Flashback Friday : Secret Life of the American Teenager

Secret Life of the American Teenager first aired on ABC Family. Secret Life of the American Teenager is a "teen drama." It first played on July 1st, 2008, and ended June 3rd, 2013. The creator is Brenda Hampton, who is also the creator of one of my all time favorite shows, 7th Heaven. The Secret Life of the American Teenager showed us behavior from teens in all types of situations. For example, Amy(Shailene Woodley) was the main character who ended up getting pregnant at band camp by a boy who was also in the band, Ricky(Daren Kagasoff). They had a son, Jon, but Ricky and Amy were not together a good portion of the show. Matter of fact, Amy was with Ben Boykewick(Ken Baumann). Ricky was with Adrian(Francia Almendarez). Amy and Adrian never exactly liked eachother, they always had a problem because Adrian loved Ricky, but was uncomfortable about the situation with Amy. Later on, through out the seasons Ricky and Amy get back together, and eventually move into Ricky's apartment, with Jon. Adrian ends up marrying Ben, after a one night stand that resulted in a pregnancy. But, they did not make it. Their daughter ended up being miscarried, and they ended up getting a divorce. The show really showed struggles of pregnant teens, teens with special needs, teens that are dealing with the death of a parent, and high school drama all mixed in one. I ended up really liking the show, even after I swore to never like it because I thought it was stupid. Although, it had a lot of relevance to how high school really was, and how it would be. It was a pretty accurate show. Being in my Senior year of high school, I realize that I to had some of the same problems that were happening in the show. Sure, none of my parents died, and I was fortunate enough not to get pregnant. But, all of the people around me have had something like that happen to them 

. Around high school now, you see pregnant teens, there is drama, and everything else that was expressed in the show itself.

Television stinks!

Today's television programming stinks. I do not watch a bunch of television. It's not that I think it is bad for you, but rather all of the good shows have went off air, or just do not play much anymore. I have a television in my bedroom, and I watch probably five hours of t.v. a week. On average a teenager will watch about 20 hours of television weekly. According to livestrong.com, 70% of children ages 8 to 18 have a television in their bedrooms. I also, have cable hooked up to my television. According to, livestrong.com 35% of children have cable or satellite-television in their rooms. When I was younger, it probably would seem that I watched television a lot. But, it was not as much as it seems. I would watch shows that were 25-30 minutes long and then go play outside for four hours.  That was only because Disney Channel had every television show that I loved playing. But, I did not actually get a television in my room with cable until I was thirteen or fourteen.
By the time a person turns 18 years old they will have seen about  350,000 commercials, and at least 100,000 are advertisements for beer, according to teen health and the media. So I guess the question is, is television bad for you? Yes, television has its down falls. For example, sitting in front of the t.v allows kids to not use their imaginations. But, do I think its terrible? No.

 (http://depts.washington.edu/thmedia/view.cgi?section=medialiteracy&page=fastfacts)


Fun Fact: African-American households, watch two more hours of primetime t.v, and about five more hours of daytime t.v.

Why General Hospital interests me....

When I was younger I might have watched the show here and there, but it never really got my attention. It wasn't until a couple of years ago, I think my freshman year that I really started to watch General Hospital. Even then, I wasn't really into it. My favorite show was OLTL, also known as One Life to Live. One life to live was another soap opera that played right before General Hospital. When they cancelled One life to live, is when General Hospital really caught my attention. I heard that the characters from OLTL would be coming to General Hospital, slowly. This is really what interested me, and ever since then I don't miss a day of General Hospital. General Hospital is a good show to watch because, it really introduces the drama of real life. Too me, it shows: grief, happiness, anger, and most of all drama. So, you really don't have a MOB boss in your every day life. I think it really shows us what other people go through on a day to day basis. Not everyone, would like the show. I guess, it is just about what you're into. Since, I have been watching the show for so long, it's kind of like I can connect to some Characters. Even though, Sonny is a MOB boss he reminds me a lot of my father. Sonny's got a good relationship with his kids, and his kids are his pride and joy. His children are his passion, and if he makes a promise to them he tries his hardest not to let them down, and most of the time, doesn't. Carly, reminds me a lot of my mom because she's the "boss." Carly is the person to add in her two cents about everything, and shes stubborn. When she feels a certain way about a situation she sticks with that, and she doesn't budge. And, she is never tricked by anyone's lies or, schemes. But, she also is very compassionate when it comes to her kids, she would do anything for them. And, with Sonny and Carly's history, she knows Sonny like the back of her hand, and knows when he is lying or, has a plan to do something. But, they come together when they have to and this is really what reminds me of them. Anyways, General Hospital is a good show and I plan on watching it until it goes off of the air. :)

Mr. VanGorp's favorite teleivision show

Modern Family, is Mr. VanGorp's favorite show. The Modern Family cast consists of four people: Jay Pritchett(Ed O'Neill), Gloria Pritchett(Sofia Vergara), Claire Dunphy(Julie Bowen), and Phil Dunphy(Ty Burrell). Modern Family is a show about the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker "clan." They are a large, blended family. The three families show us the warm, twisted, funny, and true things about a modern family. A lot of the clever, adult humor, and a lot of the sarcasm that doesn't really get picked up is the reason this show is his favorite show. Modern Family plays on ABC, on Wednesday nights at nine o'clock. Modern Family has five seasons, it has been around since September 2009.

( abc.go.com/shows/modern-family )

Jeopardy : 50 years old!

From the time it started until now, Jeopardy is working on its fiftieth year. A talk show host and producer started jeopardy. He got the idea of a question-and-answer game show from his wife. This show first premiered on NBC in 1964. History was the first category to be put into play on the trivia show. Even though, all the trivia games were far off of the air this one made it, and it made it a long time. The first jeopardy was ran by Art Fleming, who had never done a quiz show before in his life. The first ever jeopardy ran for about ten years. Jeopardy is a show that has been watched for years by many people in the United States. Below, is the link that you can click to learn more about Jeopardy!

( http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/28/showbiz/tv/jeopardy-50-years-anniversary/index.html?hpt=hp_c3 )

History of television

Many think that television was invented in the late 1940's, but that is wrong. Television was invented in 1927, but was not officially brought to the public until the late 1940's. Television wasn't what you think it might be. Back then, television was black and white. Authorized by the FCC on December 17, 1953 RCA was the first system to have a successful color commercial broadcasting played on it.  (transition.fcc.gov) Even in color the television was still bulky, and it flickered. In June of 1951, there were 10.5 million black ands white televisions already sold and very few color televisions sold. The Korean War put a pause in the color tv industry. Later on, CBS failed.  In 1954, color television was up and running. Colored television has been rolling ever since!

Spring Finale: Pretty Little Liars

With all that has happened in just this short winter season, this last episode is going to wrap it all up. This coming Tuesday at 8:00 P.M. is the spring finale of ABC Family's, Pretty Little Liars. This season we have found out that Ezra has been making a book and, following Alison, along with her friends trying to uncover the mystery of what really happened to Alison. We also found out that Alison has really been alive all this time, meaning that another teenage girl's bones are in her grave. Through out this season, we have learned that Alison's mother is in ties with Spencer's family about the night that Alison Dilarentus died. We have met numerous new faces this season, and coming up this week on Pretty Little Liars we are going to meet another.