Perhaps the same audience that enjoyed 7th HEAVEN will find this show appealing.

I mean look how long 7th HEAVEN stayed on the air. I think there is an audience out there for this show. Really? It just felt all a little too neat and clean for me. She even had a promise ring (from her parents) as a reminder. Just as I was becoming interested in watching Amy deal with this life changing news, I was forced to watch a long scene in which Grace – the super hot, super peppy, super devote Christian – once again reminded her boyfriend of virtues of holding off sex until marriage. But the stick turned pink so I guess she did. (Classic Brenda Hampton – in her world, every premarital sex act has a consequence.) Poor Amy was so virginal she didn’t even know if she had sex. In the premiere episode, we watched as Amy found out she got pregnant after having sex for the first time at band camp. But by giving equal weight to all points of view the story seemed like a really long PSA. And when you have that established then go ahead and introduce other points of view or belief systems, as represented by other characters. Had the creator taken a stand and had the guts to tell the story from one perspective – that of the pregnant, Amy – then there might be something there.

The writers worked tirelessly to provide every single angle on the subject of teen sexuality that it came off as obvious, bland and almost preachy. I felt like I was watching an after school special with funding provided jointly by Planned Parenthood and the Catholic Church. Offended not by the subject matter or what the creator’s were trying to convey, but offended in the obvious and unimaginative way that it was done. I found the premiere episode to be incredibly cliched and so predictable that as a connoisseur of fine television (and ok, a lot of tasteless reality TV) I was almost offended. But to say I was disappointed is a bit too easy. THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER premiered last night on ABC Family but I got to check it out last week via an advanced screener. This is just my personal opinion on the show, and let face it…I’m not the demographic for this show to begin with. But I had quite a few emails asking me about this one so I thought I would just go for it and hope for the best.Before I go any further let me first say this: to each his own.

To be honest, I was afraid that the issues I had with the show were going to be misconstrued and the debate would turn to issues of religion and morality which really had nothing to do with why I didn’t care for the show. I really debated whether or not I was going to share my thoughts on THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER.

Secret life of american teenager