The Secret Life of the American Teenager

In a word: Woaaah!

Former Blossom star Mayim Bialik has signed on for a recurring role on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. The former child star will portray Dr. Wilameena Bink, a counselor that fills the vacancy left by Mr. Molina.

Said Bialik of the role:

"[Series director] Brenda Hampton had this funny idea to have this high school counselor who is known for having, at her previous job, taken a student to the prom as her date. That's all she told me. She just said, 'I want to do this really wacky character,' and it just sounded great."

The actress has recenrtly appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Bones.

After weeks off the air, The Secret Life of the American Teenager returns with a new episode on Monday.

What does the immediate future for this show hold? And how has main character Amy changed over the past year or so?

Star Shailene Woodley answered those questions in a recent Q&A with reporters. Excerpts are below...

On show spoilers: There's a lot of new things. Another maybe pregnancy, weddings; there's a lot of confusion as far as in Ben and Amy's relationship; there's a lot of up and downs with Ricky's character and trying to figure out who he is and what he wants.

A lot of the characters are going through that stage in high school where you're starting to become a person and in that recognition of who you are there's a lot of confusion and you get scared. And I think a lot of teenagers react in not the best ways and I think the whole next season kind of discovers that and goes into depth of that confusing state of adolescence.

On Amy's evolution: I think that all teenage girls kind of go through that mean stage where the world revolves around them. I think it's very hormonal and especially after having a child I think that your hormones are all out of whack and it causes a lot of mood swings.

So I think they were just trying to portray that life isn't perfect after you have baby, you are going to go through exactly like what you said, post dramatic depression. You're going to go through a lot of things that you wouldn't necessarily go through if you hadn't had a child at 15.

We already know that The Secret Life of the American Teenager returns to ABC Family on January 4.

But what can viewers of this surprise hit expect during this set of new episodes? A few surprise storylines, according to show stars!

Speaking to E! News about upcoming plot points, Shailene Woodley (Amy) said:

"There might be another pregnancy, [and] a couple of weddings, hookups, breakups, all that drama."

Woodley added that her character will split time between her relationship with the baby and her relationship with Ricky.

Meanwhile, there this from Francia Raisa (Adrian): "There are a lot of new hookups, especially with me. I'm gonna tease you guys a lot this season. My character's grown a lot in the season that's coming up, and then she has a huge storyline coming up toward the end of the season. It's really good, so dramatic, really juicy."

Any suggestions on what it could be, readers? Or are you too distracted by the upcoming masturbation club to focus on anything else?

Yes, you read that headline correctly.

When The Secret Life of an American Teenager returns on January 4, a typically secret act will go public.

According to Megan Park (Grace), the ABC Family show is about to get a whole lot racier. The actress told E! News:

"Grace starts a club called 'Just Say Me,' about not having sex with other people, having sex with yourself. I think people will be a shocked by that episode."

We think she's 100% correct.

It's coming back.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager will complete its second season in early 2010, as the ABC Family hit is scheduled for a January 4 return.

It will at at 8 p.m. on Monday nights and be followed by the series Make It or Break It.

On The Secret Life of an American Teenager, Megan Park takes on the important role of Grace.

From questions about her progression as a character to Grace's penchant for sex, the actress speaks at length about the show in a new interview. Here are a few excerpts from it:

On playing Grace:  She’s a normal girl who just wants to do the best thing, the right thing for herself, her friends and her family. So many times when I audition, I go for these bratty teenage girls who are like “MOM GOSH!” So it was so refreshing to see a character who is just a good kid. This season, she’s going through some stuff but even when she’s going through all the drama, tension and tragedy, she’s still so much fun to play.

On Grace's evolution: Grace is probably the character who has changed the most this season because it starts out with her losing her virginity and her dad dying. She goes through so much guilt with that, and she really struggles with whether or not she believes in God anymore after this happens.

It’s a big deal for her because she’s so religious and she goes through some problems with her mom and with her boyfriend. She’s definitely struggling with growing up this year and reality, but then she kind of comes back to some things. She goes through a lot of circles of discovery this season with who she wants to be.

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The second season of The Secret Life of the American Teenager premieres tonight.

Over the next couple of episodes there will be life (a new pregnancy) and death, the second of which Ken Baumann (Ben) focused on during an interview with TV Guide.

"[The death] affects everybody, but I'd say it affects the youth of the show more so," Baumann said.

Here's a bit more of what he had to say:

On Ben and Ricky in season two: You're not going to get two 15-year-olds who are hunky-dory parenting together in this makeshift family, so it's definitely tumultuous. There's certainly jealousy. There's actually a lot of jealousy. The Ben-Ricky situation gets infinitely more complicated. In Ben's case, he's very optimistic and can be kind of naïve. I think Ricky knows full well it's going to be difficult.

On Amy's relationship with Ben and Ricky: We are shooting episode 12 at the moment and it gets very, very, very dramatic. There will be very dramatic changes between all three of them. There may come a breaking point. Everyone's trying their best to make it work, but it's certainly not going to function very well for probably a very long time.

What can fans expect to see on the new season of The Secret Life of the American Teenager?

For starters, Rumer Willis has landed a role on the ABC Family hit. She'll guest star on the June 22 premiere.

"It's very dramatic how she comes onto the show," Francia Raisa, who plays Adrian Lee, told E! News. "There's always a chance she can come back and do another episode. But I can't say more."

Fortunately, Raisa and co-stars, Shailene Woodley and Daren Kagasoff (Ricky, Amy's baby daddy) did reveal more about what's planned for this summer...

On Adrian's past: "You learn more of Adrian's backstory about why she's so into the sex and why it's not so dramatic for her like most people," said Francia. "And I know there is more sex involved and a lot more regrets when it comes to sex. Some people lose their virginity in the new season."

On the show's awkward relationships: "It's kind of a love triangle," said Shailene. "I mean, I'm in love with my boyfriend [Ben] who is not the father of my baby. And then, the father of my baby [Ricky], you know, I don't really like him. But there's always that question in the back of my mind, like, he is the father, so could he be my boyfriend one day? There's a lot drama just in the sense that my boyfriend, Ben, gets very jealous of Ricky because he's at my house every night taking care of the baby. And Ben thinks something else is going on. It's this difficult triangle."

On a death: "I think everybody is affected by it," said Daren. "Because it kind of brings a realization to every family in the show that this could happen to your family as well. So that is a big element that I think it'll be great for viewers to see. And we were all at the funeral when it was shot. So we all kind of had a place. It brings everyone together."

On this week's episode of The Closer, viewers met Detective Mikki Mendoza. She's played by Paola Turbay, an actress that's proving to a sought-after commodity these days.

In a recent interview with TV Guide, Turbay spoke on a couple roles, including that of Mendoza.

TVGuide.com: Starting with The Closer, how do we meet Detective Mikki Mendoza?
Turbay: She appears in this week's episode, as the director of the SIS, a part of the LAPD that supports Brenda's squad when it's time to catch the bad guys. She does car-crashing, door-kicking, punching... all the tough stuff. And what has caught many people's interest is the fact that she is a lesbian.

TVGuide.com: How many episodes are you around for?
Turbay: I've done two so far, and we just wrapped Episode 7. I think she will come back for at least another two or three more, from what I understand.

TVGuide.com: And lastly, will we be seeing more of you on The Secret Life of the American Teenager this summer?
Turbay: Yes! The kids are really raving about that series. I walk around the streets and they're like, "Oh my god! You're the coolest mom on the show!" That show is amazing, the ratings have been historical, and the social impact has been huge.

[Talking about sex] is the most uncomfortable conversation you can have with your kids, but now you can speak in the third person about "that kid" in the story. [The parents] are really talking about their kids, and the kids are really talking about themselves, but they do it through the [characters]. It's great to be a part of that.

Sure we've already seen Ben's jealous streak on The Secret Life of the American Teenager clips, but soon we're about to see Amy's!

According to Ausiello Files, a hot girl from Ben's brief summer stint in Italy is going to be coming to town in an upcoming episode of The Secret Life.

We're going to go on a limb here and make the assumption that we'll see Amy's jealous side creep up.