ABC Family goes for more 'Secret Life of the American Teenager'

By April MacIntyre Jul 18, 2008, 16:52 GMT

06/22/2008 - Molly Ringwald - Dr. Frank Ryan hosts "The Bony Pony Ranch Western Round Up and Barbeque" to Benefit the Bony Pony Ranch Foundation - The Bony Pony Ranch - Malibu, CA © Tina Gill / PR Photos

Blame "Juno," or the Gloucester high schooler pregnancy pact-ers, but teen pregnancy and sex are in, in, in - and now we will get to see more of Molly Ringwald in her breakout ABC Family hit, "The Secret Life of the American Teenager."

Paul Lee, president, ABC Family, announced on Thursday that the network ordered 13 more episodes. 

ABC Family's newest original series was created by "7th Heaven's" Brenda Hampton and has set records in all key targets and debuted as the highest rated original series telecast in the network's history.

"We just launched 'The Secret Life of the American Teenager' a couple of weeks ago to our highest original series numbers ever. We're thrilled obviously," said Lee. "This show has definitely hit the sweet spot of our Millennial audience. So I couldn't be more pleased to announce that we're picking up 13 additional episodes of the series."

The one-hour drama, which focuses on the relationships between families and friends and how they deal with an unexpected teen pregnancy, currently airs on the network on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m., ET/PT.

One of the newly ordered additional episodes will air this September, and the additional 12 episodes are tentatively scheduled to return to the air in January '09, bringing the total episode order of Season One to 23.

At the TCA (Television Critics' Association) event in Beverly Hills, the network also announced fall premiere dates for "Lincoln Heights" (September 16) and for "Greek" (August 26).