User reviews

Amy Juergens (Shailene Woodley) is a teen band geek who got pregnant in band camp. This is a high school soapy drama with a whole bunch of young actors. They're all good actors. The fact is a lot of the characters are whiny and gossipy. The older actors who played the parents include Steve Schirripa, Mark Derwin, Molly Ringwald, and Josie Bissett.

This is sometimes slow and tiresome. I don't think the actors are at fault. It's all in the writing. The characters talk a lot, and a lot until they start talking in circles. They keep going over the same issues again and again. Usually it's relationship issues with each other. For some reason, it's quite addictive bad TV.

I actually watch this show on a regular basis, but am slightly ashamed about it. It is indeed a ridiculous show, but no worse than any other soap opera I suppose. I read some of the other reviews that said that the characters are poorly developed, and I would have to agree. Amy, for being the main character is definitely not a likable character for some reason. She's whiny and fails to make a whole lot of sense. Although a silly show, I find myself watching it week after week. The dialogue is hilarious because it is so unrealistic. My husband detests the show and can't believe that I watch it. We have since made a game out of the ridiculous scripts: we count how many times the word "sex" is uttered in the show. That seems to make it much more entertaining to watch, and typically the count is up to 30 some times per show. Too funny!

I am 15, going on 16 in a few weeks. Being around the same age bracket/grade as most of the characters in this show, I can honestly say it is really, really off. Even the most genuine characters are phony. There are plot holes all over the place, and most things are never explained. Remember Rumer Willis? Who, what, where, when, wtf? Amy's dynamic with everyone just sucks, especially with Ben. According to them, they were in love after like two minutes. (A side note, the world love is tossed around excessively on this show, along with sex, funeral, baby, etc.) If they are so madly in love, why do they seem to hate each other? Another thing that bugs me is how nonchalant the parents are about their young children having "serious' relationships. Just because you are a high schooler does not mean the only thing you think about is sex/omg I need a boyfriend! The whole show is going nowhere, but it has found its place in my TV schedule as comic relief. I'm in too deep now, but if I were you, I would avoid Secret Life at all costs.

As a teenager--15 years old, in fact, the same as the main character--I have to say this is an awful, unrealistic, cardboard-cutout teenage drama program. While I understand the thinly veiled message of abstinence, it is not brought forth in a intelligent or believable manner. If we're old enough to have sex, I think we're old not to be pandered and talked down to, which seems to be the primary aim of the show. Amy, the main character, is a shallow, boring, sour character. The show's attempts to make her seem remotely geeky or normal at all tend to fall flat, and in general the plot and character development of all of the characters is very poor indeed. The script comes off cheesy and overdone, the acting is terrible, and it's really just a show of stereotypes, not interesting, complex people. Not real people. The dramatic story lines are not half as entertaining as they would be with real people, in real situations, with realistic reactions.

If it wasn't for Mr. Jurgans, the show wouldn't have kept me interested. Such a poorly written show. I think it has good intentions but the acting is bad. BAD. The lines are very repetitive. They say something and then repeat it just in a different order. Over and over. Every episode, every season. All the characters. It's annoying. The word sex is said probably over 50 times every episode. I understand it's basically the main topic but it's overdone. There's not much depth to the show. Amy is a miserable, miserable character. I just want to scream at her to shut up and look at how lucky she is and just be happy and complaining allllll the time. Her 2 "best friends" are not believable. They're not even good friends. Well neither is Amy. The little sister Ashley has her moments. She's funny sometimes but most of the time she mainly is just a little brat and I wanna slap her. I wish they'd have given Jack more story lines. He's basically there just to beg Grace for sex. Over, and over, and over... Adrian is hit or miss. You like her for a few episodes and then shes horrible. Over and over.. I think my favorite part of the show might be when Ricky matures and the main Dads character. He makes the episodes. Great sense of humor. Very likable. If it wasn't for the 2 of them I might have given up a while ago. I know for most people they still won't make it very far. I really don't even know how to explain this show or review it honestly. I'm shocked it lasted 7 seasons. I guess preteen fans kept it running. Not shocked to see that really no one has much work after this show.. except Shaliene really.. and Grace who's in talentless hallmark movies now. (Not all hallmark actors are talentless though, I do adore a fair amount of them) I just felt like there could have been so much more potential with this show had maybe different people been behind the scenes and people worked with the actors a little more to make them better. Sorry this was a horribly written review. Just as horrible as the show. Haha but really, if you're like 13, you'll probably like the show.. until the very end.. can you even call it an end!?

Honestly this show has some of the most ridiculous storylines ever. It is terribly written completely unrealistic. It has some of the worst acting I have ever seen on television ever. But I absolutely love it hahaha. I am hooked cant stop binge watching it. The fact that it is so god damn bad is whats makes this show so good. All the critics on here who are trying to expect this to be a theatrical masterpiece are delusional. Just sit back and enjoy it for what it is. Pure entertainment.

If you remember 7th Heaven, you probably noticed how the Camdens always suffered the same maladies at the same time. Mom's addicted to coffee, dad is taking too many Advil, son is smoking pot, other son is taking no-doz ... etc. You felt like you were getting hit over the head with the message every week, but at least it was a different message each week. Secret Life runs over you with a steamroller. Then, they back up over you and do it again, and again, and again, and OH Dear yet again. Aside from the flat, stereotypical, unlikable characters (yes, they even made a kid with Downs Syndrome a sex-obsessed total jerk too), they drone on and on about the only thing that is on any of their narrow minds. For fun, I counted the number of times they use the word "sex". It was 17 times just in the scenes from previous shows. For the show itself, the total was around 40 - including references to oral and anal sex as well as a mother recommending masturbation to her daughter. Of course, one must suspend disbelief while watching a fictional program, but how much can you hold back the urge to scream BULLS**T when a teenage boy tells his girlfriend that he wants to "have sex" for the fourteenth time in one episode. No teenage boy EVER got what he wanted by whining "I wanna have sex", yet this clown is climbing off of her in the very next scene. People DO NOT live this way. Although my daughter will not miss this show, I can see how one with no life experience might overlook the bizarre departure from reality. What I can't understand is why she devotes an hour of each week to something so bereft of entertainment value.

I agree with what a lot of people are saying, it's clichéd and preachy, BUT I also find in completely fascinating. That's my opinion, of course, but the whole premise is fairly new for TV. Sure, sure, we have about a bazillion lifetime movies about underage girls having babies, their parents wanting them to give the baby up or have an abortion and the father of the baby wanting or not wanting to be in the picture. But I can't recall watching a TV show about it.

For such a young cast, they're not half bad with the acting. Shailene Woodley is very cute, as far as annoying, well, I hate to break it to you, but she plays the typical fifteen year old, to a 'T'. She seems selfish and vain and emotional, because, stereotypically (which this show is all about, stereotypes), she is the perfect example of a fifteen year old, and to top the sundae off, she's pregnant. Ken Baumann is absolutely adorable. He's the perfect boy next door, geek chic, that a girl would like to have around. The rest of the cast is on the ball, for the most part. Molly Ringwald is a little stiff in my eyes, but that could be because I'm so use to watching her in her 80's glory.

The Characters are pretty much predictable and completely set in their stereotypical roles, and there are moments where you want to slap every single one of them. I don't remember being like that at 15, but that was way back in the day. Ricky... Ricky just blows my mind, that boy needs to be hosed down. And for most of the episodes I want to beat Adrian with a stick. But Amy's two gossiping gal pals crack me up, and the adorableness of Henry and Ashley (individually/together) is entertaining. The parents are all having just as much drama as their kids, which is somewhat mind blowing, but it leads to an entertaining quality.

Personally, I love it, my brand new addiction for the season. It's mind blowing, especially when Amy and Ben talk about forever and true love, but highly entertaining. I want to know what's going to happen next, for all of them ;) Worth a watch if you're bored. I think it's def a hit or miss program. Either you'll love it, or hate it. (Shrugs) ;)

The whole plot line is nothing but sex. Sex sex sex. From all walks of life; whether it is the meek girl who was taken advantage of, the player, the wannabe-player, the bad girl, the girl who wants to save it till marriage, the boyfriend who wants to pressure her to give in...

Seriously, there does not seem to be at least one sentence where the characters are not talking about intercourse. ALL of the characters.

It's nothing but stereotypes, and really bad dialogue. And unrealistic in regards to what life as a teen really is like. If it is suppose to be a satire, or a spoof of some sort...doesn't seem to be doing a great job.

And for one thing, the adults themselves appear to be brainless. If a principle KNEW that a boy wanted to join the band just because he wanted to pick up girls....wouldn't it be refused overall? The kid even asked for a condom!

And I tire of the stereotypical portrayal of girls who do want to wait till marriage. Not all of them are girly, pushy, over religious and braggy about their chastity. But yet will eventually will always "give in" to their apparent urges.

And not all teenage boys are crazy horny 24/7 with bad intentions on their minds.

The whole sex theme and teen pregnancy is getting old - especially if it isn't done well and creatively.

It gives a whole general bad impression on American society, as if all teens are really like this.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager shows everything you see in normal television shows about teenage life, however, it is still addicting.

To those who say that it is stupid and unrealistic, I understand where you come from, but I have to disagree. I am actually fifteen years old, and a freshmen in high school. My school is very similar to The Secret Life school as far as students go. I come from a very large, blue-ribbon, public school, and with so many kids, and so many kids who want to go to my school (although they think we're stuck up rich kids), I've met many people who are exactly like one of these characters.

There is a senior at my school who happened to get pregnant. There are the perfect boyfriends, the perfect cheerleaders, the slutty cheerleaders, the band geeks, and the player guys. There are also, however, normal people (and I'd like to think I'm one of them).

The Secret Life shows the basic high school stereotypes, not everyone. It does not show the 'normal' children. Christians are not all preppy, the boyfriends aren't usually perfect or terrible, best friends don't always gossip (although they often do) about what's a secret, and not all sex addicts have trouble at home in some way or another.

If you actually understand the high school brain mind, not individually in each student, but as a whole, it's a perfect show. When someone from your school gets pregnant, the whole truth about everyone involved in the littlest way unravels.

I'm sorry, but how much money did ABC Family have to pay the New York Post to call the show "beautifully written" when it truly is anything but. Brenda Hampton has no sense of what a teenager really acts like, all she seems to go on is stereotypes from other shows/movies. Grace is the overachiever who wants to go to med school: of course she's pretty and blonde. Adrian is Hispanic/Latina, of course she's the school hussy, and of course she has a mother who is never around. Jack is on the football team, so of course he'd be dating Grace. Amy is such a waste of a character. No teen is that naive, unless they have some sort of metal disability, and no: I am not dogging on the mentally disabled. Ricky is actually the only character that I could possibly see as a real teen. Ashley's personality doesn't fit the girl playing her, at all. Is she monotone, or is that her voice for the character? She's a very pretty girl and I do hope she can shed this image of Ashley.

The only reason why ABC Family picked up this show is because all the ten year old girls are watching it. And can we be serious for a second? Why do you think this airs on ABC Family and not ABC or the CW? Everyone tries to pinpoint "Oh this is a family show, this is great for ABC Family!" Not really, if Secret Life had good writing, then maybe another network would have picked it up. Brenda Hampton sold the show to ABC Family because they're so desperate for ratings they'll pick up anything that they hope will make them money. Oh and another thing, the Network acts as if Secret Life is some record breaking hit for TV. It really isn't. The pilot averaged 1.2 million viewers. That's hardly anything to the big Networks like Fox or NBC. Hell, even The CW has better ratings! The reruns of Gilmore Girls get just as good ratings from my last comparison, and that is a show that's syndicated. As a future screenwriter for TV, it pains me to know this trash is airing...

Brenda Hampton really needs to just... stop.

This has to be the most degrading show on television. Not in a physical sense but in a mental sense. The female characters are beyond naive and ignorant and the male characters are down right jerks. As a female who not that long ago was a teen, I felt like I was hurting the human race by giving this ratings. What a way to put down American teens. This is NOT the secret life of the American teenager. What a way to generalize. The main character Amy is made out to be some innocent damsel in distress who gets pregnant her very first time with a guy. While yes you can get pregnant your first time. Most teens who have kids have had sex more then once. Most of them, though made stupid decisions also weren't as naive as Amy. It's insulting. Teens know how to get pregnant and they certainly know how NOT to get pregnant. It is a choice they're making. This show makes Amy out to be so innocent she didn't know she was having sex. What??? I can hear teens now using that excuse after seeing this. Why are guys always the jerks. They make it seem like all of the problems on the show are the fault of the male characters. The female characters eat up everything the male characters feed to them as if they are so easily coaxed and have no minds of their own. They make the male characters to be out only for themselves with nothing else on their minds but to coax these "innocent" females who don't know any better. Please, females aren't stupid. In this day and age, we're strong, intelligent beings. Men aren't the enemy and they aren't all out for themselves. Save your dignity and self respect by NOT watching this trash.

This is most definitely the cheesiest show I have ever seen, yet I still love watching this. My wife and I have been watching this since it first came out in 2008.

The acting isn't anything remarkable, though it's not terrible. The story is mostly about sex and high school relationships (obviously), but the humor of it all is really captivating. There are lots of different primary characters on this show, and they all have their unique quirkiness. The high school portrayed in this show is nothing like mine was; all the teens are driving really nice cars, live in really nice houses and seems only possible in a nice Californian city.

I highly recommend this show. But, if you can't overcome the extravagant cheesiness and laugh, you won't like this show.

Nobody on this show seems to be able to keep a secret. I guess they wouldn't dare call it "The Sex Life of the American Teenager," though that would make more sense. By the way, where is this town? I guess "Lisa Douglas" (Eva Gabor, on "Green Acres") would call it "Hootersville". It is a town where nobody has "bad hair," zits or braces, where every high school girl either wears a Wunderbra or doesn't need one and where all the boys are just as pretty as the girls. Since this is ABC Family's signature show, ABC Family may be soon known as the "Calvin Klein Network".

Two standouts (in more ways than one) are Francia Raisa and India Eisley. Raisa has to be the hottest female on TV. Eisley is the daughter of actress Olivia Hussey, who wowed and shocked audiences with her performance 40 years ago as a 14 year old topless Juliet in the 1968 best picture nominee. While her line readings seem almost robotic, she manages to steal every scene she's in.

In addition for being a pedophile's dream, "Secret Life ..." boasts some interesting twists. The "bad boy," Ricky, frequently makes more mature and sensible observations and decisions than any of the adults. George, the "father figure" is actually more of a kid than any of the teenagers. Steve Schirripa, who made such a memorable gangster in "The Sopranos" plays against type, and acts more mature and loving than most of the other adults. While the writing tends to solve too many problems too quickly, the show takes some very interesting turns. It's certainly worth a watch.

I was excited to see this show initially because of Molly Ringwald, and looked forward to the premiere for several weeks. I was not one bit disappointed. Finally, another good 7th Heaven type show that deals with serious issues in a family friendly way. The young actors are all very good and believable, and although it is a little bit cheesy, I would prefer this show to Hannah Montana anyday. After the first episode when they showed the teaser for the upcoming season I was so excited to see more and wished I could buy the whole season right then! I can't wait to see what this show has in store and plan on recommending it to everyone!

I disagree with most of the reviewers on here...they are taking it way too seriously. This is not My So-Called Life or Freaks and Geeks, no, but it is an ABC Family show, so, it is what it is...the acting is average, the script is average and the characters are average. Yes, it seems like some long after school special on sex and "love" and pregnancy, and it appears as though they are trying to teach kids a lesson on pregnancy, sex and love, I think. Wish there were some other story lines. When I hear the words pregnancy and sex 1000's of times, it gets pretty boring, but I can't stop watching it. And, hey, I am 45 and even back in my day, this is not how teens lived, but then if they were to portray my high school days, it would have to be on HBO. I really don't think people are like this in real life, but maybe that was the intention; to be pretty bland so it fit in as a family show. But, for a family show, they do talk about masturbation a lot... ha, ha! And, the acting is like kids who took acting 101. I don't think any of them have gone on to do anything else. Also, one thing I noted...they had to represent every single person who exists in the world...black, Asian, gay, Down's Syndrome, atheist, Christian, etc. etc. I am surprised they did not have a midget. But, really, it is okay and a bit addictive, even though it is the same theme over and over and over. Okay for a teen to watch or an old gal like me. On Netflix watch it now, so I got desperate. P.S. Amy looks like she is 12. Kinda creepy.