• Houston Chronicle, Tuesday, July 13, 2010 11:15 PM

Television teens have birthed a prime-time baby boom. Recent seasons have delivered shows that range from MTV's gritty "16 and Pregnant" to "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" on ABC Family. This spring, a cheerleader and president of a high school chastity club performed a musical birth on Fox's "Glee" accompanied by pop tune Bohemian Rhapsody, reports The Houston Chronicle. 

Last week, fans of "Friday Night Lights" watched as the show took on one of America's great television taboos: abortion. Though abortion has been legal in the U.S. since 1972, abortion plot lines are rare. Among the first was "Maude" in 1972. Others include the teen drama "Everwood" and the HBO show "Six Feet Under." The remake of "Battlestar Galactica offered a secondary story about abortion in a sci-fi world. In recent episodes of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," the teenage character Adrian discovered she is pregnant and has explored abortion as an option.

Entertainment Weekly noted that FNL dealt with its subject of a pregnant 15-year-old girl by addressing us as adults and by showing its characters as complex, agonized, and prone to doubt, fear, and guilt. EW critic Ken Tucker called it one of the show's finest hours ever.

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