Customer Reviews

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Volume Three (first half of season 2)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

NOTE: There is confusion in regards to the seasons of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager". The second volume was marketed as "Season Two" but abc Family has confirmed that it was a production mistake and the last volume marketed as season two is in fact, the second half of season one. This volume three release is the first half of season two.

The ABC Family series "THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER" received a lot of attention during its first season as the series was critically acclaimed and also how ABC Family didn't sugarcoat the challenges of teenage pregnancy. Showing us the ramifications of being pregnant as a young teen but also the responsibilities and difficult choices one needs to make. The series was also popular for its portrayal of teenagers of today. Again, nothing sugarcoated and despite it being on ABC Family, the series shows us the real-life challenges that teenagers are facing. These characters are just regular people, not upper class and each of them have their own set of problems.

"THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER - VOLUME THREE" DVD comes with a total of 13 episodes on three DVD's. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode:

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"The Secret Life of the American Teenager" is presented in widescreen (1:78:1) and for the most part, the picture quality is satisfactory for this drama series. Also, it helps that the series features various settings, including multiple outdoor shots which definitely makes the PQ for the DVD much better.

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The series is front and center channel driven, dialogue is clear and understandable and music comes out quite clear from the front channels. The series is not the type of series that utilizes special effects or the use of the surround channels but if you have a modern home theater receiver and a 5.1 or 7.2 setup, definitely worth selecting audio on all channels on the receiver for a more immersive soundscape.

Subtitles are in English SDH.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER - VOLUME THREE" comes with a few special features. Included are:

* Pilot Episode "Make It or Break It" - (44:06) The pilot episode for abc family's original drama series "Make it Or Break It". A very captivating drama series that revolves around a female gymnastics team and a girl named Emily Kmetko from Fresno who practiced gymnastics in a public gym and now attending one of the top gymnastic schools "The Rock" (Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Training Center). But life for Emily is difficult as her mother is a single, unemployed mother trying to take care of her and her disabled brother. So, Emily tries to balance her life working at a restaurant and preparing to make the gymnastics competition but life is not easy at a few of the top girls of the club, especially Lauren Tanner despises her. Lauren, who's fathers money help build The Rock and knows that only three can go to Nationals, sees Emily as a threat for that third position. So, Emily has to prove at the competition that she deserves to go to Nationals.
* Hot Chat - (6:19) On Disc three is a special feature in which fans get to ask questions to cast members which is put into a hat and the cast reads the question and answers them.

For the first half of season two of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager", the main focus is about relationships. Children not listening to their parents and parents making mistakes and the main characters reevaluating their own personal relationships. Amy is learning that raising a child is very difficult and knowing what sex has done to her life, now she distances herself from Ben (who sees people all around him, including his good friends having sex except him). Meanwhile, Grace deals with family issues that she has never had to deal with before and questioning if having sex with Jack when she was focused on abstinence was a good thing to do, especially when the last conversation she had with her father was him telling her not to have sex. Meanwhile, Adrian and Ricky reevaluate their lives especially Adrian who starts to question why the two desire sex when there is no connection but the sake of doing it.

Season two also features more storylines involving the parents of Amy, Grace, Ben and Adrianna. With Molly Ringwald pregnant in real life (and having had a baby since), the writers included her pregnancy into the storyline and sure enough, an interesting situation with Anne pregnant and having sex with her ex-husband George (who lied about having a vasectomy) and her new boyfriend David. With George not wanting to own up to his lie, will he confess to her that the baby may be his?

The second season definitely gets much better as the the latter half of season one was getting a bit soap-opera-ish but the parent-driven storyline of Anne-George-David were pretty fun, also to see a more emotional episode utilizing Grace's character and her family definitely made the storyline for the second half quite entertaining. Some acting scenes seem quite wooden at times but for the most part, if you stuck with the series this long, you get used to the small quirks and find the whole series to be entertaining.

As for the DVD release, I still wish there was audio commentary and other special features in relation to the characters. For "Volume Three", you get one special feature and another promoting abc Family's latest series which is coming soon. But it would be nice to see more special features included in the next DVD release.

But overall, another solid release for "The Secret Life of the American Teenager". As mentioned, I felt the latter half of season one seemed like it was straying away from the heart and soul of the series but this second season, things started to pick up. If you are a fan of the series, definitely a DVD release worth picking up!

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Season 1The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Season TwoThe Secret Life Of The American Teenager: Season 3
I think this is a great show for all teens to watch. It has alot of real life problems, some of it may be a little unreal but I bought all 3 for my daughter and it helps her thinking ALOT!! I think a parent should watch the shows together as a family and talk about it!! Great family time

My daughter loves this series & was excited to get the series.. The buying process here on Amazon was easy & fast.

This is not season 3. It is the 1st part of season two. Season 3 starts on June 7th, 2010. You will have some very disappointed customers. Glad I did my research, so I'm not one of them.

I was a huge fan of the show when it started. I loved the idea because it was different and i loved the cast. But then things just got out of hand. Everything with Ben and Amy is just too weird for my liking. Her parents have some serious issues and half the time i wonder if Ashley is going to run in front of a bus. It just seems like this show is a bad season of 7th heaven now. I saw a preview for the next season and the kids all skip because two of them do. That is exactly what happened in a season of 7th Heaven. I dont think i'll be tuning in any longer. It's a shame such a good idea ended up getting ruined in the end.

I got this DVD in a set for Christmas from my grandmother and it is great. I can go back and watch it over and over to catch up
and refresh my memory on the past stories in the series. It is always fun to watch it with a group of my friends and we can share
our thoughts and compare them about story line and charcters.

I have followed this show from the beginning and wait every time a new season is out on DVD to buy it and watch it.

Great price.. item came very quick. I am very happy with the service I recieved. i have not watched dvd yet.. but know I will be quite happy. I reccamend this seller

this is a great item. i recommend it to everyone. it really shows a lot and is an awesome show.

It is amazing how quickly things change on SLOTAT. Gestation periods, like romances, are measured in several episodes. Did the oh-so-faithful Ben sow some wild oats in Italy? Everyone at U.S. Grant High School has 20-20 hearing so no secret goes unheard in the hallway. A hallway in high school during class changes is LOUD!

In any case, Volume 3 introduces a gay character, Griffin, who looks more than a bit old to be a freshman, even a college freshman, and who immediately becomes a bodyguard to Ashley, as if she needs one. All Griffin does is say "I'm gay!" immediately to everyone he meets. Is Griffin going to have a love interest? Or is Griffin going to be the only character who HAS a secret and keeps it?

Some of the dialog is sharp, but the plots are getting a bit far out. Hence minus one star.

The extras on the Volume 3 disk are minimal. Certainly there must be out-takes and bloopers that the audience would enjoy. Hence minus a second star.