Popular: Information from Answers.com Mobile

Plot

Debuting September 29, 1999, the weekly, hour-long WB series Popular was frequently described as a "satire" or "send-up" of the heavy-breathing teen angst genre. This, of course, did not prevent many fans from taking the series' incredible plot twists and turns with the utmost seriousness. The show's basic conflict boiled down to the age-old struggle between the cool and the uncool. The scene was Jacqueline Kennedy High School (where the school paper was called the "Zapruder Reporter"!), where the acknowledged social arbiter was the disgustingly popular Brooke McQueen (Leslie Bibb), captain of the school's "Glamazon" cheerleading squad. Brooke, of course, was also the leader of the school's coolest clique, numbering among its members her football-star boyfriend, Josh Ford (Bryce Johnson), and her two best friends, über-bitch Nicole Julian (Tammy Lynn Michaels) and shallow, borderline-psychotic Mary Cherry (Leslie Grossman). Annoyed by Brooke's smug supremacy, Samantha "Sam" McPherson (Carly Pope), resident intellectual, crusading journalist-in-training, and tireless campaigner for social equality, formed her own "anti-clique," including nerdy, self-conscious Harrison John (Christopher Gorham), plain and portly Carmen Ferrara (Sara Rue), and firebrand activist Lily Esposito (Tamara Mello). Alas, the battle lines between the two factions were blurred when Sam's widowed mother, Jane (Lisa Darr), fell in love with Brooke's divorced dad, Mike (Scott Bryce), forcing the two bitter rivals to live under the same roof. Even after Jane and Mike broke up, Sam and Brooke found themselves bound together by family ties when Jane gave birth to Mike's baby. This unholy and undesired alliance served also to break down the barriers between the other members of the two cliques, resulting in some truly surprising romantic couplings and unpredictable alliances. Its title and its fan following notwithstanding, Popular was not popular enough to warrant any more than two seasons on the WB schedule. Even so, the producers obviously hoped that there'd be a last-minute reprieve for the series, as witness its final episode on May 18, 2001, which concluded with a tense cliffhanger, leaving the fates of four principal characters hanging perilously in the balance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Credit

Robert J. Ulrich - Casting, Eric Dawson - Casting, Carol Kritzer - Casting, Carol Ramsey - Costume Designer, Brian Robbins - Director, Ned Bastille - Editor, Gina Matthews - Executive Producer, Ryan Murphy - Executive Producer, Greer Shephard - Executive Producer, Michael Robin - Executive Producer, Donald Markowitz - Composer (Music Score), Clark Mathis - Cinematographer, Phillip Goldfarb - Producer, Gina Matthews - Show Creator, Ryan Murphy - Show Creator, Gina Matthews - Screenwriter

Episodes

Popular: Season 01 (1999)
It's "clique" vs. "anti-clique" at Jacqueline Kennedy High School during the first season of the continuing teen drama Popular. Outraged by the smug social supremacy of head cheerleader Brooke Page (Leslie Bibb) and her snooty, shallow friends, Samantha "Sam" McPherson, crusading editor of the school newspaper, forms her own "army" of the anti-cool, comprised of nerds and misfits. Imagine the horror of the two rival leaders when Sam's mom, Jane (Lisa Darr), falls in love with Brooke's dad, Mike (Scott Bryce). Forced to bury the hatchet and form a united front against this dreadful contingency, Sam and Brooke conspire to break up their parents' romance before they make things legal via marriage. As for the friends of the two heroines, dweebish Harrison John (Christopher Gorham) is burdened by his apparently hopeless crush on Sam, and by his mom's decision to become a lesbian. And Brooke's boyfriend, football star Josh Ford (Bryce Johnson), breaks ranks by dating Sam's chubby chum Carmen Ferrara (Sara Rue). Amidst all this intrigue, a subplot involving the efforts of deranged Nurse Jessie Glass (Diane Delano) to murder her twin sister, Bobbi (also Delano), seem almost benign by comparison! It should surprise no one that the first season of Popular ends on a cliffhanger. In this instance, the wedding of Jane McPherson and Mike McQueen is rudely interrupted by a surprise announcement from Brooke's biological mom, Kelly (Peggy Lipton). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Popular, Round One
Fall on Your Knees
Mo' Menace, Mo' Problems
Under Siege
Windstruck
Slumber Party Massacre
Truth or Consequences
Queen B.
Tonight's the Night
Wild Wild Mess
Ex, Lies and Videotape
The Trail of Emory Dick
Hope in a Jar
Caged
Booty Camp
All About Adam
Lord of the Files
Ch-Ch-Changes
Hard on the Outside, Soft in the Middle
We are Family
What Makes Sammy Run
Two Weddings and a Funeral

Popular: Season 02 (2000)
Season one of Popular ended with what seemed to be a dual triumph for snooty high-school cheerleader Brooke (Leslie Bibb) and her intellectual classroom rival Samantha (Carly Pope), as the wedding between Brooke's dad, Mike (Scott Bryce), was canceled after the announcement from Brooke's real mom, Kelly (Peggy Lipton), that her divorce from Mike was never finalized! Season two picks up the action, with Kelly scheming and conniving to win back Mike's love, and the heartbroken Jane briefly moving out of town with Sam in tow. Elsewhere, the walls of the two leading cliques at Jacqueline Kennedy High School -- Brooke's and Sam's -- are slowly crumbling to dust. Brooke's bitchy friend Nicole (Tammy Lynn Michaels) is aghast when she loses her coveted slot in the "Glamazon" cheerleading squad to Sam's chubby chum Carmen (Sara Rue). Brooke's football-jock boyfriend, Josh (Bryce Johnson), likewise finds his supremacy challenged by newly arrived gridiron star George Austin (A.T. Montgomery), who, to make matters worse, has crossed over to the enemy camp by dating Sam. And in a similar move, Sam's nerdy buddy Harrison (Christopher Gorham) commits a form of treason by going out with Brooke's shrill Southern-belle pal Mary Cherry (Leslie Grossman); can it be that Harrison's later bout with leukemia is punishment for selling out his anti-clique values? (Even worse: once his disease is in remission, Harrison takes up with Brooke herself!) As the season (and the series) draws to close, Sam's mom, Jane, gives birth to a baby conceived during her relationship with Brooke's dad, Mike, and for a few fleeting minutes the two girls become inseparable friends. But this truce is forgotten by season's end, which concludes with a nail-biting cliffhanger...one that, alas, will likely never be resolved. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Timber
The Consequences of Falling
Baby, Don't Do It
Citizen Shame
The Sweetest Taboo
Joe Loves Mary Cherry
Style and Substance Abuse
Ur-ine Trouble
Misery Loathes Company
Are You There God, It's Me, Ann-Margret
Fire in the Hole
The Shocking Possession of Harrison John
Mary Charity
The News of My Death has Been Greatly Exaggerated
It's Greek to Me
Fag
Coup
The Brain Game
I Know What You Did Last Spring Break
You Don't Tug on Superman's Cape...
Promblems