TVSquad

The other night I was watching a special on BBC America about all of the pregnant girls in the Gloucester, MA (where I was born) high school. That has nothing to do with this show, of course, but every time I see a show about a pregnant teen I think of that real-life story. I'm waiting for the inevitable movie that Lifetime will make about the situation.

Last night's episode of The Secret Life of the American Teenager was about how Ben's preoccupation with sex is causing trouble with Amy. More than the trouble it has already caused, that is. Yo, Adrian!

Last night was the second season premiere of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, a show that's really superficial. That's not me saying that, it's Tom Shales at the Washington Post, who says that the show is "an unabashed throwback to soaps of ages past" and one that "makes no attempt to camouflage artifice and superficiality." And I think he likes the show (though it sounds like he hasn't watched a soap opera since 1976).

What did you think of the season opener?

It's not often that a celebrity obituary throws me into such a sudden shock that I can't do anything but stare blankly at the screen for several minutes. Well, this is one of them. Actor Paul Gleason passed away on Saturday from a rare form of asbestos-related lung cancer. He was 67 years-old. Gleason has appeared in various television roles, but he's probably most recognized as the vicious Principal Vernon from The Breakfast Club. The film has a very special place in my heart because when my friends and I have to dress up in costume for something, we always go as the Club (and I'm always the Basketcase).

This news is really quite upsetting. Time for me to break the news to the rest of my Breakfast Club.

When I was in high school, I had a thing for redheads (I think it was because I had a long unrequited crush on this girl Tracy, who just happened to be the only person ahead of me academically in my class... oh, it's a long painful story that I'll tell one day... for profit). So, in the entertainment world of the mid-eighties, that meant that I lusted after the same two girls every other ginger-crazed teen did: Allison Smith and Molly Ringwald. I haven't seen a lot of either lately (and judging by the most recent shots of Allison, if I had seen her, I wouldn't recognize her).

Indeed, the last time Molly did TV was in a TNT movie in 2002. But in May, she'll come back to TV in an episode of Medium. She'll play some woman in distress that Patricia Arquette's character will use her psychic powers to help. It really doesn't matter; I'll probably just tune in to see Molly. Or not; I'm a little more into brunettes these days.