Guest Author - Dani M. Sanders

How well do teen drama and sci-fi mix? In the case of Kyle XY, I would say pretty well. Kyle XY is a one-hour show that premiered on ABC Family on June 26, 2006 in the 8p time slot. This ABC Family original airs on Monday nights and features Matt Dallas in the title role. The show ended its second season on March 17, 2008.

The story started with a naked 16-year-old boy walking out of the Seattle woods with amnesia. When he was taken to the local juvenile detention center, the psychologist Nicole Trager realized that the kid wasn't your average delinquent. Although he showed an amazing aptitude for art and science, he knew nothing about life basics such as how to use a knife and fork. Nicole dubbed him Kyle and took him home to stay with her family until the authorities could find out where he belonged. Of course, her family (husband, son, and daughter) developed an attachment to Kyle and tried to teach him what they know about life. In the meantime, secrets about Kyle's past and his almost-magical abilities started invading their normal family existence.

On the family-friendliness scale, this show is pretty tame. Even though the kids talk back to their parents a bit, they obviously love them. The parents aren't perfect, but they don't let the kids get away with a lot. A couple episodes in the first season had questionable content (underage drinking and sex), but it wasn't graphic and there were consequences shown. Halfway through the first season, the writers started to veer away from the teens-behaving-badly model. Perhaps they only included that stuff to set up the turn-around in the characters' behavior in the second season.

This is one of my favorite shows. The fish-out-of-water scenario never gets old for me. I liked seeing the world through Kyle's inexperienced eyes in the first season. The geeky side of me also enjoys seeing Kyle use his special gifts to solve problems for his adopted family. The mystery of where Kyle came from was intriguing, but I'm glad the writers didn't drag it out. The questions of his origin were answered while leaving enough mystery for future episodes.

I would recommend this show for ages 12 and up, mainly because of the references to sex. If you want to check it out for yourself, the first season is available on DVD. If you can't wait, hop on over to the ABC Family website. The first and second seasons are both available as streaming video.