Socio-politics and power struggles between the 'Popular' crowd and the 'Alternative' crowd go awry at Kennedy High in 2 DVD box sets of WB's teen TV Series POPULAR
On-air: 1999 - 2001
Year of last DVD Release: 2005
Country of Production: US
Original Network: The WB
Total No. of Episodes: 43
[Season 1: 22 eps - Season 2: 21 eps]
POPULAR seemed to be ahead of its time. When it was first broadcast in 1999, there was a lot to roll one's eyes at; Brooke McQueen (Leslie Bibb) head cheerleader befalls to self-esteem issues as lonely outsider Sam McPhearson (Carly Pope) jealous of her status takes it upon herself to make the cheerleader's life more difficult. But as you watch, there was something so much more playing in the background that intellectuals took note of.
On the surface it was full of campy spite. The razor sharp witty one-liners each of the characters spat at each other made for much enjoyable quotable television, but at the heart of the entire series was this socio-political study of the power struggles in relationships. The status of becoming "Popular" was the goal of every member of the student body including some of the parents (guest star Delta Burke as Cherry Cherry).
It's too bad producer/creator Ryan Murphy got too much network input making the entire series fizzle out in the end. But it still lives on in 2 boxed DVD sets with all the episodes for you to dissect.
Aside from the numerous scattered commentaries from the cast and crew, it was really disappointing as a fan of the show not to have seen any Behind the Scenes footage or Interviews. Many of the music tracks have also been changed, replaced or are missing as a result of not being able to obtain licensing rights which does two things for the show; 1)loses some of the intended original pop-culture charm, a trait of any WB show and 2)as a result, makes the show a wee bit timeless so that future watchers won't be put off by some 'old skool' music. I will say the commentaries are definitely worth a listen, especially for the episode "Caged" in the first season where both factions of the Popular and the Unpopular group are locked in the girl's bathroom to sort out their differences.
Critics, cast and crew agree, if you got the camp, the over-the-top situations and the overtly gay-themed undertones, you loved it. It does deserve another look for those who missed it during its premiere run.
Oddly enough, it's currently being broadcast on the Family Channel in Canada.
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