Hot Hot Brooke McQueen and Hot Hot Sam McPhearson are bitter social rivals at school, who soon become step sisters. The program is half comedy half drama, but all social satire on the many levels and aspects of what it takes to fit and still be yourself.
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"People either got it or they didn't." These sentements are from one of the commentary tracks from Popular's season 2 DVD. Their second year I found to be undoubtedly stronger that their first season. When the show first aired, it was apparent in the early episodes that they were still trying to find an identity amongst the other teen shows airing at the time. This was more a counter to that type of programming.
Popular was abundantly silly, with amaturish production value.There were bumbling teachers and adults, and every sterotype you could think of. But beneath the surface, the show tapped into some tough issues, some of which never get recognized on other programs. What really hooked me, was a certain "truism" to some of the situations that arose. In one episode, there is a beauty pageant, where "Miss Popularity", Brooke is a shoe-in, but the girl with "character and a good heart" Carmen, is starting to look like the underdog winner. Nope. Brooke still wins. And that's life sometimes. The same goes for Lilly, the activist who sometimes has to learn the hard way that you can't win them all. Or Harrison, the gawky kid that will always be seen as "just a friend" to the love of his life. These episodes are where the show really shines.
The strongest actors were Leslie Bibb, Christopher Gorham, and especially Tammy Lynn Michaels as the super b*tch, Nichole. Charicatures like "Sugar Daddy" probably weren't as appealing as they hoped. Another favorite of mine was Mary Cherry the texas heiress that provided most of the biggest laughs on the show. (they tend to run too far with her character at the end of season 2, however).
I'm not surprised the show got cancelled, but it was cut short after a nail-bitting finale, leaving one of the most infamous unresolved endings I'll ever remember. Closure would be nice.
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