Father Angus Sampson (Dom), Oly (Nathalie Morris) and mother Claudia Karvan (Angie) in “Bump”. Photo: STAN

“Bump”. A show about teenage pregnancy. No offence, but I’d seen it before, I thought. Pretty much every single show I watched as a teenager had a pregnancy storyline in it.

“One Tree Hill”, “The O.C.”, “Veronica Mars”, “Skins”, etc. etc. You get the picture. Then “16 & Pregnant” became a thing on MTV (RIP MTV’s reliance on music) and never again did I want to entertain the thought of watching something about teenage pregnancy. I couldn’t relate to it (still can’t), and didn’t want to know about it.

I thought “Bump” would be much the same. Same shit, different country, and no-one has chunky highlights because it isn’t 2003. I wasn’t interested. I’d read the purposely kind of vague press release about production starting up several months back and assumed it would be much the same.

Well, I’m very happy to say I’m mostly wrong. Sure, it’s about teenage pregnancy, but it is a distinctly Australian story told in a way that mostly takes the maudlin tropes from all the previously mentioned teen dramas (except “Skins”) and bins them.

Mum and I settled in to watch, making a pact to turn it off after the first episode if it was awful. After all, we were only doing this for Claudia Karvan, and in this house we endlessly love and appreciate Claudia Karvan (they should’ve renewed “Newton’s Law”, I’ll die on this hill). So of course, we ended up watching five episodes in one sitting.

First, the episode length is just such a nice change of pace from your standard Australian TV drama. Only 10 half-hour episodes. It’s perfect for anyone’s attention span shot to ribbons by lockdowns amidst the pandemic (see: me).

It means there’s no filler and every scene has a purpose which allows the storytelling and performances to flow really well and create a distinct vibe for the show.

The entire premise of “Bump” is that Oly (Nathalie Morris), a perfectionistic, academically-driven teenager with slightly obsessive tendencies, finds out she is pregnant when she turns out to be in labour on the school bathroom floor.

Surprise, it’s 18 years of caregiving thrust into your reluctant arms. Without completely spoiling it, the baby turns out to be not her boyfriend’s, but a fellow classmate’s, Santi (Carlos Sanson Jnr). Santi, who is of Chilean descent, a stoner (no, he’s not Spicoli from “Fast Times At Ridgemont Hight” or anything) and who she has barely interacted with. You know, apart from the conception of the surprise bathroom baby.

Needless to say, that’s obviously quite a shocking development. After the initial moments of, “but how didn’t she know she was pregnant?” and “that’s so ridiculous, I really don’t buy that she didn’t know”, it turned out both my mother and I had a story of someone we knew having a baby but not realising they were pregnant until it popped out.

That shut us up quick smart. So, already not your typical teenage pregnancy as portrayed on screen so many times before.

But part of what makes the show so refreshing is that it feels truly Australian. In recent years, a lot of Australian TV I’ve consumed has either been reality (because it’s cheap to produce and fills local content quotas) or dramas that have been cancelled after one season and don’t really feel all that local, like an American concept transplanted into Australia.

“Bump” shows me an Australia I can really recognise. A lot of which I suspect has to do with the excellent production team behind the scenes, including Karvan, John Edwards (“Love My Way”, “The Secret Life of Us”, “Offspring”), Dan Edwards (“Romper Stomper” and “Les Norton”) and directors Geoff Bennett, Gracie Otto and Leticia Cáceres.

PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.

The casting by Kirsty McGregor in this show is magnificent. I truly mean it. Nathalie Morris and Carlos Sanson Jnr are great as the leads. I had never seen them in anything before, but I’m sure it won’t be long until I will again.

Claudia Karvan and Angus Sampson are hilarious, truthful and completely believable as Oly’s parents, struggling to keep it together for her and the new addition to the family. Ricardo Scheihing Vasquez is instantly compelling every time he’s on screen as Santi’s dad. And a special shoutout to Claudia de Giusti as Santi’s abuela Bernardita, who really uncannily reminded me of my own nonna.

Outside of the families, the casting continues to be excellent. All of Oly and Santi’s classmates are reminiscent of a modern Australia and of most inner-city suburban high schools in Australia.

It sure felt and looked a lot more like high school than any other Australian show I’ve seen thus far. Without that genuine feel of a slice of modern Australian life, I’m sure the show wouldn’t work nearly as well as it does.

The only negative I could perhaps take with this show is the character of Oly herself. Morris does some absolutely stunning work. But a lot of the time, Oly felt like a very manufactured, artificial person and not a real high school student.

Sometimes she says things like: “It’s really triggering when you dismiss my feelings, Mum.” Which is a valid point, but not once in my life have I met a real person, teenager or otherwise, who would actually say that in a genuine conversation. Took me straight out of the show.

It’s put down to Oly being very “woke” and politically aware, which is great to see on Australian TV, but even I, who could also be dismissed as a latte-sipping inner-city leftie, would never say that.

Perhaps it is by design, as Oly would love to be seen as older, smarter and wiser than she actually is. Regardless, it was enough for Mum and I to stare at each other in complete disdain for a significant length of time.

Oly is a complicated character, hard to love, which makes Morris’s performance all the more commendable. However, I did find it hard to stomach the way she continually put down her mother for not meeting her intellectual standards.

Similar behaviour is repeated later in the series when her friend Reema (Safia Arain) sticks up for Oly and is regarded in much the same way. Everyone has moments like this as a teenager, everyone without exception. Except for maybe Mother Teresa. But it’s so unrelenting in the show, I kept watching despite Oly.

I can only hope in season two, for which it’s already been renewed, that Oly has some serious character development and growth. Because I just don’t know if I can do another 10 episodes of the way she treats people around her.

“Bump” is probably not even close to a real, gritty depiction of teenage pregnancy in modern Australia. The middle-class background of Oly and supportive parents insulates her from the typical hurdles one sees on screen regarding teen pregnancy.

However, it is a fantastic slice of Australian life. It’s light-hearted and fun, despite its serious subject matter, and if you make it to episode seven, I promise you, you’re in for a real treat involving a chicken and a blue-tongued lizard.

“Bump” is available on Stan.