Viewers are getting in on the 'Secret'

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 1, 2008 | by Chuck Barney

Oh, if only 15-year-old Amy Juergens had a chance to watch the public-service announcements that follow every episode of her popular new show, "The Secret Life of the American Teenager." Those spots urge kids and their parents to maintain an open dialogue about sex and insist that "teen pregnancy is 100 percent preventable."

Of course, had Amy taken heed of such a noble message, there wouldn't be a show, and cable upstart ABC Family wouldn't be enjoying its best summer ratings ever.

In "Secret Life," Amy, a gawky band geek played with smooth conviction by Shailene Woodley, is, indeed, pregnant -- the result of a spontaneous, virginity-losing hookup with some school stud for whom she has no feelings.

"It wasn't fun and definitely not like what you see in the movies," she explains to her two BFFs.

And now, Amy is paying a heavy price for that unromantic blunder. Ugly rumors are spreading like a virus around Ulysses S. Grant High. She's barfing in bathroom stalls, her clothes no longer fit and she feels like a "whore."

Making matters worse, we're five episodes in and she has yet to inform her mother, played by Molly Ringwald, who, once upon a time, dealt with her own share of adolescent angst in all those addictive John Hughes movies.

Created by Brenda Hampton ("7th Heaven"), "Secret Life" is so earnest it creaks, and so didactic and simplistic in stretches, you might have the urge to plunge into the DVD set of "My So-Called Life," which handled teen trauma with substantially more grit and wit.

But "Secret Life" must be doing something right, because it's resonating with young viewers, especially females. The show's ratings have grown every week, with the fifth episode attracting 3.6 million viewers -- more than any episode of The CW's over-hyped "Gossip Girl" and -- OMG! -- it didn't even need salacious ads to do so. "Secret Life" is also a hit online, where last week it held down three spots in the iTunes Top 10, including No. 2.

ABC Family, in a no-brainer move, has already ordered a second season.

"Secret Life" benefits from great timing. It taps into a national conversation about teen pregnancy that has been fueled by pop- cultural fare such as "Juno" and "The Baby Borrowers," as well as real-life headlines about new teen mom Jamie Lynn Spears and the 17 Massachusetts students who allegedly plotted their pregnancies.

And despite its nagging flaws, there is much to admire about the series. Woodley's Amy, first and foremost, is an engaging character and you can't help but root for her. She also shares a strong chemistry with an adorable geek named Ben (Kenny Baumann), who, bless his sweet naive soul, wants to marry her ("Let me be your prince," he says).

Another compelling character is Grace (Megan Park), a cute cheerleading captain, who is determined to uphold her Christian values and maintain her virginity until marriage, despite a hunky boyfriend -- and most of her classmates -- who seem to have sex on the brain. In a commendable approach, the show's writers do not mock or belittle Grace's beliefs.

"Secret Life" also earns points for not glamorizing, in any way, Amy's pregnancy. It doesn't bring her any new admirers (though it gains her some sympathy from a previously snotty younger sister). It is not viewed as some really cool adventure. Instead, a frazzled Amy is fraught with guilt and self-loathing as she struggles with a life- altering dilemma she never saw coming.

That's an important message to send to young viewers, as is the one concerning Amy's background. It would have been trite to make the character part of a broken, low-income family. Instead, she's a smart, middle-class "good girl" with supportive parents and lofty aspirations beyond high school.

The show, along with those public-service spots, is obviously saying that teen pregnancy can happen to anyone, anywhere. And that should be no secret.

Reach Chuck Barney at cbarney@bayareanewsgroup.com. Also check out his "TV Freak" blog at www.ibabuzz.com/tvfreak.Cable series-- WHAT: "The Secret Life of the American Teenager"-- WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-- WHERE: ABC Family-- GRADE: B