Talking direct to camera, Taylor (Marny Kennedy) shows us exactly how embarrassing her less-than-perfect life is. She introduces Brittany (Maia Mitchell) who is ‘practically perfect’ and whose parents are also ‘perfect’. We glimpse the mischievous Leon (Luke Erceg), Taylor’s future ‘love’ interest, a contrast to Taylor’s geeky, quiet best friend Hector (Nicolas Dunn).

The mall scene with Glenda (Rachel Blakely) spruiking for the family shop, The Underpants King is hilarious. Taylor is mortified in front of all her classmates. It involves a loud speaker, a singing, dancing mother, underpants, a public reminder about her training bra fitting, and her father dressed absurdly as the underpants ‘king’.

Mortified – Taylor’s DNA synopsis

This is the first episode of the series. Self conscious eleven-year-old Taylor Fry (Marny Kennedy) finds her crazy parents Don (Andrew Blackman) and Glenda (Rachel Blakely) so embarrassing that she becomes convinced that they can’t possibly be her real mother and father. With the parent talent night coming up, she knows they will humiliate her in front of all her classmates, and she needs to publicly distance herself from them NOW. With her friend Hector’s (Nicolas Dunn) help, she decides to do a DNA test – the results are a real surprise.

Mortified – Taylor’s DNA curator's notes

This opening episode introduces the up-front Taylor (Marny Kennedy), her rather crazy but loving family, her friends, the coastal town where she lives (filmed on Queensland’s Gold Coast), and gives plenty of signs of the fun to come. There are some hilarious over the top kid–parent embarrassment scenes to prove Taylor’s point in this story, establishing a rich ground for the ongoing series.

Mortified first went to air on the ABC at 4.00 pm on Friday 30 June 2006 with this episode, Taylor’s DNA. Mortified screened weekly in this timeslot.

Notes by Annemaree O'Brien