| The Secret Life of the American Teenager | |
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| Also known as | Secret Life |
| Genre | Teen drama |
| Created by | Brenda Hampton |
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| Directed by |
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| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Dan Foliart |
| Opening theme | "Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love", performed by Molly Ringwald |
| Composer(s) | Dan Foliart |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 121 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Brenda Hampton |
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| Location(s) | Los Angeles, California |
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| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
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| Distributor | Disney–ABC Domestic Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC Family |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original release | July 1, 2008 – June 3, 2013 |
| External links | |
| abcfamily |
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The series received generally mixed reviews from mainstream critics when it began broadcasting, but was well received among female and teenage viewers. The pilot episode broke the record for the highest rated debut on ABC Family with 2.82 million viewers, a record previously held by Kyle XY. The season one finale brought in 4.50 million viewers, beating that night's episode of Gossip Girl, which had less than half its usual number of viewers. Premiering to mostly positive reviews from critics and being well received among viewers, the second season of Secret Life opened with the largest audience for the series, posting a series high in total viewers with 4.68 million viewers; in adults 18–34, it was the number one scripted original premiere of summer 2009. Furthermore, the mid-season premiere became ABC Family's most watched telecast of all time with viewers ages 12–34, with more than three million viewers watching.[2]
The show earned the Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer TV Show during its premiere season,[3][4] and spawned a book entitled The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens.[5]
Contents
Season synopsis
Season 1
In season one, fifteen-year-old Amy Juergens finds out that she is pregnant after having sex at band camp with a handsome and popular boy, Ricky Underwood. Amy first confides in her two best friends Lauren and Madison about it. Amy also tells Ben Boykewich (the guy she started dating after becoming pregnant) the truth, but he is surprisingly supportive and offers to marry her anyway, despite the protests of his friends, Henry and Alice. When Ricky finds out he is the father, he is willing to be a part of his future child's life, causing Adrian Lee, Ricky's friend with benefits to become jealous, especially since Ricky already has his sights on the sweet and virginal Grace Bowman, who was going out with Jack Pappas until he cheated on her with Adrian. Much to Adrian's surprise, Grace is not angry at her, and the two girls become friends despite being romantic rivals. Ricky and Ben also compete with each other for Amy's attention and at the end of the season, Amy has her child, a boy whom her sister, Ashley, names John. Amy decides to keep John, after struggling with the decision over the course of the season. Ricky said he would do anything to take care of his new son, John.Season 2
In season two, Amy's parents Anne and George are divorced, and Anne even begins dating again, but when she becomes pregnant again, it is revealed that the baby is George's. At the same time, Ashley begins her freshman year at Grant High and resents the legacy Amy has accidentally created as a teenage mother so she befriends a gay classmate named Griffin and they both pledge to remain abstinent throughout high school. Ben returns from his summer Italy trip. Meanwhile, Amy struggles to raise John and frequently argues with Ricky over custodial arrangements, especially since Ben is becoming jealous of Ricky's constant presence. Eventually, Ben and Amy break up while Ricky and Adrian have agreed to date officially but Ricky has issues being faithful. Grace loses her virginity to Jack on the same night her father dies in a plane crash and is wracked with guilt. She blamed Jack and herself for her father's death which causes Jack to be so upset that he starts drinking. Grace refused to get out of the car to attend her father's funeral, so Ricky forces her to. Grace's brother Tom has trouble adjusting when their mother decides to remarry again. Adrian begins to reach out to Amy in order to make peace, so Amy, John, and Ricky can be a family with less drama. The season's events culminate with Adrian's cheating on Ricky with Ben on the night of the Mother/Daughter dance, in an attempt to get back at Ricky for kissing Amy. Ricky is angry at both, breaking up with Adrian and refusing to forgive Ben, thus crushing their already-fragile friendship.Season 3
In season three, everyone finds out Adrian is pregnant with Ben's baby, except for Amy. So, Ben and Amy continue to date and start considering taking their relationship to the next level, while Ben struggles to tell Amy about Adrian. George and Anne Juergens have officially divorced and Anne lives closer to her mother while George stays at the house with Amy and Ashley. Ashley drops out of school and begins homeschooling herself. Kathleen Bowman's husband goes to Zimbabwe for a medical mission to bring aid to third world people and returns in the season finale with a proposal that he and Kathleen return to live and explore the world. Kathleen is hesitant to accept, not wanting to leave Grace and Tom behind by themselves. Towards the middle of the season, Amy and Ricky begin to date, and everyone is doubtful that Ricky will be faithful. Adrian and Ben decide to get married and the ceremony occurs near the end of the season. In the two-part season finale, Ben and Adrian are living together in their condo and Adrian begins to sense that something might be wrong with their baby. They decide to call the doctor, who has them meet her at the hospital as soon as possible. The baby is revealed to have died, which leaves everyone devastated. Amy is upset by this and decides to have sex with Ricky instead of going away for the weekend.Season 4
In season four, Amy and Ricky begin to get closer when Amy and John begin to move in with Ricky in his apartment, which is above the butcher shop. Meanwhile, Ashley leaves to go on a road trip with her friend Toby. Grace goes to Didiju and meets a new guy named Daniel who later becomes her boyfriend. Jack and Madison break up forcing Jack to do all the senior stuff with Grace who he is still in love with. Adrian is depressed as she lost her baby and Ben wants to leave, but doesn't have the heart to do so. Adrian figures out that he wants to leave, and tries to seduce him so she can get pregnant again. Later Adrian sets her goal towards Ricky. Ricky proposes to Amy and she accepts. Afterwards, Jesse has a graduation party and everyone is invited. Adrian goes with Omar, her new boyfriend. Daniel's ex-girlfriend shows up at the party and says she wants him back. Ricky kisses Adrian one last time as per her wish and she claims she is "free" from him, after which her new boyfriend Omar breaks up with her claiming that the kiss was "totally disrespectful." The next morning outside, Grace asks Jack about Adrian's theory, and then end up kissing which is caught on a picture sent to Daniel by Raven (his ex-girlfriend), causing him to break up with Grace. Madison also sleeps with Jesse ending with 2 broken friendships and 1 broken relationship. Ben also shuns Henry when he sleeps with Adrian at the party because he was disloyal. Ben meets the lake house neighbor, Dylan, and she and her friends turn out to be a bad influence on him. Kathleen goes to Africa to learn that Marshall was cheating with her and already had a girlfriend and a son there who comes back to live with their family. In the last episode, Anne comes out with the fact that she really is gay, but when Amy is told, she is very upset and believes she is saying that because George is trying to have a good excuse as of why he cheated and also got back with Kathleen.Cast and characters
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- Shailene Woodley as Amy Juergens
- Kenny Baumann as Ben Boykewich
- Mark Derwin as George Juergens
- India Eisley as Ashley Juergens (seasons 1–4; guest season 5)
- Greg Finley as Jack Pappas
- Daren Kagasoff as Ricky Underwood
- Jorge-Luis Pallo as Marc Molina (season 1; guest season 2)
- Megan Park as Grace Bowman
- Francia Raisa as Adrian Lee
- Molly Ringwald as Anne Juergens (seasons 1–4; guest star season 5)
- Steven R. Schirripa as Leo Boykewich (seasons 3–5; recurring seasons 1–2)
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