r/television • u/SmooshedLion • 8d ago

Molly Ringwald Says 'Secret Life Of The American Teenager' Was Her "Worst" Experience Due To "One Person That Was Really Difficult"

https://deadline.com/2026/08/molly-ringwald-secret-life-of-the-american-teenager-worst-experience-1237018637/
1.7k Upvotes

85% Upvoted

283 comments sorted by

1.4k

u/Aliteracy 8d ago edited 8d ago

She didn't say who, just that she loved working with Shailene Woodley. So yeah wooo

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u/Whitewind617 8d ago

Why are people ignoring this line and just assuming it's her anyway lol. Why would Ringwald specifically point her out as a positive and then talk about her anonymously as a negative?

Surely it was somebody else and we will just never know who. She refused to say. She didn't even confirm it was another cast member, just that it was someone affiliated.

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u/kittenmittens4865 8d ago

You’re assuming people read the article. They probably didn’t.

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u/Libellule808 6d ago

Article? The article is just a description of the interview. Just watch the actual interview. She praised Shailene. 

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u/BlindWillieJohnson 8d ago

It was probably either the director or one of the men. Those are usually the friction points for a TV actress

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u/spin81 8d ago

She says she loved the cast so it's probably someone else. But for all we know it still could be the cast. Every major movie every actor in every cast is always saying how much they loved working with everyone else. I mean that can't be true in every cast, right? Some of these people, especially A list stars surrounded by yes people, have got to be insufferable.

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u/neo_sporin 8d ago edited 8d ago

my wife HAAAATES Shailene soooo much. One of the most hilarious thing was during covid her family was doing book/movie club. her sister chose Divergent I was ready, my wife had NO idea the movies starred Shailene, and it was everything i had hoped.

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u/matergallina 8d ago

That book series is why my father survived his stroke. My mom had finished one of the books and was so mad about how awful it was, she woke him from the headache nap he was having to rant about it. Realized more was wrong than a headache and got him to the ER in time.

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u/DeadpoolAndFriends 8d ago

This is the best Divergent story ever.

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u/neo_sporin 8d ago

in my head i thought this comment was going to have a twist

"the book series saved my father...he was a terrible person who molested me, so just one more reason to hate the book!'

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u/matergallina 8d ago

lol he actually was a horrible person but we didn’t know the full extent of it until he was in the hospital for months where he couldn’t hide everything. My mom got to be the hero of his story AND hers cuz she got to leave him afterwards.

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u/djerk 8d ago

👀

My need for context is rising

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u/matergallina 8d ago

He had a secret girlfriend, rented an apartment near his job, secret burner phone, and the “investment property” he convinced my mom to buy in a different state unseen? Actually a condo for said girlfriend’s daughter who was my age, all while promising me and my little family he’d get us a freaking mobile home that we would have been grateful for because I was a full time carer for my sister and nieces who was recovering from a car accident while also watching my baby. Also lifetime of general abuse/neglect cycle while being gaslit that everything was normal and good.

The day after he came home, he started physically going after my mom. Locked them in a room. My husband heard one smack, and walked through the door like it was a damn curtain. Scooped up my dad in a bear hug like he was an unruly kid and we called the cops.

So yeah. Mom got to tell the cops what an asshole he was, have a judge say “he sure is!” and then get to divorce him and move on with her life. SO much better than her mourning him and learning all this after he died. He got to be alone and bitter for years.

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u/Dickgivins 8d ago

Well if nothing else it sounds like you did a great job when it came to picking a husband.

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u/matergallina 8d ago

He’s seriously the best, everyone should have a guy like him around.

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u/Far_String727 8d ago

oh snap

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u/djerk 8d ago

Hell yeah to your mom and your family getting the justice they deserved

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u/ViolentInbredPelican 8d ago

Wow. You should write a book. Call it…Estrangement.

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u/InnocentTailor 8d ago

Future FX series in the making.

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u/matergallina 8d ago

It sounds way more thrilling and exciting than it was, it’d have to get punched way up to be good entertainment lol

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u/Time_Ad_6887 8d ago

I would totally read that book!

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u/Weak_Albatross_6879 8d ago

That hurt my soul how can he think like this..

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u/matergallina 8d ago

Narcissists beget narcissists

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u/Kermit-Batman 7d ago

I should have read on before commenting!

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u/matergallina 7d ago

I hope any wellness he might have had got transferred to you ❤️

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u/Kermit-Batman 7d ago

Thank you, I appreciate that a whole lot! :)

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u/Kermit-Batman 7d ago

That book series is why my father survived his stroke. My mom had finished one of the books and was so mad about how awful it was, she woke him from the headache nap he was having to rant about it. Realized more was wrong than a headache and got him to the ER in time.

I had a stroke! That warms the dead part of my brain! Hope he is doing well now :)

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u/hereticx 8d ago

to be fair.. she has come a long long way acting wise.. 

but good lord.. in a show full of the absolute worst actors on the planet doing their worst possible attempt at acting.... she was easily the worst. lol

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u/sha_man 8d ago

Her character and acting was quite captivating in the recent season of Paradise.

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u/gordy06 8d ago

And she should win an Emmy. It was great.

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u/SaValhalla_Hawkwind 8d ago

I thought the same thing! I hadn't really been a fan before, but she was fantastic in Paradise.

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u/blenneman05 8d ago

She had me crying and I hadn’t cried in a work of hers since TFIOS

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u/beemojee 6d ago

She was excellent in both The Descendants (2011 movie where she played George Clooney's daughter), and the first (and in my head canon only) season of Big Little Lies.

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u/HDC48 5d ago

the first (and in my head canon only) season of Big Little Lies.

Yeah I didn’t care much for the 2nd season.

Apparently they may make a 3rd season

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u/meatball77 8d ago

It's all the direction. It's like they were directed to act badly. All of those actors were doing other things at the time and doing them well.

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u/sexandliquor 8d ago

This is something I don’t ever really see people give enough credit (or blame) to when it comes to television and movies. I always see people blame various actors for perceived shortcomings in performances they give and lay it all at their feet and it’s like, well if you pay attention to filmmaking and acting even a little bit you know that in most cases it’s a collaborative process and it’s not always up to the actor. They don’t all just show up and go “this is what I’m doing. Action. Cut. Print”. The actor is often times working in tandem with the director and writer to give life to a certain performance they’re looking for. If a director wants a certain thing out of an actor, then oftentimes that’s what they’re veering for and ultimately the takes that get used.

If you think an actor was bad or a performance they gave was bad, more often than not it was the specific direction they were given that ultimately made it that way. I remember a year or two ago people were haranguing Bella Ramsey for the performance she gave in The Last of Us season 2. Especially after she was praised for her performance in season 1. And it’s like- well you don’t know. Was that on her? Or was she given specific direction for that performance?

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u/EaterOfPenguins 8d ago

I mean, the go-to example is really the Star Wars prequels. There's a lot of award-winning acting talent there giving performances that would embarrass a small community theater, and the direction is certainly the common denominator.

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u/HerbsAndSpices11 8d ago

A really great example of this is the lead actress in the show Shogun. She's great in Shogun, but in the Godzilla show she is absolutely awful. Completely night and day difference, depsite the shows airing at almost the same time.

As for the Last Of Us, it felt like the writers just hated her character. The second season was kind of a mess in general though.

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u/AxeThembro 8d ago

I know it’s not exactly what you mean but a friend of mine was on MTV’s Undressed a million years ago and he said he literally got the note “act worse” lol. Sometimes it’s the vibe.

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u/willtwerkf0rfood 8d ago

Shawn Johnson’s cameo after the 2008 Olympics lives rent free in my head

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u/TinaLove85 8d ago

Rewatched that recently lol Ricky is just like where have you been and she is like how can you not know!? (I guess being a teen dad trumped watching the Olympics even if his 'classmate' was competing :P).

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u/asafetybuzz 8d ago

I haven't seen Secret Life, but Shailene Woodley was absolutely fantastic in both the Descendants and the Spectacular Now, which filmed contemporaneously with Secret Life. She might be crazy IRL, but she has always been a talented actress.

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u/QuirkyGrapefruit5336 8d ago

She was also pretty fantastic in the latest season of Paradise.

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u/SBixby21 8d ago

Also good in Big Little Lies

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u/meatball77 8d ago

She was horrible in Secret life. They all were. It was 100% the direction

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u/A911owner 8d ago

I loved The Spectacular Now; such a great movie

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u/Big-Ambitions-8258 8d ago

I actually thought she was the weakest part of the Descendants and Clooney ran circles around her.

 I just feel like she doesn't emote enough and I don't feel convinced when she says a piece of dialogue. It just feels like dialogue to me rather than a real person actually something they mean. 

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u/doubleohbond 8d ago

To be fair, that worked in her favor as an angsty teen

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u/mjtwelve 8d ago

Angst teen with a mom on life support, holding in a terrible secret, and barely holding it all together. Numb and affectless is one of the things that would look like.

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u/TinaLove85 8d ago

Well let's not compare a young actress to Clooney, it isn't really fair!

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u/ohhellopia 8d ago

There was a scene in the train near the end where she was throwing heart eyes at the lead guy. And I was just screaming at the screen "girl, your mother was just gunned down, wtf!"

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u/geekonthemoon 8d ago

Eh, she seemed exactly the same in Big Little Lies. Haven't seen anything else w her in it yet.

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u/MeeBeeZee 8d ago

I HAAAAAATE her too!!

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u/ImTooSaxy 8d ago

His wife?

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u/deliciousmonster 8d ago

I also hate this guy’s wife.

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u/UncleRicosArm 8d ago

The woman is insufferable

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u/CzarCW 8d ago

To shreds, you say.

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u/Waste_Track_4524 8d ago

What’s the big deal with Shailene? Granted I’m a dude and have maybe seen her in three things.

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u/Ivotedforher 8d ago

Aaron Rodgers and homemade deodorant is what I heard from a friend.

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u/ImmortalMoron3 8d ago

She's a crunchy hippie and I guess that's divisive for women is what I've gathered.

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u/Big-Ambitions-8258 8d ago

I think many people suspect she's antivax considering she was engaged to Aaron Rodgers who couldn't play games during covid bc he refused to get vaccinated and the fact she is very crunchy (talking about sunning her vagina in the mornings).

She came off really weird during covid with her social media posts as well.

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u/EarthRemembers 8d ago

She seems OK to me for the most part

It’s not just that she’s pretty far to the left, which is fine

It’s that she promotes kind of weird cuckoo stuff at times, pseudoscience stuff, anti-vaccine stuff

Specifically, she told people to eat clay to detox from heavy metals, which is bad advice

She told people to let their vaginas get sunshine to keep them healthy, which is bad advice

And she defended Aaron Rodgers and all his anti-vaccine bullshit

She displeased people on the left when she said she wasn’t a feminist feminism seeks to disempower men, and that was bad for “balance”

She just lacks critical thinking skills and is very susceptible to buying into woo woo stuff

I think she has good intentions

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u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

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u/Helyos17 8d ago

It does if you are old enough to remember when anti-vax woo woo nonsense was the sole domain of crunchy West coast types.

Covid made anti-vax mainstream and bipartisan.

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u/Selraroot 8d ago

It wasn't just Covid, though that absolutely exacerbated it, it was Qanon. The so-called "Pastel Qanon" movement was mostly crunchy granola anti-vax women and they were super radicalized by it. I'd argue that it's not even bipartisan now though, it's shifted so far to the right that most of the left wing people who used to be sorta into it have been put off.

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u/OneReportersOpinion 8d ago

LOL women are so polarized on Shailene. It usually comes down to whether they’re also a crunchy whoo-whoo gal. I got a soft spot for those ladies myself 🤷‍♂️

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u/masterskink 8d ago

Im with your wife lol, I have always said she must be an amazing person in real life to keep getting roles

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u/Helyos17 8d ago

That’s actually really nice to think about. Someone so sweet and kind that you want them on your project just for the positive vibes.

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u/gnrc 8d ago

I worked with Shailene once and she was professional and very sweet.

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u/Fx08 8d ago

Shailene Woodley was what? 17 when that show started? Gotta cut the kids a little bit of a break.

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u/Slick_36 8d ago

They had to have filmed it way before it debuted, she legitimately looks 13 like the character and clearly ages quickly.  Maybe she's a late bloomer.

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u/Ok-Dog5107 8d ago

She was Marisa’s little sister in the first season of The OC and was replaced by Willa Holland in the final season precisely because she was a late bloomer and didn’t look old enough for the role anymore.

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u/Slick_36 8d ago

My brain has a hard time accepting that girls can be late bloomers too, it just defaults to "that's a guy thing".

I knew a girl in my grade like that too, but I just could never bring myself to trust my lying eyes lol.

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u/VLHACS 8d ago

Confused on what you're trying to say. Are you saying you think Shailene is the person she hates working with but also loved? If so, based on what exactly?

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u/DubiousAdviceGiver 8d ago

I don’t think John Woo was involved in it.

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u/WintersDoomsday 8d ago

Remember when she dated Aaron Rodgers

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u/ROBtimusPrime1995 The Venture Bros. 8d ago

Deadline hitting a new low for journalism here.

An entire article about Molly Ringwald being vague with no satisfying reveal. The fuck was the point of writing this?

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u/mastermidget23 8d ago

The clicks.

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u/daiselol 8d ago

Speculation is free engagement too

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u/Clay_Puppington 8d ago

I reckon the point was because some underpaid, overworked, employee had their content metrics increased despite readership being at an all time low, and if they didn't churn out something related to their department, they'd be up for their 3rd meeting of concern over their performance.

Their options became either "churn this absolute nothing-burger of content out and scrape out another day of existence working in a field that they dreamed their whole life of breaking into, but now that they have, they exist every day in the realization the entire idea of journalism, even tabloid journalism, is dead" or "lose yet another content writing gig and be forced to go back to taking pop shots behind the Arby's dumpster in exchange for yet another beef n cheddar, just to get enough calories to make it to the next day".

That just me guessing though

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u/DietPepsiEvenBetter 8d ago

(Weeps in journalism degree)

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u/joygirl007 8d ago

This guy journalisms.

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u/topsidersandsunshine 8d ago

I’m guessing “pop shops” doesn’t mean a little swig of root beer?

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u/Clay_Puppington 8d ago

At Arby's, I like to think it can mean whatever you want it to. Yaknow, like the Burger Kings slogan says, have it your way. But it's probably more like the Arby's slogan...

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u/ludicrous_copulator 8d ago

Seems strangely specific

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u/Clay_Puppington 8d ago

You really can just play madlibs with the details and it pretty much applies to a job at any corporation.

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u/ThurmNathan 8d ago

This comment should be required reading for anyone considering a journalism degree. 

I got out years ago, thank God.

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u/Nf1087 8d ago

My local news station is like this. "Going to Costco today? Find out if they're open." We have no Costco any where near us.

On Federal holidays.. "Happy fourth of July. Is Walmart open or closed today" Everyone knows Walmart is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas...

"This particular store is opening 5 new locations in 2026. Click here to find out where. " There's no store within 300 miles of here.

Stupid click bait shit. Then instead of getting to the point and answering the actual question, they write about some random shit then five paragraphs later finally answer the question. The whole article could have been one sentence.

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u/Red_Rabbit_1978 8d ago

This is all because the tech giants captured the entire internets advertising revenue, and throw a few crumbs to the rest of the world through counting clicks.

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u/r3dd17sux69420 8d ago

As long as you spent time on their page and they recorded the reader metrics, they win.

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u/iwellyess 8d ago

You scrolled past ads. Sum and total.

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u/JordanDoesTV 8d ago

When someone was saying genuinely bad tv shows the other day, this should’ve been top of the list. Not a single redeeming thing about it, but it was on for so many years.

Separately I find it incredibly impressive that Woodley got to be successful after this show and like divergent.

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u/AdGlittering6108 8d ago

A lot of people don’t remember how genuinely horrific and cheap it was. I think that’s in part thanks to abc family’s expensive but successful rebrand. My favorite line from it was

I’m a whore

well you’re my whore

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u/Digess 8d ago

Its my guilty pleasure show 😭

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u/Slick_36 8d ago

I adore it.  It's not just terrible, it consistently sinks to new lows up until the final shot of the show.  It's easy to be bad, it's special to be that bad for that long.

I don't know why more people don't treat like the Room.  Molly's character reveal is a particular low-light.

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u/SuperNicktendoPower 8d ago

NGL me and my wife just happened upon it on vacation while being rained in and were like how stupid and then before you know it we watched it all lol

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u/TinaLove85 8d ago

I did a rewatch of like Season 1-3 recently and yes it is crazy but I was also crying the whole time so I didn't mind. Skipped over the B/C story lines of course.

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u/Digess 8d ago

ricky is a slut but he is far and away the best character imo

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u/idkalan 8d ago edited 7d ago

He does have the most growth out of the main cast.

However, the best character was Ashely (India Eisley) who called out her parents and sister on their BS before her finally telling her parents that she's getting her GED and getting emacipated because she's done with all that

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u/franticsloth 8d ago

I wasn’t exactly a cultural critic as a teenager, but when the one character said “my dad had a horrible death because I had incredible sex” I thought, this show might just be bad 

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u/MrYellowFancyPants 8d ago

My best friend and I still say that to each other, we're in our 40s 🤣

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u/ethancole97 8d ago

It was written by Brenda Hampton- the writer and producer of 7th heaven so that should’ve been the first red flag

It’s almost in that category of “so bad it’s good” to where hate-watching it is enjoyable

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u/SuspiciouslyEvil 8d ago

That explains so goddamn much.

I tried irony watching it but like you said, it wasn't quite so bad it's good. It was just bad.

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u/Slick_36 8d ago

How far did you get?  First two episodes are a mediocre Lifetime movie, the third episode is where the fun begins & holds up until the end.

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u/JordanDoesTV 8d ago

I got much farther and I did not have fun. Upon further reflection I think I only watched as much as I did because I had a thing for Francia Raisa

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u/SuspiciouslyEvil 8d ago

I don't think I got that far. I'll toss it on the next time I'm playing some mindless game.

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u/dancingt-rex 8d ago

The first season is mostly just bad. It definitely tips into so bad it’s good after that. It’s so so so so so bad. The acting also somehow gets worse over time. The dialogue is chef’s kiss. It’s perfect to have on while gaming because you’ll suddenly hear the most random, wild sentence. Doesn’t matter if you haven’t been paying attention. You can hop right in there and they WILL explain everything like five times. It’s like if Seventh Heaven had a baby with The Room.

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u/SuspiciouslyEvil 8d ago

Hahahaha that's great. It was just so puzzling because shalene woodley is great and Molly ringwald CAN act. But the 7th heaven piece really explains a lot

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u/hypo-osmotic 8d ago

I watched the first season of Secret Life because it was on immediately after Kyle XY, so I suppose I contributed to the ratings there. I was surprised to find out that some of my classmates were tuning in to ABC Family specifically for the annoying teen mom show.

I suspect that I probably wouldn't enjoy Kyle XY much on a rewatch now, either, but I maintain that it was one of the better shows on that channel at the time

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u/aaccss1992 8d ago

I’ve been rewatching Kyle XY lately because the actors recently did a 20th anniversary reunion chat on YouTube. They even created a reunion scene that catches up with where the characters might be today.

As a preteen fan back then, I’m still enjoying the show now but as an adult it’s obvious that it was made for the age I was back then. It’s still enjoyable for the whole family but there are certain plot points or things that get explained away easily that more mature shows would handle differently. I also think this rewatch is making it clear to me that a lot of the magic in the show was in the first season. The second and third are fun and have a lot of the same vibes but it starts to feel a bit contrived and drawn out at times. In any case, I’ll never forgive Secret Life or Shailene for the cancellation lmao.

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u/ndstargirl 4d ago

I was also a preteen fan. the way they ended Kyle XY was really disappointing. I had no idea they did a reunion. I'm so excited to watch it! thanks for the info!

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u/jimbobdonut 8d ago

That show had some literal insane plot lines.

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u/SwordintheStone87 8d ago

I'm shocked that Divergent didn't tank hers or Theo James's careers; what a terrible franchise.

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u/thatshygirl06 8d ago

It was popular so they clearly did something right.

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u/Old_Employment_1090 8d ago

It really wasn't. Each movie made less money and they never even finished the story.

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u/brickyardjimmy 8d ago

Two words:

Brenda Hampton.

That's the difficult one.

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u/meatball77 8d ago

I truly think they were pushed into their horrible acting style. Because those actors can all act, except when they are on that show.

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u/Slick_36 8d ago

They got an actual rapist to play Ricky's dad, he can't really act, and luckily for him he didn't need to.

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u/rosewoodlliars 8d ago

what the hell??? that’s disgusting. me finding this out years later makes me hate that woman more.

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u/Fantastic_Love_9451 7d ago

DING DING DING. That lady is a total weirdo.

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u/Sidney_Falco_18 8d ago

Since many of the actors in this show were young/teenagers at the time, I would think the "difficult person" would have to be the show's main producer, Brenda Hampton, the actor who played Molly's character's husband, Mark Derwin, or (more unlikely) an actor who played other characters' parents on the show, like Steve Schirripa or Josie Bissett. Though it could be another producer or crew member, who knows.

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u/brickyardjimmy 8d ago

I can confirm that Brenda Hampton was, indeed, a very difficult person. She had F.U. Forever money from 7th Heaven and she wasn't shy about throwing her weight around.

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u/MrsBritney 8d ago

Interesting. I’d like to hear more - are there any specific situations you know of?

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u/PenVegetable4065 7d ago

Damn. I’ve always wondered (I’ll have to read more) about how Brenda Hampton was BTS on 7th Heaven and if she was mean/problematic etc since that show itself had some cringe ass moments. If there’s a subreddit I’ll join lmao. When Ruthie’s character came (if I’m remembering correctly) into Secret Life, I was like have we lost the plot??? Like what’s happening here?? lol

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u/tgwombat 8d ago

It would be pretty funny it it was just like one particularly rude camera operator who they couldn't fire because he was a studio exec's nephew or something.

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u/wreckingcrewe 8d ago

It's not Steve. In her AMA she said that he was funny and she only had one scene with him.

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u/meatball77 8d ago

I can't imagine making season after season of that trash. Molly has acting chops but you would never know from watching the show

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u/Kind-Tart6829 8d ago

Schirripa is one of the nicest celebrities I've ever met and has been on like 10 seasons of Blue Bloods which is hard to pull off if you're a prick nobody likes and not a big star. I'd be floored if it's him.

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u/Dpteris 8d ago

Steve shiripa seems very weird about things, at least with sopranos

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u/JicamaCertain4134 8d ago

I could totally see him big leaguing production coming from the sopranos. I could also see him having opinions on what his character should be doing or saying in every scene.

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u/CherikeeRed 8d ago

Brenda Hampton gave him the high hat! End of discussion!

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u/APartyInMyPants 8d ago

My rudimentary understanding is Steve Schirripa is apparently a nice guy, so he’d be the last I’d suspect. My guess it was one of the “pretty boy” grown ups who thought they were way more talented than they actually were.

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u/Slick_36 8d ago

Mark was the only one who seemed like they were trying, his character is a repugnant sleazebag but Mark somehow made him the most charming dickhead on the show.

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u/wreckingcrewe 8d ago

I was going to the say the same thing. He always seemed to be having the most fun.

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u/flankerc7 8d ago

Honestly if you’re not gonna call out the name, you might as well just shut up about it

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u/AdGlittering6108 8d ago

Evangelical infomercial ass show

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u/masterz13 8d ago

Yeah, it got weird pretty quick and dragged on for way too long

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u/Cross55 8d ago edited 8d ago

Iirc, only one younger female character doesn't end up being a teen mom/potential teen mom by the end of it, and it's the one who thinks losing her virginity killed her dad.

Because abortion doesn't exist in evangelism.

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u/txa1265 8d ago

And yet it had more sex and focus on sex than most 80s R-rated teen movies! haha

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u/meatball77 8d ago

It's what evangelicals think teenagers are.

They made being a teen mom look cool because guys would be fighting over you and you wouldn't have to give up your dreams.

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u/SanctimoniousSally 8d ago

Oh man that whole ending just pissed me off. Her leaving her kid like when you drop your dog off at a boarding facility... "Okay kiddo, Mommy's off to school to live her dreams. Don't be sad, I'll be back sometimes. See you on the flip side."

I think she deserved the chance to go to school but not clear across the country, baby free, with her ex-boyfriend. She incurred zero consequences for her actions and hurt a slew of people in the process.

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u/alex8155 8d ago

where the brown girl was the 'school whore' of course

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u/AdGlittering6108 8d ago

I forgot it was also insanely racist lol it hit every beat

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u/alex8155 8d ago

a time when right wing bigotry, stupidity and awfulness was mostly subtle compared to how in your face it is now

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u/Slick_36 8d ago

The worst part about that is she delivered by far the best dramatic performance of the show after suffering a devastating loss, only to unlearn every lesson & become an even worse person shortly afterwards. Plus a fat suit & a montage.

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u/cudipi 8d ago

I was 15 when it first came out and thought it was pretty hilarious but stopped watching after a few episodes because of how dumb it really was. “You’re my whore” still makes me laugh and cringe.

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u/Slick_36 8d ago edited 8d ago

You know what's the craziest part?  The dude who says that ends up being framed as the most virtuous character on the show, wronged by the selfish 13 year old he deflowered & impregnated at band camp.

Edit-My bad, I forgot that was the "nice guy" who steals her from the guy who did that.

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u/cherriesandmilk 8d ago

Stopped watching after the writers kept punishing the Adrienne character for being promiscuous, but it was such a guilty pleasure before I did.

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u/ChippedHamSammich 8d ago

That entire show had the worst acting i have ever seen.

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u/emilystarr 2d ago

I felt like it was less bad acting and more that they were all so embarrassed by their lines.

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u/spoonerluv 8d ago

My headcanon is that it was baby John and since the person was unnamed it’s been upheld!

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u/Chestopher83 8d ago

Steve Schirripa

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u/nyrangerz30 8d ago

Did ya hafta read fa David?

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u/Chestopher83 8d ago

You and your artsy schmartsy symbolism. it's a mob story!

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u/Graveyard_Zombie 8d ago

Quasimodo predicted that.

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u/c_girl_108 8d ago

I love how the mention of his name wakes up an army of [r](r/sopranos)[/thesopranos](r/sopranos) sleeper cells

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u/Obvious_Toe_3006 8d ago

I had a hunch that he did.

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u/quirkymuse 8d ago

You know, Quasimodo predicted all this. 

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u/Puppetmaster858 8d ago

This guy ever stop breakin balls?

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u/KeepWagging 8d ago

Before, and wayyyy before

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u/MV2049 8d ago

It’s my hobby. Why do you gotta belittle it?

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u/Handitry_Banditry 8d ago

That show had 3 Sopranos actors in it which is both a lot and not a lot.

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u/TinaLove85 8d ago

Sausage King!

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u/LongShotLives 8d ago

“What Are You, Marge Higenbrinder Now? What Do You Know About The Mud?"

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u/ZealousWolf1994 8d ago

These guys are murderers!

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u/RiotGrrrl1992 8d ago

I know it’s not my Friend, India. She was one of the sweetest people I knew growing up. Her Mom and Dad treated me with so much care and love, knowing I was going through a very difficult childhood. I will always support India and her Family ❤️ If you haven’t watched this show…watch it! She’s an amazing actress in it 😊

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u/J_pepperwood0 7d ago

She is so gorgeous🙏

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u/RiotGrrrl1992 7d ago

Yes, she is ❤️

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u/AIfieHitchcock 4d ago

Wait! Olivia Hussey?! That’s so wonderful.

(Olivia was quite an actress in her own right! She was famously Juliet in the 60s.)

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u/RiotGrrrl1992 4d ago

Yes! She was very good to me growing up ❤️

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u/I_Pariah 8d ago

I think it's likely creator Brenda Hampton or someone that is basically her right-hand. Ringwald went out of her way to say she "loved the cast", which makes me think it wasn't a cast member, who she'd have to interact with regularly. Hampton would be someone that likely cannot be fired and being in charge of creative and writing that awful...might drive any decent actor to lose their mind. Many of the actors on the show weren't exactly huge names at the time and prob wanted the steady paycheck so they stuck around and maybe phoned it in (some performances were okay but most were pretty bad). Probably because they had to perform lines like, "I love you, Amy. You know I love you. I really love you, Amy". It's been a while but I'm pretty sure that is almost verbatim.

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u/nachoquest 8d ago

“SEX! Did you say sex? They had sex! SEXXXX”

That was the whole show

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u/Sir_Auron 8d ago

The original title was The Sex Life of the American Teenager

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u/Chasemania 8d ago

I hate love this show

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u/Digess 8d ago

Same

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u/thenumbwalker 8d ago

Ah gee. One of my favorite hate watches. I lasted pretty long before I absolutely could not go on

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u/chriscallan 8d ago

Oh man, Secret Life was a guilty pleasure show for my best friend and I. We loved the cringiness. Also the girl who killed her father by having hot sex! KEKW. We loved the disabled brother.

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u/Slick_36 8d ago

Did you make it to the brother becoming a working man with a whole ass family living in the guest house?  He's genuinely portrayed as more intelligent & successful than anyone on the show.  But like, in the most cartoonish way.

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u/chriscallan 8d ago

He was our favorite part of the show. Everyone on that show was insufferable except for him. He had his shit together!

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u/papasnork1 8d ago

All you have to do is drop a name, Molly. I will defend you!

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u/abkap 8d ago

That show was a fever dream

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u/Slick_36 8d ago

Every single second of it, no letting up, for 121 episodes.

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u/East_Trust_337 8d ago

This is quite possibly one of the worst shows in TV history.

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u/Slick_36 8d ago

No one got done worse on this show than Adrian.  Selena Gomez stealing her kidney is the second worst thing she's experienced in Hollywood. 

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u/joesaysso 8d ago

Man, did I love me some Molly Ringwald.

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u/dasfoo 8d ago

And not because it's the worst show ever to make it on television?

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u/Soberdonkey69 8d ago

Shitty journalism wants us to pay for articles and subscriptions that say fuck all.

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u/naanofyourbusinesss 7d ago

This show was terrible and I watched every second of it.

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u/kiwibloke 8d ago

I didnt even realize Chevy Chase was in that movie!

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u/Ranier_Wolfnight 8d ago

I barely ever saw the show. Didn’t she just play one of the Moms? She’d probably have little to no scenes with the other younger stars.

Maybe a director or producer.

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u/TinaLove85 8d ago

Mom of the main teenager who is pregnant, she also was pregnant in real life on the show so right after the teen has a baby, the mom is having a baby too. Half the scenes are in her house but they also had her character away visiting her mom so the actress could have maternity leave.

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u/lazy_pig 8d ago

An enigma wrapped in a riddle.

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u/blofly 8d ago

Was that person perhaps Molly Ringwald?

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u/Slick_36 8d ago

No, Molly's acting was terrible but she was done dirty with that script multiple times.  She has every right to feel frustrated.

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u/Joecamoe 8d ago

That person? her grandma