The Secret Life Of The American Teenager Episode 8

ABC Family's "Secret Life of the American Teenager'' (8 p.m. Tuesday) has become a hit — averaging more than three million viewers per week — and I have to admit I'm surprised.When I reviewed the first episode earlier this summer, I didn't have much faith the show would garner a big audience. True, it's from the producers of "7th Heaven,'' but it was and is so poorly acted at times with such simple, un-"Juno''-like dialogue, I didn't think it stood a chance.Yet here it is, ABC Family's highest-rated series ever, continuing to grow and reaching its best ratings yet last week (3.6 million viewers, outperforming the first-season average of The CW's "Gossip Girl,'' according to The Hollywood Reporter).

Perhaps this is the TV equivalent of the old notion that no matter how much kids and teens protest, they are actually comforted by boundaries. "Secret Life'' may be about a pregnant teen and may feature other sexually active teen-agers, but it's clear that the kids having sex are "bad'' or at least damaged while those abstaining are "good.'' Perhaps the show reinforces the choices made by the "good'' kids watching.

There's also a certain level of reality to the show, unlike, say, in "Gossip Girl.'' Yes, the kids who spout statistics out of a textbook or STD brochure don't seem credible, but others do. The geeky guy who's crushing on the pregnant, band-geek girl tells her almost instantly he loves her after they start dating. It's a ridiculous move and not something even geeky Seth on "The O.C.'' would do, but it feels entirely real (or perhaps I'm just revealing too much about myself as a teen-ager).

That's not to say the show has gotten particularly better, although perhaps it's now more layered. Catching up on past episodes, my jaw dropped at this ridiculous plot device: A gas station was giving out free tampons with a fill-up. On what planet does that happen?And just as I got done shaking my head over that, Bobby "Bacala'' Baccalieri from —The Sopranos'' (Steve Schirripa) walked in and revealed himself to be playing the father of geeky Ben (Kenny Baumann). Wonders never cease.