No secrets here: ‘Secret Life of the American Teen’ doesn’t live up to hype
By Casey Gillis on Jun. 26, 2008
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The buzz surrounding the new ABC Family series “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” which premieres at 8 p.m. Tuesday night, has largely focused on two things: creator Brenda Hampton, who also produced the long-running WB series “7th Heaven,” and indie film-turned-Oscar-nominee “Juno.”
Like that film, “Secret Life” is about a teenager dealing with an unexpected pregnancy, and many have wondered how the woman who brought us Rev. Camden and his wholesome “Heaven” clan could’ve come up with it.
The comparisons are inevitable, but this is no “Juno.” It feels more like a hokey after-school special and is filled with the same schlocky dialogue we came to expect on “7th Heaven.”
So many of the characters are one-dimensional. There are the good Christians who would make Rev. Camden proud: cheerleader Grace and her football player boyfriend Jack, who have vowed to stay celibate until marriage.
Then you’ve got the bad seeds: drummer Ricky, a player who prides himself on sleeping with as many girls as possible, and Adrian, a Lolita-esque majorette in the marching band who sets her sights on Jack.
The only real bright spots are Amy, the teen who finds herself in the “Juno” way, and Ben, the boy who’s falling for her (but who is not the baby’s father).
Ben is like many fast-talking, wisecracking TV and movie teens who have come before him. Think Pacey on “Dawson’s Creek,” Zack Morris on “Saved By the Bell” or even Ferris Bueller. Ben is a little awkward, but covers it up with jokes and wise-beyond-his-years dialogue (he actually calls girls “dames”).
Amy is an average kid who doesn’t really stand out in a crowd, but she’s about to. Her pregnancy and how it came to be are dealt with in a very real and honest way. It would just hold more weight if the people around her didn’t seem like cardboard cutouts of different character types.
Unfortunately, clichéd characters aren’t the series’ only problem. Plot points, especially Amy and Ben’s burgeoning romance, are moved along too quickly and too much happens off-screen.
When the show opens, Ben is lusting after Grace but sets his sights on Amy at the recommendation of a couple pals.
The next thing you know, Ben and Amy are attending a school dance together, and you have no real idea how they wound up there. And after they exchange two lines of dialogue, it cuts to Ben saying he likes Amy.
Huh? How did this happen? I would have enjoyed watching a few cute scenes of them getting to know each other. If we only see them talk for two minutes, how are we supposed to root for them as a couple?
Hey, writers: show me, don’t tell me.
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