On the other hand, ABC Family is constantly presenting itself as a network for "a new kind of family," and ABC original shows such as Greek and The Secret Life of the American Teenager don't shy away from sex or drinking or teenage pregnancy, which shows that the concept of "family" television has evolved far beyond the corny jokes and "very special episodes" of the old TGIF lineup. Piper Perabo's character does have a complicated relationship with her father in the film, and I guess that dynamic fits the networks overall programming slate. I suppose the strangest, and funniest thing about seeing Coyote Ugly on ABC Family, then, is the fact that they're advertising it as "Tyra Banks in Coyote Ugly!" when she's in the movie for what, 10 minutes? Not like I've seen it a few times or anything. Ok, no, I totally have. I'm sorry, you guys. It's just that you can't fight the moonlight, noooooo! Can't fight it!

Feel free to share your opinions on the ABC Fam/Coyote Ugly partnership, as well as confessions about favorite guilty pleasure movies in the comments below.

While I don't watch many teen-oriented shows (with the exception of Gossip Girl, My Super Sweet 16 and America's Next Top Model), I can't remember the last time a teenage TV character proclaimed to be a feminist — and wasn't making a joke. In fact, when Tracie made a list of self-professed feminist TV characters, half of them originated a decade or more ago.

While the character of Kat is based on the "shrew" by William Shakespeare, on this show she is a fully modern young woman dealing with modern problems. For instance: Last week's episode, directed by Gil Junger (who directed the 1999 film starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger.) Kat's plot revolves around her newly engaged teacher, who seems more interested in a sparkly rock than grading papers fairly.

The assignment was to write about "the day that changed your life." Kat wrote about reading Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, "the dawn" of her "feminist awakening." What she didn't read? Her friend Mandella's paper about the county fair. Still, when Kat finds out that everyone in class received As, she complains. Also, she calls her teacher out for being "so not a feminist."

What happens when she complains is that everyone still gets As, but Kat gets a B-. She confronts her teacher about this new, lower grade; but her teacher explains that Kat's paper on finding feminism received a low grade because it was "predictable" and "preachy."

After a talk with her father, Kat realizes that she is indeed self-centered; she hadn't even read her friend Mandella's paper about the county fair, assuming it wasn't as interesting or important as her feminist manifesto. Turns out that Mandella's paper was about the humiliation of being an overweight person not allowed to ride the fairground rides and turning to fatty foods at the fair as a coping mechanism. Kat apologizes to her friend.

Also, she writes a new paper. About her dad buying her tampons.

The week before last, Kat's plot had a feminist bent as well:

Kat's sister Bianca called Kat out on being a "stop global warming activist" while driving a gas-guzzling, air-polluting clunker.

Kat decided to convert her "Chernobyl-mobile" to bio-diesel using some instructions she found online, adding that doing so would "dispel the myth" that women can't fix cars.

The guys in the garage (including Patrick Verona) gave Kat a hard time. They had a bet going that she wouldn't be able to finish converting her engine; but when one guy said, "Isn't anyone going to bet on the girl?" Kat said, "I'll bet on myself." She had confidence she could pull it off. But by the end of the day, everyone was going home and she hadn't made any progress. The guys urged her to quit, and Kat was clearly at the end of her rope.

In the middle of the night, Kat was still trying to fix her car. Her OB/GYN dad came to visit; she pouted that she wasn't a "damsel in distress." Yet he made it clear that her problem with the car stemmed not from being female but from being stubborn and not asking for help when she clearly needed it. (Kat and her dad finished the engine conversion and the next day in the garage, the guys had to pay up when she started the car with her new bio-diesel system, which they assumed she'd installed herself.)

This summer show will, most likely, be ending in a few weeks, but here's to hoping that it — and its message, a strong one for teenage girls — returns.

10 Things I Hate About You airs tonight at 8pm on ABC Family

10 Things I Hate About You [ABC Family]

Earlier: 10 Things I Hate About You: Teenage Feminism, But No Heath Ledger
20 Feminist TV Characters

Even though the show is based on the 1999 movie, there are differences — except the guy who played the dad in the movie reprises his role on TV. (Guess he was available?) Unlike the movie, Kat and Bianca — the main sisters — are new arrivals to California, and to the school. The most popular girl in school (a scheming cheerleader) is played by a black actress, a change from the usual blonde bubblehead types teen comedies usually cast.

And then there's "Patrick Verona," played by Ethan Peck. He spends most of the first episode pouty-lipped, puppy-dog-eyed and mute, a broody locker-leaner, in contrast to the way Heath Ledger played the part — as a wise-ass wild card. (TV show writer Carter Covington tells E!: "I kept thinking of Jordan Catalano from My So-Called Life.")

But it will be interesting to keep an eye on Kat, the "shrew." She's jaded and fierce and feminist-y, and here's how you know: Her car has this hanging from the rearview mirror:

…And this is her bedtime reading selection:

Last night's episode had her scaring off poor Patrick merely by looking at him (clip above.)

Related: 10 Things You Need to Know About 10 Things I Hate About You [E!]

Los Angeles Times:

The tone of the pilot careens between an after-school special and "American Pie," with a bit of "Pretty in Pink" grabbed along the way. It is almost all about sex — and a little bit about family, but the subject there is largely sex, as well, and why it's not for the young. The sexually active kids we meet are either made unhappy by having it, or they're having it because they're unhappy. (Ricky's compulsion to sleep with every girl who crosses his path is shown to spring from his having been molested by his father.) Amy confides of her deflowering: "I'm not even sure it was sex. It wasn't fun and definitely not like what you see in the movies."

Or they're unhappy because they've never had it. In a most improbable conversation (in a show full of them, nerdy wiseacre Ben (Kenny Baumann) — who has decided almost arbitrarily to pursue Amy by getting himself into the marching band — tells his guidance counselor: "To be perfectly honest, Mark, it's all motivated by the fact that I'm 15, I'm a virgin, and if I want to have a sex life I've got to start somewhere."

Variety:

ABC Family's latest original drama wants to be a slow-motion version of "Juno" but settles for being an obvious, stereotype-laden teen soap, albeit more "North Hollywood, 91607" than the story of what happens in flashier, better-known SoCal zip codes. Series creator Brenda Hampton made family drama with religious underpinnings a long-running success on "7th Heaven," but teen pregnancy — especially on a youth-oriented network — is too important a subject for such shallow, ham-fisted treatment. The topic may find a receptive audience, but based on first impressions, "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" should probably stay a secret.

The New York Times:

For a generation of young viewers raised on “The Simpsons,” “South Park” and “Degrassi Junior High” (not to mention reruns of “Sex and the City”) this kind of earnest, sound-out-all-the-syllables agitprop is almost comical, a parody of an after-school special. The occasional lapses into portentous symbolism are inadvertently hilarious. While Amy sneaks into the bathroom to take a home pregnancy test, her mother, played by Molly Ringwald, reheats Amy’s supper in the microwave. At the exact moment that the oven timer rings and reads “End,” Amy stares at the test results that will end life as she knows it.

That part is kind of fun. “Secret Life,” however, actually tries at times to be funny, and that makes it painful to watch. The peripheral presence of Ms. Ringwald, once the teenage heroine of John Hughes classics like “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles,” is almost taunting, a reminder that these teenage morality plays have been made many times before, much better.

The Hollywood Reporter:

Eschewing subtlety for overt exposition at every turn, “Secret Life” fairly screams, “This is a middle-age adult’s fear-mongering perception of high school life circa 2008.” And just in case we weren’t feeling quite old enough, it co-stars Molly Ringwald as the mother of our teenage protagonist. (Add your own “Oh, the humanity!” moan here.) An awkward cross between “7th Heaven” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” it stars Shailene Woodley as Amy, your basic band geek who naturally becomes pregnant after her very first sexual experience — this with the school stud, Ricky (Daren Kagasoff). The screw-’em-and-leave-’em Ricky also carries his own dirty secret, because this is the age of abuse and dysfunction and everyone is driven by internal demons too numerous to even imagine.

New York Daily News:

he Ben character is a smart move. But the real question is whether the writers can make Amy's story compelling or whether they will retreat into all those other soapy dramas.

For what it's worth, about half the teen actions and exchanges in the first episode ring true. So this could go either way.

On the bright side, the show treats the religious teen with respect, not giggles, and a Down syndrome child has an honest and sympathetic role as part of a family. It almost deserves an extra star just for having Ben refer to Blind Lemon Jefferson, a blues legend from the 1920s.

Syracuse.com:

Although the dialogue in the pilot episode was somewhat stilted, possibly owing to the need to hit all of the important issues in the choices teens face in being sexually-active or not, the episode did an excellent job in establishing characters and their familial relationships. Although some older teens might find the show preachy, "The Secret Life..." seems strongly suited to help spark dialogue between junior/senior high school students and their parents.

'The Secret Life of the American Teenager' premieres tonight on ABC Family at 8 p.m.

Earlier: Writer Blames Second-Wave Feminists For Failing To Prevent Teen Pregnancy