan Park) - A devoted Christian and cheerleader who dates star football player Jack. She doesn't want to have sex until she gets married and wears a promise ring. Life changes for Grace when she catches Jack and Adrian kissing and then starts to have a friendship with Rickey, who she thinks is a good guy at heart.
Jack Pappas (Greg Finley II) - A football player who can't get his mind off sex. He's a son of the pastor but wants to have sex with Grace but because of her strict parents and devotion to her Christian faith, Jack ends up having sex with Adrian. Now having lost Grace, he wants her back.
Madison Cooperstein (Renee Olstead) and Lauren Treacy (Camille Winbush) are Amy's best friends. They are the only one's that know that she is pregnant but at the same time, they are quite talkative and word starts to get around the school.
Henry Miller (Allen Evangelista) and Alice Valko (Amy Rider) are a romantic couple and friends of Ben. Henry wants to have sex with Alice and Alice wants to wait. Alice is very smart and always spouting statistics.
I was actually quite amazed with "THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER". Compared to a lot of the teen dramas out on television right now, I found this series to be heartwarming, endearing and fantastic.
The character development was well-done and you actually like these characters. From the high school students to the parents and the school guidance counselor, everyone does a super job in their roles. And again, the stories are well-written and the pacing is well done.
Now, what problems did I have with the series? There were a few minor quibbles that made me want to pull out my hair. In one episode, Amy's best friends start fighting and challenging each other in who can get closer to Rickey (yes, the player and the person that got their best friend pregnant). Every episode was well-done but this episode was a bit far-fetched.
Sure, Rickey is a manipulative player that seems to hook these young teenagers to fighting for him, having sex with him or having interest in him but to see the Amy's best friends having a squabble over him and who can get closer to him was just a bit over-the-top. But outside of that, every episode is well done. The cast was well-selected and by the end of the series, even the parents start to get their own storyline as well. And play a major part not necessarily taking away anything from the teenagers storylines but showing that the parents play an important role in the life of a teenager.
And for some teenagers, life at home is not always happy.
For a character like Amy, who is pregnant and now having to deal with her parents separating is just a double whammy but we know in reality, high school life is complicated and unfortunate things do happen. Ben still has a hard time dealing with his mother's death, Rickey has a problem dealing with authority figures because he was betrayed by his own father and kicked out of so many foster homes, Grace's parents are just strict because they want their children to be Christian and make sound decisions and Adrian has a mother who is never home because she's an airline stewardess and thus, doesn't have a parent at home when she needs them and thus acts out.
The series is critically acclaimed and has done well against other competing teenage drama series and I can understand why. These characters are a good representation of people who you may know at high school and the parents and teenager relationships (or lack of it), also happens in reality.
So, the fact that this type of series is on television is special. "THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER" is a wonderful, heartwarming series that is well-written, well-acted and definitely worth watching and owning on DVD!
Description of The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Season One
Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 12/30/2008The secret in The Secret Life of the American Teenager becomes all too clear early on. After having sex for the first time, 15-year-old Amy (Shailene Woodley) becomes pregnant. Scared and unsure of what to do, Amy keeps it a secret from her parents, hoping she'll be able to figure things out. Created by Brenda Hampton, the series is slightly edgier than Hampton's breakthrough series 7th Heaven. Though controversial in topic, The Secret Life of the American Teenager still is a family drama with a twist of Juno thrown into it. In an adroit bit of casting, 1980s teen queen Molly Ringwald plays Amy's mom, Anne. Loving and supportive (but at times clueless), Anne is preoccupied by her philandering husband. The show tackles a myriad of subjects not often seen in family-oriented programming: broken chastity vows and child abuse. It also touches on the what differentiates a good girl from the class ?slut.? The script offers both preachy and snappy dialogue. When Anne tries to rush Amy's younger sister to school, the girl snaps back, ?At least I won't be late for my period.? One of the defining elements of the series is that while it clearly does not condone unwed pregnancy, it also doesn't condemn it. By having the stereotypical good girl make a bad choice and wind up pregnant, the series offers the premise that this could happen to anyone, even your Straight-A child wearing a purity ring. The Secret Life of the American Teenager depicts the shame of the pregnant girl, but also offers her hope and options. There's a sweet romance between Amy and Ben (Ken Baumann), who knows she's pregnant by a different boy but loves her anyway. Their verbal exchanges are reminiscent of the dialogue between Angela and Brian from My So-Called Life, except Amy appreciates Ben's adoration. The season finale is designed to leave viewers wondering whether Amy will keep her baby, give it up for adoption or have an abortion. Given that the series originally aired in 2008 on the ABC Family channel, it's a good guess that the latter isn't a viable option. But it leaves viewers curious as to how Amy will navigate pregnancy and childbirth with finishing school and living out her own so-called life.--Jae-Ha Kim
Stills from The Secret Life of the American Teenager (Click for larger image)
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