When The Secret Life of the American Teenager premiered on ABC Family last July it was somewhat of a surprise; teen pregnancy seems a bit outside of the comfort zone for a channel owned by Disney. So here was this show where a normal teenager got pregnant by making one single mistake, the main character Amy (played by Shailene Woodley) can hardly be considered the loose type. They have other characters on the show to take care of it, one of which is the father of the baby (Ricky).

So here was a chance for ABC Family to shine light on a problem which everyone knows exists but no one really seems to want to confront. Sure there are shows where the premise contains teen pregnancy (good example being Gilmore Girls) but it never actually shows the daily dealings as far as the issue is concerned. At first The Secret Life of the American Teenager actually seemed to be doing that; portraying a somewhat realistic view of the subject.

There were story lines in the first part of the show which didn’t quite make sense or were very realistic (certain aspects around Ben becoming her boyfriend mainly) but the main storyline seemed to be intact. Amy finding out about the pregnancy and having to deal with the fact. There were other characters on the show obviously, characters she is involved with and the factor of a boyfriend was also added. The other characters served as support cast to the central storyline, then it all changed.

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On Sunday the Teen Choice Awards 2008 hosted by Miley Cyrus were recorded and they were aired yesterday. I haven’t seen the show yet because I wasn’t able to but I’ve seen the results of the awards. With seeing the results I can already see the main problem I have with this award show:

Choice Movie Action Adventure: “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.”
Choice Movie Drama: “Step Up 2: The Streets.”
Choice Movie Chick Flick: “27 Dresses.”
Choice Movie Bromantic Comedy: “What Happens in Vegas.”
Choice Movie Comedy: “Juno.”
Choice Movie Horror/Thriller: “I Am Legend.”
Choice Summer Movie Action Adventure: “Hancock.”
Choice Summer Movie Comedy: “Get Smart.”
Choice Movie Actor Drama: Channing Tatum, “Stop-Loss.”
Choice Movie Actress Drama: Keira Knightley, “Atonement.”
Choice Movie Actress Action Adventure: Rachel Bilson, “Jumper.”
Choice Movie Actor Comedy: Ashton Kutcher, “What Happens in Vegas.”
Choice Movie Actress Comedy: Ellen Page, “Juno.”
Choice Movie Actor Horror/Thriller: Will Smith, “I Am Legend.”
Choice Movie Actress Horror/Thriller: Jessica Alba, “The Eye.”
Choice Movie Villain: Johnny Depp, “Sweeney Todd.”
Choice Movie Breakout Female: Ellen Page, “Juno.”
Choice Movie Breakout Male: Drake Bell, “Superhero Movie.”
Choice TV Show Drama: “Gossip Girl.”
Choice TV Show Action Adventure: “Heroes.”
Choice TV Show Comedy: “Hannah Montana.”
Choice TV Reality Dance: “America’s Best Dance Crew.”
Choice TV Reality Music Competition: “American Idol.”
Choice TV Celebrity Reality: “The Hills.”
Choice Summer TV Show: “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”
Choice TV Actor Drama: Chad Michael Murray, “One Tree Hill.”
Choice TV Actress Drama: Blake Lively, “Gossip Girl.”
Choice TV Actress Action Adventure: Hayden Panettiere, “Heroes.”
Choice TV Actor Comedy: Steve Carrell, “The Office.”
Choice TV Actress Comedy: Miley Cyrus, “Hannah Montana.”
Choice TV Breakout Show: “Gossip Girl.”
Choice TV Breakout Star Female: Blake Lively, “Gossip Girl.”
Choice TV Breakout Star Male: Chace Crawford, “Gossip Girl.”
Choice TV Male Reality/Variety Star: David Cook, “American Idol.”
Choice TV Female Reality/Variety Star: Lauren Conrad, “The Hills.”
Choice TV Villain: Ed Westwick, “Gossip Girl”
Choice Music Single: Jonas Brothers, “When You Look Me in the Eyes.”
Choice Hook-Up: Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown, “No Air.”
Choice Music Male Artist: Chris Brown.
Choice Music Female Artist: Miley Cyrus.
Choice Music R&B Artist: Chris Brown.
Choice Breakout Group: Jonas Brothers.
Choice Music Love Song: Jonas Brothers, “When You Look Me in the Eyes.”
Choice Music R&B Track: Chris Brown, “Forever.”
Choice Music Rap/Hip-Hop Track: Lil Mama featuring T-Pain and Chris Brown, “Shawty Get Loose.”
Choice Summer Song: Jonas Brothers, “Burnin’ Up.”
Choice Male Hottie: Jonas Brothers.
Choice Female Hottie: Vanessa Hudgens.
Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon Female: Carrie Underwood.
Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon Male: Jonas Brothers.
Choice Comedian: Adam Sandler.
Choice Male Athlete: David Beckham.
Choice Female Athlete: Shawn Johnson.
Choice Action Sports Male: Ryan Sheckler.
Do Something Award: Chad Bullock.
Choice Most Fanatic Fans: David Archuleta.
Choice MySpacer: Ryan Sheckler.

If I counted correctly that’s 57 awards, a bit much if you ask me. Some categories seem a bit redundant. Can’t say that I can argue with the results the list is too long for that really, though they were decided by online vote and people were allowed to vote every day. At least it was Fox who decided on the nominees and not like MTV did also have an online vote for the VMA’s which resulted in probably the worst nominees list for any award show I’ve ever seen.

I might get back to the TCA’s once I’ve seen the show but for now people will have to do with the results.

ABC Family has ordered thirteen more episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Originally the show only had ten episodes but due to it’s success it has bee extended. The extra episodes will start airing in January.

So that means extra work for Shailene Woodley, she does a good job in the show though I’m honestly still not convinced about the show concept itself. But a lot of people like it and that’s the most important thing.