Popular 

Two girls who despise each other, due to being on opposite sides of the "popularity fence", are forced together upon learning that their parents are getting married.

Creators:

Gina Matthews, Ryan Murphy

Stars:

Leslie Bibb, Carly Pope, Tamara Mello

5 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Leslie Bibb	...	Brooke McQueen 43 episodes, 1999-2001
Carly Pope	...	Sam McPherson 43 episodes, 1999-2001
Tamara Mello	...	Lily Esposito 43 episodes, 1999-2001
Christopher Gorham	...	Harrison John 43 episodes, 1999-2001
Sara Rue	...	Carmen Ferrara 43 episodes, 1999-2001
Bryce Johnson	...	Josh Ford 43 episodes, 1999-2001
Tammy Lynn Michaels	...	Nicole Julian 43 episodes, 1999-2001
Ron Lester	...	Michael 'Sugar Daddy' Bernardino 43 episodes, 1999-2001
Leslie Grossman	...	Mary Cherry 43 episodes, 1999-2001
Lisa Darr	...	Jane McPherson 43 episodes, 1999-2001
Scott Bryce	...	Mike McQueen 43 episodes, 1999-2001
Diane Delano	...	Bobbi Glass / ... 36 episodes, 1999-2001
Adria Dawn	...	April Tuna 18 episodes, 1999-2001

Storyline

The two girls who are seen in their fictional Jacqueline Kennedy High School as the leaders of two main opposing cliques, the popular one and the not so popular one, clash heads when their single parents meet, fall in love and decide to get hitched. However, both the girls and their two cliques slowly grow together and become an unlikely group of friends with both typical and not so typical high school and young adult problems. Brooke McQueen is the captain of Glamazons, the school's cheerleading squad. She's considered smart, beautiful and perfect. Privately, she's been dealing with self-image and body image issues ever since her estranged mother left her and her father. She also tries to fight the popular image people have of her. She wants to be good and does good and often helps people instead of thinking only about herself but she also has a suppressed selfish side. Sam McPherson aims to have the opposite image of Brooke's. She's attracted to journalism and wants to be the voice ...

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Plot Keywords:

stepsister | stepsister stepsister relationship | rivals | female protagonist | 20th century | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Asy z klasy

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Murphy/Matthews Productions, Shephard / Robin Productions, Touchstone Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min (43 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The popular girls are all big fans of actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Leslie Bibb who played Brooke, the most popular girl, would go on to appear in Iron Man (2008) and share screen time with Paltrow. Creator Ryan Murphy would go on to work with Paltrow in Running With Scissors (2006), guest-star on five episodes of Glee (2010) and is now good friends with her.

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Quotes

Nicole Julian: [about Brooke] I am going to get that bitch.
Mr. McQueen: Are you drunk? I'm calling your mother.
Nicole Julian: Do you think she cares? She doesn't. In fact, the only time I ever get any attention around her is when I've done something particularily horrible. So I guess tonight at prom I'll have to outdo myself.

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Alternate Versions

Due to licensing costs, some of the songs originally featured on the soundtrack of several episodes have been replaced by less expensive tracks (or no tracks at all) on the DVD release.

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Connections

Referenced in Forget About It: Kickass (2011)

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Soundtracks

Highschool Highway
Written and Performed by Sydney Forest

User Reviews

Television at its finest - or maybe even better.

I remember early in the year 2000 listening to a local AM Talk Radio Station in Los Angeles (I believe it was Phil Hendrie). The topic of the hour was "What's your favorite TV Show currently on the air?" For the next hour I heard a lot of references to two shows: "Malcolm in the Middle" and this other show, "Popular." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had already seen "Malcolm" and knew it was hilarious. But what about "Popular?"

The commercials made it look like a typical weekly teeny-bop High School show, a la "Saved By The Bell," but in Prime-Time (lest we forget Zach did go to college in the evenings though). The amount of praise I heard for "Popular" made me check it out.

The advertisements were wrong.

What I found in this show was a sleek, hilarious, dramatic, clever, filled to the brim with 80's references show not about kids in High School today (circa 1999-2000), but if kids from my generation were to go to High School today (yes, I went to High School in the 80's).

I think the failure of "Popular" was the advertising I referred to earlier for the show...it was going after kids in high school for ratings. But the show was made for (I feel) an entirely different generation. If only the ones it was made for had watched....it would probably still be on.

This is one of the few programs I have ever seen that managed to balance outright slapstick comedy with serious drama...and it did it so well in my opinion that I seriously mourned the loss of the show when it was canceled.

My favorite Season Two moments -

1) Mary Cherry's (Leslie Grossman) audition for judges, including Jim J. Bullock (way before "American Idol" became a household name). "Rock Me Amadeus, by FALCO!"

2) Nicole Julian's (Tammy Lynn Michaels) "rise" to Class President (one of the most clever and complex episodes ever written for television -- flat-out incredible comedy).

3) Every scene with Michelle Phillips ("Abra-abra-cadabra!!!!").

4) The "Gay" episode about Bobbi Glass (Diane Delano) - it gave me chills and again proved how the writers were almost magically able to juggle comedy and drama every week.

The casting of the show was simply brilliant. Everyone did an incredible job and I am pleased to see several of the cast riding other roads to fame as of 2008 (Christopher Gorham on "Jake 2.0" and then the successful "Ugly Betty").

The only thing I can pray for at this point are either reruns (Lifetime or Oxygen I'm guessing...but maybe Comedy Central?) or, *gasp* -- A DVD Release. Then a lot more people can have a chance to see a show that I firmly believe should have been "Popular."

*EDIT* Both Seasons are on DVD now. There really IS a God!

My personal thanks to the callers of that Los Angeles AM Talk Radio Program who touted the praises of this show. You got it right, and I'm glad I saw of it what I did.