It premiered on November 4, 2005 on Noggin's teen-targeted programming block, The N. It was written by series creator Thomas W. Lynch and directed by Donna Deitch.

The episode introduces three siblings—Spencer, Glen and Clay Carlin—who start at a new school after their family moves from a small town in Ohio to Los Angeles.

After their mother Paula (Maeve Quinlan) takes on a new job, the Carlin family moves from a small town in Ohio to Los Angeles, California.

Glen's sister Spencer (Gabrielle Christian) joins the cheerleading squad but ends up doing little more than take orders from Madison.

Glen and Spencer's adopted African American brother Clay (Danso Gordon) is smart but naïve, and he finds himself facing the racial tensions of LA that he never experienced in Ohio.

[1][2] He pitched the series—which he was then calling "Out"—to Noggin LLC executives Amy Friedman and Essie Chambers, who then commissioned him to write the pilot script.

[2] Gabrielle Christian first auditioned for the role of Spencer (then called "Zooey"[4]) in July 2004,[5] though Lynch also had her read for Ashley's part.

[12] Kate Authur of The New York Times compared the pilot positively to other series, writing, "If you took the plot of Beverly Hills, 90210 (a good-looking Midwestern family moves to Los Angeles), combined it with the identity issues of Degrassi (race, sexuality and class clash in a high school setting) and added a splash of One Tree Hill's basketball backdrop, you would get South of Nowhere ... That's meant to be a compliment.

"[13] Alessandra Stanley, another critic for The New York Times, mentioned "Secret Truths" in a feature about racial issues on television.

[9] Karman Kregloe of AfterEllen.com, a website focused on the portrayal of lesbians in the media, thought that the episode was "well-written, and the storyline for each of the lead characters is compelling".

She praised the show greatly for its authentic portrayal of teenagers' questioning of their sexuality and the "big step" taken towards promoting tolerance.

Joanna Weiss of The Boston Globe was more critical, feeling that the show "takes pains to introduce as many hot-button issues as possible" to give the illusion of authenticity.