Abc Family Secret Life of the American Teenager Long Promo

A teen drama on ABC Family mainly focusing on six teens in high school, one of whom is pregnant. Created past Brenda Hampton of 7th Heaven fame. In Evolution Hell for ten years, it finally got picked up by ABC Family unit. Information technology ran from 2008 to 2013.

This series provides examples of:

Abusive Parents:
- Ricky's nascency parents.
- Adrian'south parents can exist seen equally this from a betoken of neglect. Ruben wasn't there for Adrian in her first sixteen years of life, but shows upward almost enervating dearest and respect. In ane scene in season two, he tells Adrian that Ricky's unfaithfulness is a consequence of her inability to go along with John'due south mother, Amy. In season three, he tells her that he will leave her and her female parent if she gets an abortion. He also pressures Adrian into accepting Ben's wedlock proposal earlier he shows upwardly. Though in season five, he tells her that she can marry any guy she wants to in the future when she wants to.
- Anne and George are often seen as this when it comes to their neglect of Ashley and her mental instability and depression cocky-esteem.
- Ethan was stabbed by his begetter.
Histrion Allusion: Molly Ringwald frequently makes allusions to her roles playing a teenager/teenage female parent.
Added Alliterative Appeal: Male child, does Brenda Hampton love to use this trope.
Alcoholic Parent: Ricky and Ben have this in mutual. Ben'south mother Sarah too had these. His maternal grandparents died in a car accident every bit a result. Thus, Leo warns Ben not to drink.
All Girls Want Bad Boys: Ricky always has at least two girls into him. At that place was even a point early on when he had merely recently knocked up Amy, was having sex with Adrian, on the verge of dating Grace, and made out with Lauren who was fighting with Madison over him.
- Lampshaded past Ben in "Circular 2": "He'due south the bad boy. He's the one all the girls want."
  - Likewise lampshaded in "Flip Flop": "Nice guys finish terminal."
All Guys Want Cheerleaders: Grace. Adrian, meanwhile, is a majorette.
Amicably Divorced: George and Kathleen, as well every bit George and Anne.
- Leo and Betty and Ben and Adrian. Also Kathleen and Jeff take an amicable split in season four.
And Knowing Is Half the Boxing: Shailene Woodley'southward "Teenage pregnancy is 100% preventable" PSAs.
As Herself: Bristol Palin showed up for 1 scene when Amy was at a music program for teen moms.
Asian and Nerdy: Henry and Alice.
Attempted Rape: Grace, who avoided it by threatening her attackers with a broken bottle and past getting some last-minute assist from Ricky. The whole thing was picked up on a nearby building's security camera and, for no apparent reason, the local news and general populace treated the footage similar information technology was the funniest thing e'er.
Babies Make Everything Ameliorate - Kind of averted for a while with Amy and Ricky, but ultimately played straight.
- Subverted for Ben and Adrian. It's hinted that the characters were just pretending to be happy, but were really trying to make the best out of a messy situation. Although the babe dying also had a horrible effect on both.
- It's averted with George and Anne. They get back together presently before Robbie is born, but ultimately decide that they're better off divorced.
- It'southward temporarily averted with Cindy and Ruben, as Cindy realizes that trapping Ruben with a baby was wrong and ends up cutting him out of Adrian's life completely for sixteen years, thus struggling to heighten Adrian as a single teenage mother. Simply Adrian does bring her parents back together equally a teenager and they do terminate upwardly happily married.
The Infant Trap: Adrian's mother, Cindy, who was also a teenage mother, was revealed to have gotten significant with Adrian to trap Ruben in a relationship. However, they were high schoolhouse sweethearts and it'southward never revealed why Cindy felt the need to trap Ruben in the start place. Nevertheless, one time he found out Cindy was pregnant, he offered to marry her and she guiltily dorsum pedaled, resulting in Adrian growing up not knowing who her father was for the beginning sixteen years of her life. But ultimately, they did stop upwardly getting married. History repeats itself when Adrian plans to endeavor this on Ben in an attempt to relieve their spousal relationship since they merely got married because Adrian was pregnant, and their relationship started to deteriorate after their girl was stillborn. Since things were great when she was pregnant, she seems to think another baby will fix things. Ultimately, she gives up on the plan when her md talks her out of it and when Ben finds out her plan and keeps rejecting her advances. Though, it seems he was afterward willing to go along with it and was disappointed when she genuinely wanted out of their marriage.
Bedmate Reveal: Turned Upward to Eleven in the Flavour 4 episode "And Circumstance". The final 10 minutes is completely saturated with it. Madison slept with Lauren'southward young man, Henry hooks upward with Adrian, Ben ends upwardly in bed with a completely new girl named Dylan, though they explicitly stated that Ben and Dylan simply fell comatose together and didn't have sex...
Berserk Push: Amy apparently hits ane of Ben's in "Loose Lips", when she basically reminds Ben that Adrian used him as revenge confronting Ricky and implies that Adrian all the same wanted Ricky, meaning that Adrian didn't dearest him.
- Adrian hits an even bigger button with Ben in "Hole In The Wall" when she clears out their stillborn daughter'due south nursery, including a minor, stuffed bear Ben's deceased mother, Sarah, gave to him equally a small child. The scene was Ken Baumann's best acted scene in the series to engagement.
Betty and Veronica: Season ane strangely had both Ricky and Jack between Grace (Betty) and Adrian (Veronica). In Ricky'south case, Amy is sort of the Third-Option Dearest Interest.
- Parts of seasons 2 and 3 have Ben flirting/making out with Grace (Betty) while being on and off with Amy (Veronica). He also knocks upward Adrian, kinda making her the Third-Selection Love Interest.
The Large Damn Buss: For shippers of the couple, Ricky and Amy's kiss onstage at the former'south high school graduation. It wasn't their commencement buss, but it was a large deal since they got engaged seconds earlier the kiss.
- And before that there was their "practice kiss"
Black Comedy: Unintentionally, although for some it wasn't unintentional.
Blackness One-act Rape: Surveillance footage of the attempted rape of Grace and her attempts at cocky-defense force is treated equally a hilarious blooper reel past the local news and populace.
Encephalon Bleach: George's expression when Anne tells him that Amy and Ashley were discussing masturbation is a comical plea for some of this trope.
- ALL of "Merely Say Me", particularly the montage of all the girls with HUGE smiles on their faces, since they've just finished masturbating. This montage is also strangely accompanied past the song "Mister Sandman".
- Many viewers feel they need this upon finishing each episode.
Break the Cutie: Ricky and Adrian, every bit pre-series examples. Ben during the series. This guy started off mostly equally a comic relief graphic symbol. By season 4, he had a failed marriage, a stillborn daughter, and had experimented with liquor — all earlier his 18th altogether. Losing his female parent years prior to the Airplane pilot also seemed to take washed this to him in some ways as well.
Broken Aesop: The message of the show in the first season with Amy's pregnancy with John, espescially from the PSAs, appears to be "Employ Protection" but since Ben and Adrian use 2 dissimilar forms of contraceptives but still ended up with an unwanted teenage pregnancy and stillborn babe daughter, along with Grace blaming herself for her male parent's untimely decease the existent message seems to be "Don't have sex ... Always! It volition ALWAYS lead to pregnancy and or decease!"
Cleaved Bird: Ricky, as a male example. Adrian also.
Simply Non Too Gay: Griffin and Peter have had exactly 1 appearance since they hooked up, even though Griffin is supposed to exist Ashley'south best friend. Though at least they did become a decent onscreen kiss in said advent.
Simply We Used a Prophylactic!: Adrian was on birth command and Ben used a safe the nighttime of the Mother/Daughter trip the light fantastic in which their daughter was conceived, merely apparently the safe broke and Adrian was in-between switching different types of Nascence Command pills.
Cannot Keep a Cloak-and-dagger: No one on this show is capable of keeping a hush-hush. Seven episodes into the show, information technology appears anybody in town is aware of Amy'due south pregnancy.
Can't Go Abroad with Nuthin': More often than not with teen sex.
- Amy has sex in one case, does not bask it, and gets significant.
- Grace has enjoyable sexual practice once and her male parent dies in a aeroplane crash the aforementioned dark. Though the airplane crash is (hopefully) not the direct effect of Grace having sex, her Downs Syndrome-afflicted brother shouts at her, "You killed him!" She believes it on account of her own idiocy, though. Terrifyingly, this seems to be just the beginning equally it appears that the concept of sex = decease is catching.
- The pattern of sex equaling death seems to have continued. The girl who knows the most about sexual activity does information technology first with her best friend since second grade; shortly afterward, he goes away for cancer treatment and it's implied that he died. This affects her to the point where information technology wrecks all of her social relationships for several episodes.
- No one tin lose their virginity on this show without something bad happening. Ricky and Adrian accept sexual practice all the time and cypher bad happens except when Ricky takes Amy's virginity and gets her pregnant and when Adrian has sex with then-virgin Ben, she gets meaning and loses the babe.
Casting Gag: The testify used several actors that also appeared on Brenda Hampton'due south previous bear witness 7th Heaven, including Alice Hirson (Mimsy), Camille Winbush (Lauren), and Beverley Mitchell (Katelyn O'Malley).
Chewing the Scenery: Every one time in a while, kind of surprising considering how dull the show usually is.
Clingy Jealous Person: Ben to Amy in seasons 1-3. Adrian to Ricky in seasons i,2, and 4. Ricky to Adrian in season 2. Amy to Ben in season 2. Jack to Grace in seasons 1-4. Ashley to Ricky in season three. Grant to Ashley in season 3. George to Anne. Dylan to Ben in flavour iv. In fact, she fifty-fifty outright tells Ben that she tin be a very jealous person.
Childhood Friend Romance: Alice and Henry, until their break-up in flavor four.
Concert Buss: Ricky and Amy kiss onstage at the former's high school graduation after she accepts his marriage proposal.
Disharmonize Ball: Amy'south friends, despite knowing that Ricky knocked up their all-time friend, determine to fight over him incessantly for no apparent reason.
- Ben reacts to seeing his girlfriend's baby's father at her dwelling house, holding the baby, as a clear sign of her probable infidelity to him.
- It is always implied that when anyone looks at some other character of the opposite gender, they have been sleeping together.
User-friendly Miscarriage: Subverted by Adrian, who had been preparing for the baby for a while. Just nonetheless pretty convenient for the writers.
Cool Loser: Ben, Amy and Grace to varying degrees, peculiarly in Season 1.
Crapsack World: Wiggle-Asses, Stalkers With Crushes, All Girls Want Bad Boys, Betrayal, Abusive/Neglectful Parents, etc.
- Though, even this differs from character to character, with some characters having generally problem-free lives. A jarring instance is that of Amy and Ricky, in the later seasons.
Daddy Bug: Ricky'due south issues with his biological father Bob and Adrian's issues with her childhood and Ruben. Lampshaded by Ricky and Adrian in Episode 9 of Flavour i.
A Date with Rosie Palms: "Only Say Me"- Apparently information technology'south wearisome activity to do (unless your Alice) and so risking risk your life with sex is the better option. Yeah not anybody likes masturbation in existent life but no i in the cast is asexual.
Dating Do-Si-Do: Seriously, all of the characters have had some kind of romantic interaction with those of the reverse sex activity.
- Lampshaded by Ben in "The Sound of Silence":
  "I'grand beginning to feel like function of a dating matrix that's never been explored before."
Dark and Troubled Past: Ricky, and too Adrian.
Did Not Get the Daughter: Jack did not get Grace and Ricky did non get Amy in the end. Give-and-take of God said though that had the evidence gone forrard one more season like originally planned, Amy and Ben would accept gotten back together.
Disappeared Dad:
- Jack's male parent died earlier the series began, but he gets on well with his stepfather.
- Adrian didn't meet her begetter until she was 16. He initially wanted nix to exercise with her, since he had another family. He eventually inverse his mind, divorced the adult female who was his 2d wife, and married Adrian's mom. It would announced he's now this trope for Adrian's ex-stepbrother.
- Grace'south dad dies in a airplane crash in the flavour 2 premiere. Her mom remarries less than a twelvemonth later. Considering of that, Grace went from outright antisocial her new stepdad to being very distant and common cold towards him, to getting forth with him. Of course he and Grace's mom divorced in flavour 4, so at present she has a disappeared step-dad too
Dogged Nice Guy: Ben ... just Ben. He may not be the nicest guy in the earth ... just however.
Amy: Well he'due south too squeamish.
Adrian: Ben, I know you're the better guy. I know. I just really desire Ricky.
Domestic Abuser: Bob Underwood.
Downer Catastrophe: The series ends with Amy and Ricky breaking up and Grace and Jack doing the same.
Dream Team: Whenever Ashley and Adrian get to take a scene together.
Dull Surprise: Patently, beingness in this prove removes your ability to limited 18-carat emotions. Never listen pregnancy, the "something in the water" seems to be horse tranquilizers!
Dysfunction Junction: Amy's pregnant at 15, Ricky takes advantage of females because his male parent sexually abused him, Amy's parents accept a poor relationship, Tom has Downs Syndrome... Try finding a character on this prove that doesn't in some fashion fit this trope.
- The ii gay teenage boys who became a couple sadly don't count as they got kicked off subsequently their first buss.
Earn Your Happy Ending: Inverted! Still yous feel about Adrian, the fact is she at to the lowest degree tried to make her life work when she was pregnant. And the upshot? Her baby expressionless upon nascency. Amy, however, did nothing but bitch and moan during her pregnancy, only she has the happiest ending on the show.
Everybody Has Lots of Sex: Information technology'southward more Everybody Talks A Lot Virtually Sexual practice, but there's plenty of actual sex activity going on likewise (though to date, there hasn't been whatever sex onscreen). The original title of the show was The Sex activity Life Of The American Teenager, but Brenda Hampton said Googling that name brought upward a lot of porn sites, so it was nixed. (Even The Walt Disney Company, ABC Family'due south parent corporation, didn't approve of the original title too.) As it is, at that place are few secrets on this show, either.
- Behold how many times they say the word "sex" in a unmarried episode.
Foreshadowing : "Ben and I are just here ... to get free condoms."
- "Ricky is never going to marry y'all!"
Forgotten Birthday: Anybody forgets Amy's 16th birthday when she's in New York. Her mom felt horrible about it afterwards, saying "Everyone forgot my sixteenth birthday and it stayed with me forever!" Amy is mildly irritated, merely gets over it pretty rapidly. (Granted she was in New York, a place near teens would love to visit).
Freudian Excuse: Besides many examples to count. Expect at how many characters have sexual activity as a primary motive behind a lot of their actions.
Friendless Background: Adrian. And pre-series Grace and Ricky, as well authorize.
"Friends" Rent Control: Anybody's houses and apartments are very nice and wonderfully decorated, despite everyone having various jobs that should create economic differences between them. Ricky's apartment gets a laissez passer because it used to vest to Leo's wealthy parents. A few headscratchers in detail are Adrian and her mom having an upscale apartment in flavor one (even though they were supposed to exist kinda poor). Daniel and his friends also manage to take lavish apartments, despite being college students.
- With the latter, it's been unsaid that the apartments are owned by the higher, which could mean a lower, affordable charge per unit. Still, higher apartments in general are usually nowhere near as prissy as Daniel'south place.
Gene Hunting: Adrian'due south chase for her father.
The Ghost: Mike, Leo's chauffeur. He's gotten several mentions and has driven several of the characters around (off-screen, of course), but he's never put in an appearance.
Give the Infant a Father: Ben, convinced that he is in love, proposes to Amy presently after finding out she's pregnant with Ricky's baby. Since they're xv and have just been dating a few weeks at that indicate, their parents don't corroborate (expect Ben's dad, who married at 18). In fact, no i thinks that Amy needs to be married simply because she's pregnant. None of these things stop Amy and Ben from secretly getting married. But since it's with fake IDs, the wedlock is invalid and they cease upward breaking up afterward anyway.
The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Amy and Ashley.
Golddigger: Information technology'southward oftentimes subtly hinted throughout the series that this was why Amy was in a relationship with Ben. Ashley called Amy out on this in season one. When Ben tells Ricky that Amy loves him, Ricky replies "She loves your money". The episode was not-so-subtlely titled "Coin For Zero, Chicks For Free".
- Adrian was hinted to accept the same reasoning, when Ricky tells her not to marry Ben because of her upbringing in which she was poor and bullied considering of this. She even told Ben, " ... If you lot keep maxim those things to me ... and buying me expensive jewelry ... then maybe I tin can fall in honey with you lot."
  - Adrian was defendant of doing this by other students in their High School in an episode titled "Don't Go In In that location".
Good Girls Avoid Ballgame
- To exist fair, both Amy and Adrian did at to the lowest degree seriously consider ballgame, which is more than a lot of shows do.
- Despite being billed equally the "bad girl", Adrian decides to get through with her ain pregnancy.
- It appears that this is a prevailing belief in town as Grace and Madison are opposed to abortion, to the point where Grace went to encounter Amy at the clinic to talk her out of it, despite not knowing Amy very well (or her reasons for considering information technology). Amy's mother Anne doesn't desire her girl to have one either (though her mother explicitly mentions it isn't because of religious reasons).
Hands-Off Parenting: Nearly all of the parents, in that the teens about never have any rules to abide by. If at that place ARE rules, they're almost never enforced.
Hands-On Approach: Ricky is a fan of this. In a flavor 1 episode, he helped Grace with a baseball bat. In a flavor three episode, he helped Amy with a golf gild. The second one is kind of a subversion though, since they were already together at that point.
Happily Married: Sanjay and Margaret (a.k.a. Ricky'south foster parents) probably take the most solid relationship on the evidence. Jack'south mom and stepdad, Madison'southward dad and stepmom, Grant's parents, Dylan's parents, Leo and Camille, and the couple who adopt Kathy'due south baby likewise.
Have I Mentioned I Am Gay?: Griffin. No matter what's going on in an episode, he always has to bring upwards that he's gay at least once. Never mind that everyone already knows.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: Lauren and Madison though they have a temporary separate when Madison sleeps with Lauren'due south beau Jesse at the graduation political party.
- Ben and Henry, though they also take a temporary dissever when Henry slept with Ben's soon-to-exist-ex-wife Adrian at the graduation political party.
Hereditary Homosexuality: Griffin and his ii brothers are gay. Ashley's dad George honestly believes that Griffin's cousin Grant has to be gay to because his cousins are (he isn't).
High School: Ulysses S. Grant High School, though students are rarely seen attending class there.
- Though considering the blazon of show this is are yous surprised?
High-School Trip the light fantastic: A baroque example in that it's not a typical guy/daughter trip the light fantastic, merely a mother/daughter dance. Everyone is merely sitting around talking until the guidance counselor makes a voice communication well-nigh her grandmother and corking aunt who lived through the Holocaust and how everyone needs to stop being vindictive bitches. This inspires the ladies to trip the light fantastic toe the Hora (because remembering the fun times they had dancing is what kept Grandma and Great Aunt's spirits upwardly during their horrible experience).
- A more typical example happens in season four when the students attend the "Senior Dance", which is essentially prom, all but in name.
Honorable Union Proposal: Ben proposes to Amy when he finds out she's pregnant. Exaggerated because at the time, Ben is merely 15 (as is Amy). They nearly practice marry.
House Husband: George becomes this later Anne'south business concern career takes off. Anne discovers that she enjoys working more than being a stay at home mom and George discovers that he likes staying abode more than he likes working in the piece of furniture store. Refreshingly, it is not treated as a strange affair.
- Ben becomes a teenage version of this after Mercy's death.
Idealized Sex activity: Averted and played straight. Amy's first time is awkward and brief, while Grace's first time is obviously the nearly amazing thing e'er.
- Averted with Adrian and Henry. She describes it as "non that bad".
Infodump: Seriously, nix actually happens on Clandestine Life. The testify is 90% dialogue!
Informed Power: Amy informs the football game bus that the football game team is merely a warm-up act for the amazing marching band. Despite iv of the main characters existence in marching ring (Amy on French horn, Ricky on drums, Ben on triangle, and Adrian as a majorette), we never see any practicing going on, individually or as a group, even though information technology'due south stated explicitly several times that Amy in particular is skilled on her instrument.
- Part of the marching ring gave significant Amy a musical escort to class, but that doesn't really count.
Informed Attribute: Ben and Amy being talked up as a Nice Guy and a Nice Girl.
- Ben really has done genuinely nice things for others throughout the series, only the writers seem to enjoy boucing him between Nice Guy and Wiggle with a Middle of Gold when information technology comes to relations with the other characters.
Insane Troll Logic: "He had a horrible death considering I had incredible sex. It's just the way life works."
- "He drinks. No wonder their baby died."
Jerkass: Most every grapheme could authorize every bit this depending on the flavour and the episode.
Jerk Jock: Jack at times definitely counts.
- Ricky is more of a Wiggle Musician (doesn't he play drums?), only other than that, he does fit the trope.
Jerk with a Eye of Gold: Ricky, and everyone else.
Kids Are Cruel: Only ask Amy Juergens during her pregnancy with John in flavour one.
- Or Ben and Adrian following their daughter'south stillbirth in season 3.
  - Evidently, Adrian was bullied in Elementary School for being poor and not having the access to the same types of clothing as the other kids.
Lamaze Class: For a show with three pregnancies in three seasons, information technology's surprisingly averted. When Amy is in labor at the hospital, she says she was supposed to go to the class next week. For the other meaning characters, it isn't fifty-fifty mentioned.
Terminal-Minute Babe Naming:
- Amy gives nativity to her son at the end of the first season and, having not thought about whatsoever names, her sis offers upwards the name John. (Perhaps justified because Amy went back and along between keeping the baby and giving him up for adoption).
- In the 2nd season, Amy'southward brother Robbie is born, and is named on the spot after her grandfather.
- Also, Ben and Adrian's stillborn daughter. They didn't discuss names at all during the pregnancy, just information technology is revealed in the following season that they named her Mercy.
Similar Parent, Similar Spouse: Amy looks a lot like Ricky's mom. This is lampshaded constantly.
Loads and Loads of Characters: Try describing one episode to a friend who has never seen the bear witness.
Long-Altitude Relationship: Kathleen and Jeff most of the time, since the latter goes on extended medical missions to Kenya. However, the strain of the long distance is office of the reason they get divorced in flavor 4.
Long-Lost Uncle Aesop: Ricky's never before mentioned quondam foster blood brother Ethan showed up to deliver a lesson about potential hazards of sexting.
Love Dodecahedron: More like No Going Steady.
Love Makes You Crazy: Ben, Adrian, Jack, Tom, Grant ...etc. Who isn't an example of this trope, in this show?
Love Triangle: Ben/Amy/Ricky, Amy/Ricky/Adrian, Adrian/Ricky/Grace, Ricky/Ashley/Grant, Amy/Ricky/Ashley, Amy/Ben/Adrian, Ben/Adrian/Ricky, Jack/Grace/Grant, Grant/Grace/Daniel, Jack/Grace/Daniel. Brenda LOVES to do this!
Lysistrata Gambit: Attempted via a masturbation campaign infamously known as "Merely Say Me".
The Masochism Tango: Ricky and Adrian, Amy and Ben.
- Amy and Ricky - Most of what the viewers see is them constantly argue, peculiarly over trust issues, Ricky tempest out their apartment during arguments and implied Ramy sexual practice. It is never explained what either of them similar virtually each other besides physical attraction, which was there when they hooked upward at Band Army camp.
Madonna–Whore Complex: The women who only have sex with someone they claim to love (Amy, Grace, some of the parents) are presented equally good characters. The ane female person who has coincidental sexual practice and claims to enjoy it (Adrian) is selfish, manipulative, and an aspiring homewrecker.
- Grace admitted to liking sex once, afterwards she slept with Jack. Even so, her father died in a aeroplane crash that very same night. Since and so she'due south only had sex considering she loved the person. She's never admitted to liking it.
  - Grace got over it and has admitted to enjoying sexual practice a lot and has become almost as casual about every bit Adrian, since she's slept with each new boyfriend sooner than she slept with his predecessor. To hear information technology from her however, Adrian is kind of a slut, and Grace only has sexual activity with a person she loves, and getting a new sexual partner ways she vicious out of love with her previous partner and at present loves the current partner. Or at least that'due south the reasoning she gave for cheating on Grant with Daniel. Then Grace could be considered an disfavor, since we're supposed to encounter her equally a good character (despite what she did to Grant) who enjoys sex and has a casual mental attitude towards it.
Manipulative Bounder: Ricky and peculiarly Adrian, to varying degrees.
May–December Romance: Grant's parents.
Men Tin can't Go along House: Averted with George. He is good at housework and cooking and he enjoys it.
- Ricky is besides quite capable, cheers to years of helping out around his foster home.
- Inverted with Ben.
Missing Mom:
- Ben's mom died earlier the serial began. His dad later on remarries an ex-prostitute. It takes a while for Ben to warm upwards to her, but they eventually have a good relationship. Though Leo and Betty divorce in season 4, and so at present Ben has a missing stepmom too.
- Madison'south mom likewise died before the serial began. Her dad remarried before long afterward her mom's death, and then she was not very fond of her stepmom for quite some time. Eventually, she and her stepmom started trying to detect some common ground.
- Adrian's mom, sort of. While she loves Adrian and tries to be there for her, her chore every bit a flight attendant takes her away for long periods of time. However, Adrian loves her mom and outwardly appears to be accepting and understanding of this situation.
- Ricky's mom Nora ... at to the lowest degree until season three.
Mommy Bug: Ricky, Ben and Adrian.
Ms. Fanservice: Ashley, thanks to her actress growing into a cute daughter, on her first day of high school she shows upwards to school in an amazing wearing apparel.
- Adrian is undeniably sexy and Grace is extremely pretty as well.
- Amy becomes this later on the show.
Nature Abhors a Virgin: So very much.
Never Trust a Trailer: Just nigh episode preview. It will either exist very uninformative or it will cut footage together in a very misleading way.
Prissy Jewish Boy: Ben, at least in flavor 1. Ben's paternal grandfather was Jewish and it is implied, several times, in the series that Ben and Leo are of the aforementioned religious faith.
No Pregger Sex: Averted with Ben and Adrian who frequently have sex. Their friends initially ask them if they find information technology weird, just the couple is adamant that it'south non.
No Sparks: Happens twice with Ricky and Adrian. The first time it happens, she blames it on pregnancy hormones (pregnant by another man, Ben, to be specific), while he sees information technology as affirmation that they should just exist friends, an idea he was already mulling over. The following flavour, she feels sparks with another guy, but thinks she needs to kiss Ricky ane last time to be sure they're actually over. He obliges, and neither of them feel anything.
Functioning: Jealousy: Ben (and later Adrian) had a plan to simulated an engagement to make Amy and Ricky jealous. But in "Sweet And Sour" both give up on this and try to practice what is right for their unborn child, with Ben instead giving Adrian a $50,000 "Friendship Ring". He later proses to Adrian, for real, in "Approximate Whos Not Coming To Dinner".
I Thing Led to Another: Ricky and Amy's i-night stand and Ben and Adrian'southward ane-night stand up was this from Ben's perspective.
Ooh, Me Emphasis's Slipping: Grace is played by Canadian Megan Park and you can tell.
Papa Wolf: George, peculiarly in "Loose Lips".
Ricky: If someone touched my kid, I'd kill 'em.
Parental Abandonment: Ricky'southward parents. Oh goodness, Ricky'southward parents. A sexually abusive, drug-doing dad who showed upwards in a couple of episodes before getting defenseless in a drug bosom and going correct back to prison house. An alcoholic, drug-doing mom who is unsaid to be a prostitute, though she got out of jail in flavour iii and she and Ricky mended their relationship. Fortunately, he ends up being adopted by his great foster parents.
- Adrian's father was not at that place for her during her beginning 16 years of life while taking care of her step-brother and other woman's kids during his marriages. Her relationship with mother has shades of this every bit well. They both barely came to visit her or talk to her later on her Mercy'southward stillbirth.
  - George'due south father plain abandoned him and his family, every bit George says he wasn't around in "Be My, Be My Baby".
Parental Incest: Every bit stated above, Ricky's dad used to molest him, claiming it was "educational activity him what it means to be a man." This atomic number 82 to Ricky constantly sleeping effectually in an attempt to feel in control of his sexuality.
Platonic Life-Partners: Ben and Alice, though they had sex as of the season 4 Finale, but decided to never speak of it again.
- Starting in season 3, George and Nora.
Previously on…
Progressively Prettier: Amy. The evidence even points it out, strangely however they focus on how much larger her breasts are subsequently her pregnancy.
The Quarterback: Jack Pappas, besides being a serial womanizer, has a heart of gold and is close with a lot of people in school, though his main character trait is "existence the quarterback".
Ready For Love Making: Adrian does this in an attempt to go Ben to impregnate her again, in flavor iv.
Really Gets Around: Ricky and Adrian, both having slept with much of the main bandage of the reverse gender and then some. It was joked about on a prune on The Soup.
- Ben and Ashley are surprisingly promiscuous; Ben has something with all the girls (and actually beat Ricky on that front), and Ashley is very flirty with the boys, especially considering she mainly seems to go after her sister's exes.
Retcon: During the Senior Trip the light fantastic toe [Prom], Ricky tells Amy that he was scared their first fourth dimension considering he thought he might actually have feelings for a girl. Never listen that when rumors were going effectually that they slept together he at first denied it, then insisted it meant zippo and tried to arraign information technology on her.
Opposite Cerebus Syndrome: Compare the beginning 2 seasons to the newer ones.
Right Through His Pants: Played painfully straight. When the Modesty Bedsheet is lifted, it's revealed that the daughter is wearing a bra (occasionally a tank top) and modest panties and the guy always has his pants (in some cases jeans) intact. It's a testify for teens merely still.
Ripped from the Headlines: After being shopped around for ten years, the show was picked up by ABC Family at the height of the (at present known to exist imitation) "Pregnancy Pact" and media frenzy effectually a then 16 years Jamie Lynn Spears being pregnant.
Romantic False Lead: Bamy and Badrian were this apparently.
Satellite Love Interest: Has Ben mentioned that he loves Amy yet today?
- He learned this from his begetter, who married a (recently retired) prostitute he'd known for about three months.
- Oasis't practically all of them mentioned that they are and then in dear with the person they just started talking to?
Screaming Nascency: Partially averted. While Amy does quite a bit of screaming during the ii episodes she'south in labor, the actual nascence itself isn't shown.
Season Finale: Every bit noted further upwardly the page, the bear witness is unremarkably a lot of infodumping, but something pregnant/show-altering e'er happens in the season finale.
- Flavor 1: Amy gives birth to John, George and Ashley move out of the Juergens family unit home.
- Season ii: Leo and Betty get married, Cindy and Reuben get married, and Adrian finds out she'south pregnant. They try to play the final ane off as a maybe/perchance not Bewilderment, but practically every viewer could tell.
- Season iii: Adrian and Ben'due south daughter is stillborn and Ricky and Amy have sex for the first time. Well, technically, It'southward the second time, merely the first time they'd washed information technology while being in a committed relationship with each other.
Serious Business: Every niggling thing that happens is going to get a major word signal for every unmarried character, even if information technology really shouldn't concern everyone.
Sex Equals Love: Both averted and played admittedly straight, depending at the time and on the people doing information technology.
Shipper on Deck: Bunny, Margaret, Nora and Grace for "Ramy".
- Ruben and Cindy for Ben and Adrian.
  - Kathleen for Grace/Jack.
  - George was this for Amy/Ben but as of season 4 has switched over to Ramy afterwards warming up to Ricky.
Shout-Out: A really obvious example; Molly Ringwald's character mentions her forgotten sixteenth altogether and just how bad it made her feel.
- "This one time at Band Camp ..." The series, as a whole, seems like a shout-out to the American Pie movies downwards to the graphic symbol's personality traits and relationships.
Shorter Means Smarter: Ashley is somehow the simply person to notice her sis is meaning. She also crafted a coffee-drinking young rebel facade while she goes to trip the light fantastic for... messing with her mother. Most of her dialog likewise puts her in Fiddling Miss Snarker territory. Sadly her intelligence somewhen devolves to the level of her peers.
Shotgun Nuptials: A rather unusual example with Ben and Amy, who get married with faux IDs, fifty-fifty though Ben isn't the father of the baby and no 1 thinks they have to become married. Of form, since it was with faux IDs, the union is invalid. A more typical example is used with Ben and Adrian, though neither felt "forced" into it... at the time.
Shouldn't We Be in School Correct Now?: A bizarre subversion of this trope, in that the high school characters are indeed in school, they just never seem to have whatsoever classes. The setup seems to consist of all of them wandering the halls, opening and closing their lockers and running into people to Infodump with.
Smug Snake: Ashley is this or The Snark Knight.
The Snark Knight: Ashley. And when assorted with the idiocy surrounding her, you could hands infer that Cloak-and-dagger Life is ready in Lawndale.
- Adrian besides ~~has~~ had shades of this alongside her part as Fille Fatale.
Soap Opera
Soundtrack Dissonance:
- What is up with that xv-second theme song that doesn't fit the show at all?
- In the episode "Just Say Me", a montage plays of the girls laying in their beds and beaming, since they have just finished masturbating. Apparently the best piece of music the writers could observe to back-trail this is the song "Mister Sandman".
- The students contemplate their futures, ready to an audio-visual version of Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend". Yes, actually.
Speed Sex: Co-ordinate to Amy, her first time with Ricky was "like ii seconds". He must have just been having an off nighttime, since he's shown to be quite the ladies' man with everyone else, also after when him and Amy were officially dating, they had great sex.
Spiritual Successor: Now has a middle schoolhouse version in the form of Andi Mack, ironically, on sister channel Disney Channel.
Stalker with a Trounce: This evidence never runs out of these...
- Ben's obsession with Amy borders on this at times in seasons one-iii.
- Adrian has had behaviors bordering on this to Ricky in seasons 2 and 4.
- Tom to Adrian.
- Jack has shades of this in his behavior to Grace.
- Grant transferred schools to become closer to Ashley in flavor 3.
- Ashley to Ricky in Season 3.
- Dylan has behaviors like this to Ben, in season 4.
- Omar towards Adrian.
STD Amnesty: Despite all the sex, sex activity talk, and Ricky and Adrian in particular having multiple partners, STDs are but ignored. Ane would recollect from watching the show that pregnancy is the only possible consequence from having sex.
- They finally addressed STDs in season 3: Amy told Ricky she wouldn't have sex with him once again unless he got tested. He did and he doesn't accept anything, so this trope still stands.
- Evidently Jack had something, but he "got information technology taken intendance of", and the feel doesn't appear to accept fazed him at all.
- Adrian seems to be the only character smart enough to employ condoms regularly.
Teen Drama
Teen Pregnancy: The sole reason the show exists. Despite that, Amy and Ricky'southward babe is rarely always seen on screen.
- This show seems to have some kind of disturbing quota of i pregnancy per flavor.
- Commencement in that location'due south Amy's pregnancy with John in flavor 1.
  - Heather, Ben'due south friend who appeared for but one episode, was pregnant in Season 2. Her pregnancy was portrayed rather realistically harsh.
  - Adrian is the result of the teen pregnancy of her parents Cindy and Ruben. And is meaning in season 3 as the upshot of having sex with Ben. She later gives nativity to a stillborn.
Test Kiss: Played with. Amy worries that she might not be a good kisser after a guy doesn't call her after their engagement. Ricky offers to kiss her to calm her fears, and practice her technique if need be. When the two of them kiss, information technology chop-chop becomes articulate that information technology'due south not practicing, but the resolving of UST.(Though they initially tell their friends that they're just friends and information technology actually was just practice)
- Also Ricky and Adrian in flavour 4. See No Sparks.
Tomboyish Name: Dylan.
Troubled, but Cute: Ricky Underwood, who is portrayed by Daren Kagasoff.
The Unfavorite: In a jarring case, Ben is "the unfavorite" to Ricky past his own father. It's hinted at several times in the later seasons and that Ben does indeed accept a problem with this.
Those Two Guys: A.K.A. "Useless Asian Friends."
- Amy's friends, they only exist to make brand Amy look hotter by comparison, Amy is pretty but she looks like a 15 year erstwhile girl while everyone else at their school looks like a sexy higher student. Too the school had to find out Amy was pregnant somehow. At present the merely question is why are they in other episodes?
Ii-Teacher School: The only recurring faculty members have been the football game coach and a guidance counselor(which is strangely replaced every new school year) and fifty-fifty their appearances are brief.
Too Impaired to Live: At some point or some other, EVERY MAIN CHARACTER IN THE Evidence.
- Amy's sister Ashley and Adrian (when information technology was user-friendly) were probably the merely exceptions.
- Ashley, later becomes Too Dumb to Live, when she refuses to actually practice any work later her dad cuts off her funds.
- Adrian has had her moments also, especially in flavour three.
TV Teens: Despite what the bear witness promises, the teenagers are pretty much like this.
Took a Level in Jerkass: ALL of the principal characters ... and even some minor characters.
Took a Level in Kindness: Ricky. Amy likewise. She appears to have mellowed a lot in season three when compared to how she was in the start two seasons. Until season four, when she started moving dorsum to her sometime whiny ways. Dylan fifty-fifty moreso.
The Unfair Sex: After Adrian and Ben sleep together, Ben is promptly chosen out past his father for the big mistake * cough* it was, while Adrian is told not to experience bad about it and Grace apologizes to her for non existence entirely sympathetic, even though Adrian is supposed to be her all-time friend who slept with the guy she KNEW Grace was interested in.
- Too, following Ricky sleeping with some other girl, Adrian throws her cellphone through the butcher shop window and breaks it. Ricky agrees to pay for information technology himself because it'southward his fault since he cheated.
The Vamp: We, the viewers, are meant to believe that Adrian Lee is this, though when looked at objectively, Adrian is actually a sexy Latina with a healthy libido, a sharp tongue, a good head on her shoulders, and a Freudian Excuse shoehorned into her, that almost works for her graphic symbol.
- Not to mention a temper like you would await when you consider the people she has to deal with on a daily ground. Besides: Don't even get me started on the unfairness of chaining her to a guy who doesn't deserve her at all (Ricky).
Tsundere: In terms of temperment, both Ricky and Adrian authorize every bit archetype Type A examples, espescially in seasons 1 & two.
UST: Information technology's difficult to watch Jack and Kathleen without imagining them having sexual practice all over the house in between shots. Most likely unintentional on the writers' part.
Very Special Episode - More like a Very Special Series... Fabricated upward of very special episodes. Like the episode well-nigh imitation IDs. Or the subsequent episode about underage union. Or the episode about coping with child abuse.
- A special mention goes to the PSA at the finish of every episode encouraging kids to talk to their parents about sex and avert teen pregnancy. (Except for the aforementioned child abuse episode, which had a PSA that offered an 800 number for victims of corruption)
- The dangers of booze was stretched about for iii very special episodes.
- Then at that place was the texting episode, which featured its very ain Long-Lost Uncle Aesop.
Virginity Makes You Stupid: Grace on occasion until she lost information technology in season two, but it really didn't brand her any smarter.
Visit by Divorced Dad: Inverted. Amy and Ashley live with George (or did until Amy moved in with Ricky and Ashley went on a road trip with Toby, while Anne and baby Robbie live in another town. The girls (and occasionally George) sporadically visit Anne, simply Anne doesn't really visit them unless she'south dropping off Robbie for his fourth dimension with George (Though she does have semi-regular phone advice with them).
Wacky Cravings: Adrian turns down typical breakfast fare for a Loco Moco during her pregnancy.
Wacky Marriage Proposal: Ricky proposes to Amy at the former's high school graduation ceremony, with the proposal serving as the decision of his speech. She accepts.
Hymeneals Episode: The Hugger-mugger Wedding ceremony Of The American Teenager, evidently. Ben and Amy and their friends get fake IDs and Ben and Amy use theirs to get married. It goes off without a hitch until their parents crash the reception and inform them that a fake ID wedlock is an invalid i. In contrast, the other weddings in the series (Adrian'due south parents, Leo and Betty, Ben and Adrian) don't get an entire episode focused on them, but parts of them are shown.
What Does She See in Him?: Between Expert Bad Girl Adrian and Jerkass Ricky.
- As well betwixt Satellite Honey Interest Ben and the rather Jerk Sue Amy. Their relationship hasn't been given the deepest of explorations to testify why exactly Ben likes her. The most explanation for this occurs in The Pilot when Ben and his Asian friends discussing going later Amy because Ben wanted to lose his virginity and Amy seemed like an easy target. And on Amy's side of things, her friends advise her to brand Ben fall in dearest with her, have sex with him and pawn the baby off as his so that she'd have a rich baby-daddy.
  - Ben and Amy's relationship basically consists of them claiming how much they love each other and bitching and arguing. Seriously, any moments of genuine affection between the two are very few and very far between.
  - It'southward been hinted since the beginning of series that Ben had issues surrounding the death of his female parent and only had some form of "transference". In a season five episode, chosen "It's A Miracle", Ben says that maybe he just wanted to assistance someone and feel important to someone and needed past someone, and that he wanted to be as admirable as he establish his father.
  - On Amy's side of things she is portrayed as selfish and only went to Ben whenever she has problems with Ricky, friends and family unit.
  - Amy deserves special mention. She is obnoxious, whiny, rude and constantly complaining in BOTH her relationships with Ben and Ricky, though she's toned down on the complaining in her and Ricky's human relationship in after seasons, sort of.
- As a version of "he see in her" not involving Amy nosotros have Jack and Madison. Seriously, a nice, by and large bonny and smart jock falling for an annoying, shrill, dumpy girl who has no point on the bear witness other then to brand Amy wait prettier in comparison. She had a similar situation with Lauren'southward hot older brother that tin only really be explained through Where da White Women At??
- Grace and Ben. Really anyone and Ben.
  - Adrian said, at ane signal early on in season 3, that she sees Ben every bit "confident, beauteous and honorable".
- Given that the bandage is most entirely comprised of incredibly unpleasant, potentially insane and grotesquely stereotypical characters,one could debate that this applies to whatsoever given couple on this show.
What Happened to the Mouse?: There was a subplot in the get-go season where Amy was because letting a gay coworker of her begetter's and his partner adopt her babe. It's forgotten pretty quickly.
- That actually was resolved. The gay couple decided they'd rather try to adopt their foster children, who they already loved and wanted. Plus, they had 1 meeting with Ricky and quickly realized that Ricky was against ANYONE adopting the kid (Poor John).
What the Hell, Hero?: The season 3 episode "Loose Lips" takes this to extremes past consisting almost entirely of characters calling each other out. Every fault that has ever been made throughout the series gets dragged out and rehashed (averting the Three Month Rule) to the point where non even the writers seem to know who we're supposed to exist rooting for.
- "Hole In The Wall" uses Ben as an example of this trope.
Whole Episode Flashback: While Amy's in labor, she and Ricky flashback to their meeting and the night their kid was conceived. (Both of these events were the same day) In that location's besides cursory flashes to what other characters were doing the summer this all went down, but it's mostly Ricky and Amy.
Who's Your Daddy?: There were two candidates for the father of Anne's son: George, her ex-husband and her new young man. The beau had been told he was sterile, only George had gotten a vasectomy years earlier, then anybody assumed that the boyfriend was, in fact, not sterile and the father. Then George confessed that he had lied well-nigh getting a vasectomy. This led the boyfriend to conclude that George was the father, and so the boyfriend broke upward with Anne and left. We are initially led to believe George is the father, just after find out it is the boyfriend, David.
Will They or Won't They?: Amy and Ricky. They Exercise... until the finale.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Adrian and Grace. Ben and Ricky.
With Friends Like These...: No one in this series are true friends. Nigh of the series is the characters constantly stabbing each other in the dorsum.
- But notable mentions are: Adrian and Grace - Adrian had oral sex with Jack and during their "friendship" she constantly slept with Ricky when Grace was dating him (though it can exist argued Ricky was Adrian's love involvement first) and slept with Ben knowing Grace had a huge romantic interest in him. She likewise chosen Jack, Grant and Daniel to have sex the night she felt Grace betrayed her and stopped existence friends in "Flip Flop".
- Ben and Ricky - Ben later had sex with Adrian in Season ii and they all subsequently found out she was pregnant in Season 3 equally a result. Ricky after goes later Amy when Amy stops speaking to Ben. Ben constantly talks trash about Ricky to the other characters and has told both Amy and Adrian that the are also good for him.
- Ben and Henry: Ben'south own childhood friend Henry has sex with Adrian - Ben's soon-to-be ex-wife and mother of his stillborn daughter at Jessie's Graduation Party. Ben also has sex with Alice shortly after he becomes friends once more with Henry.
- Amy and Adrian - These two were never true friends. Even though Adrian came to see Amy, Ricky and their son (John) in the hospital when he was born, when Adrian tried to befriend Amy, Amy made-out with Ricky and out of paranoia Adrian afterwards had sexual activity with Ben resulting in a pregnancy. And fifty-fifty though Amy held Adrian and cried with her when Mercy was stillborn, the girls went back to bad-talking the other and Adrian still pursued sex with Ricky afterwards on.
- Amy, Lauren and Madison - Madison and Lauren are directly responsible for spreading rumors well-nigh Amy/Ricky having sexual activity and Amy'southward pregnancy. In episode ix, Lauren makes-out with Ricky during Amy'due south pregnancy. Madison has sex with Lauren's beau Jessie the night of his Graduation Party.
- On a sister'due south note - Ashley tries to have sex activity with John's father and Amy's later boyfriend — Ricky.
Would Striking a Daughter: Bob Underwood.
Your Door Was Open: Frequently shows upward. A notable example happened in the season i episode, "Mayhap Babe" when nearly every regular graphic symbol concluded upwards in Amy'southward house, arriving in groups of two or 3, merely to tell her they would back up her if she wanted to keep her infant. They have gotten better nearly it in subsequently seasons (meaning it'southward more than common to see people actually knock on the door and wait for someone to answer it) but information technology'due south not completely absent-minded.