Actually, it was a pretty good run: ABC Family premiered The Secret Life of the American Teenager in July of 2008, and a total of 121 will be broadcast before the show bids farewell, but still, the bad news: ABC Family has cancelled the family drama, costarring Francia Raisa, Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, and Paola Turbay.The final twelve episodes, which will begin airing in March 2013, are all we’ll see of Season Five.
Secret Life was created by Brenda Hampton, who also created the CW’s Seventh Heaven, the launching pad for Jessica Biel. It looks like Francia could enjoy a similar trajectory; she already has starring roles in Cutting Edge and Bring It On sequels under her belt, she recently completed a guest-starring role on CSI, and has two films already in the can: a comedy-horror flick called Chastity Bites, where she co-stars with Warehouse 13’s Allison Scagliotti, and an intercultural love story called Birds of Paradise, with Step Up Revolution’s Ryan Guzman and Daphne Zuniga. Both will be released in the next few months, in and around the time the last Secret Life episodes hit the air. Meanwhile, Turbay has had a recurring role as a doctor on Royal Pains for the past few seasons along with being on The Secret Life.
Still, five years and 121 episodes is a decent run, and Francia Raisa was there from the beginning. And ABC Family still has Switched at Birth with Constance Marie and Ivonne Coll, and its ongoing American Latino storylines. And with this many episodes in the can, you can expect to see Francia’s character Adrian and all her friends on the cable network and likely in syndication for years to come.
You can still catch some of the most recent episodes (and lots of other Raisa-centric goodies) at the ABC Family’s web page for the show here, including a “Secret Life Holiday Special” that was posted just a couple of weeks ago.
More on Francia Raisa as her career continues to expand.
