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, All Movie Guide