DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *1/2 (out of 5 stars) STARRING Leslie Bibb as BROOKE MCQUEEN Carly Pope as SAM MCPHERSON Tamara Mello as LILY ESPOSITO Christopher Gorham as HARRISON JOHN Sara Rue as CARMEN FERRARA Bryce Johnson as JOSH FORD Tammy Lynn Michaels as NICOLE JULIAN Ron Lester as SUGAR DADDY Leslie Grossman as MARY CHERRY Diane Delano as BOBBIE GLASS Rated TV14 Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment Back to DVD Review Home |
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When we last left the kids at Kennedy High (way back in season one of the WB dramady “Popular”), people were dying and people were getting married. The first season was a delight, with quirky surreal side stories and effects. The characters were over-the-top and offered a breath of fresh air from all the hard-core teenage angst that was seen on television in the late 1990s.
However, the second season was a bit of a disappointment. Sure, there was still some of the charm from the first season. Psychotic science teacher Bobbie Glass returned for another year of torment (as a series regular, no less). Nicole Julian was her cold, heartless self. And the whack-job cheerleader Mary Cherry was as nutso as ever.
But what became the albatross around the neck of this show was its inability to resist being significant. Yes, the first season had its moments, like a sexual harassment boot camp led by Bobbie Glass’s equally androgynous brother. But even then, the show shed its sensibilities and went back to the nuttiness that helped make it stand out.
This season, the writers wanted to delve deeper into the characters’ personalities. Like “Quantum Leap” did in the early 1990s, this show soon became the “issue of the week” show, putting many TV movies to shame. We watched as both Brooke McQueen and Sugar Daddy went through eating disorder therapy. We sat through Harrison John’s battle with leukemia. We struggled through Nicole Julian’s search for her real mother. And even the pillar of insanity Mary Cherry had to show us she had a heart when she suddenly became poor.
Even Bobbie Glass was outed by activist student Lily Esposito and eventually endured a gay-bashing incident. Of course, the worst grab at being deep was an appearance by Ann-Margaret as God. I’m sure it sounded good in the pitch meeting, but come on! Ann-Margaret?
That’s the problem when a show realizes it has an audience. It feels some strange sense of social responsibility. That’s why I loved shows like “Three’s Company” and “Seinfeld.” With very few exceptions, these sit-coms only concerned themselves with being funny. They didn’t try to teach you anything in the process of entertaining you.
This six-disc DVD set includes all 21 episodes of season two, with optional cast commentary on only two episodes. There is a mildly enjoyable “Popular”-themed quiz game on the final disc, but that’s the only things of note in terms of special features.
Like so many shows that pass through our airwaves, “Popular” left us without resolving the story lines of the characters. We never find out what happens to them after the second season finale because there was no third season. Sure, you can go on the Internet and read what was rumored to be in the works for season three, but you never get to see it.
Still, while “Popular” was a cute, funny show in its first season, the second season was weighted down with significance and social relevance. And that made it a little hard to swallow.
Specifications: Dolby Digital. Full frame (1.33:1). English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.
