'The Secret Life of an American Teenager:' What a Great Show

Looking for a “great” television show that you can watch with the family? Then NBC’s “The Today Show” has a recommendation for you: “The Secret Life of the American Teenager!” Never mind that it’s about a pregnant fifteen-year-old. During the July 23 “Today Talk” host Kathie Lee Gifford and guest host Steve Schirripa were discussing the ABC family show “The Secret Life of an American Teenager,” which Schirripa stars in.

Schirripa described the show as being, “about a fifteen year old kid that gets pregnant and how it affects everyone’s life, and I mean everyone – everyone at school and the other kids and it really is show that you could watch with your kids.” Gifford touted, “And learn something.” Yep – a great show to learn about sex, promiscuity and contraceptives.

Gifford also praised the show because “it’s got great critical raves because of Brenda Hampton who’s behind it.” Gifford apparently didn’t read CMI’s 2008 article about the show’s reviews. “The Los Angeles Times summed up “Secret Life” by stating, “the tone of the pilot [episode] careens between an after-school special and “American Pie,” with a bit of “Pretty in Pink” grabbed along the way.”  The New York Times called it “a parody of an after-school special” and said “‘Secret Life’ doesn’t take the fun out of teenage pregnancy, it takes the fun out of television.”  The Hollywood Reporter said ‘it feeds into parental hysteria in ridiculously one-dimensional ways.’”

But to Gifford it’s “that great show.” Schirripa also said, “And it’s good stuff. It’s funny; it’s got a lot of drama. It’s got a little bit of everything. You cry. You laugh.” Well, save the laughter for the ridiculousness of the “Today Talk’s” conversation.