Network: ABC Family
Episodes: Ongoing (hour)
Seasons: Ongoing
TV show dates: July 1, 2008 – present
Series status: Has not been cancelled
Performers include: Shailene Woodley, Daren Kagasoff, Mark Derwin, India Eisley, Greg Finley, Kenny Baumann, Jorge Pallo, Megan Park, and Molly Ringwald.
TV show description:
From 7th Heaven creator Brenda Hampton, this drama centers on a pregnant teenager, Amy Juergens (Shailene Woodley), who is also a french horn player in the Ulysses Grant High School band. Amy’s boyfriend is Ben Boykewich (Ken Bauman), a cymbals player in the band who comes from a wealthy family. He’d like to marry Amy and support the baby, even though he’s not the father.
The baby daddy is actually Ben’s fellow percussionist, Ricky Underwood (Daren Kagasoff), who had a one night stand with Amy at band camp. The bad boy of the school, he’s the opposite of Ben with a father who’s a child molester, drug addict, and prison resident.
Ricky’s troubled female counterpart at school is Adrian Lee (Francia Raisa), who’s known as the school slut. Often left at home alone by her flight attendant mother, Adrian thinks that she and Ricky belong together. Adrian has had flings with many guys, including Ricky, her stepbrother Max (Zachary Abel), and football player Jack Pappas (Greg Finley).
Despite being the cause of Jack’s break up with cheerleader Grace Bowman (Megan Park), Adrian and Grace have become friends. Grace is a devout Christian, and hopes to become a doctor like her father, Marshall (John Schneider). Her mother, Kathleen, was once married to Amy’s father and Grace has an adopted brother, Tom (Luke Zimmerman), who has Down’s Syndrome.
Amy’s parents, Anne and George Juergens (Molly Ringwald and Mark Derwin) are estranged. Anne discovered George was having the affair with Adrian’s mother, Cindy Lee (Paola Turbay), then had a one night stand and filed for divorced. She supports Amy but doesn’t want her to rely on them to raise the baby. Ashley (India Eisley) is Anne and George’s youngest daughter who dresses in a dark gothic style, and prefers to not have friends. When George moved out, Ashley went with him.
As the new guidance counselor, Marc Molina (Jorge Pallo) is in charge of keeping the peace at the high school. He’s always had an open door policy but, once everything becomes so complicated with Amy’s pregnancy and the multitude of affairs, Molina decides to stick to academic counseling.
More about:
The Secret Life of the American Teenager
