Popular: Season 1
The world of high school gets a treatment both glamorous and terrifying in  the TV seriesPopular. The show spins around two characters: Blonde  cheerleader Brooke (Leslie Bibb) and brunette alterna-girl Sam (Carly  Pope), each the center of their social groups. To their mutual horror,  Brooke's divorced father and Sam's widowed mother fall in love, turning  these cultural opposites into stepsisters. The large supporting cast  includes overweight but determined Carmen (Sara Rue), conniving  Lady-Macbeth-with-pom-poms Nicole (Tammy Lynn Michaels), earnest jock Josh  (Bryce Johnson), all-encompassing activist Lily (Tamara Mello), frustrated  sensitive boy Harrison (Christopher Gorham), and many others. The key toPopularis how it merges melodramatic soap-opera stories with  wrenchingly blunt and honest portrayals of the cruelties of adolescence.While some viewers may find it galling to listen to a gorgeous young  actress who's been on magazine covers moan about how she can't be as  perfect as a model, the series tackles everything from anorexia to peer  manipulation to teen sex with directness and an eye for moral and  emotional complexity. An episode about a Sadie Hawkins dance becomes a  satirical farce about body image (femaleandmale); a slumber party  turns into brutal humiliation; a teacher decides to get a sex-change  operation, prompting anxiety throughout the school. Almost every character  gets a moment of heartfelt grandstanding, yet the actors pull them off  with commitment and guts (Rue routinely turns speeches that could have  been cheesy schlock into genuine pathos). Sure, some fantasy sequences are  silly, but the show skillfully creates characters and situations that defy  easy definition. Repeatedly, Brooke and Sam each set out with good  intentions, only to end up hurting their friends and fueling their  antagonistic relationship.Popularcunningly subverts expectations;  it's a smart show for both teenagers and adults.--Bret Fetzer