Line #91 Series/Popular


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6	[[quoteright:211:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PopularDVDPoster_9825.JPG]]
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8	Once upon a time, there were a pack of brunettes, led by a girl named Sam. One day, she got into a squabble with Brooke, the [[AlphaBitch leader]] of the GirlPosse of blondes at her school. Imagine their surprise when the two of them found out that their [[ParentWithNewParamour single parents are now dating each other.]] And want to shack up. Off-and-on wars ensue, both at home and at school.
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10	Everyone is obsessed with popularity, down to the teachers. The popular crowd get their asses kissed, the unpopular crowd get into fights with them, while the actual nerds try to swim up from the bottom. Much NoGoingSteady and crossing of the popularity lines ensue, along with doses of surreality and silliness galore.
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12	This teen dramedy series, which aired on Creator/TheWB for two seasons (1999–2001), is notable for being the first show created by Creator/RyanMurphy, who'd [[Series/NipTuck experience]] [[Series/{{Glee}} more]] [[Series/AmericanHorrorStory success]] following the cancellation of this show.
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14	There are also BUTTLOADS of [[TwinTropes twins]] on this show.
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17	!!'''Contains examples of:'''
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19	%%* AbusiveParents: Josh's dad, Carmen's mom.
20	* ACupAngst: There was an episode where Sam wore an inflatable bra to a dance because of sudden insecurity about her breast size.
21	* AdultsAreUseless: Neither Brooke nor Sam's parent seems to care that their daughters hate each other and do incredibly mean things to each other all the time! All they seem to do is gush over each other like the kids aren't even THERE!
22	* AgeInappropriateDress: Emily and Emma wear pretty short skirts for junior high students. This is because they will use any means to be the most popular girls in their school.
23	%%* AllGuysWantCheerleaders
24	* AllPeriodsArePMS: The episode "Caged!" revolves around this idea.
25	* AlphaBitch: Pretty much every dang popular girl, but extra points go to Nicole. Less points go to Brooke, who was actually fairly non-AlphaBitch-like except for when she was pissed off.
26	%%* AltarTheSpeed: Josh and Lily
27	%%* BankruptcyBarrel: Mary Cherry
28	%%* BathroomStallOfOverheardInsults
29	%%* BetterAsFriends: Harrison gets ''all'' of these tropes.
30	%%* TheBGrade
31	* BootCampEpisode: introduces the Glass brother. Makes pretty much no sense on this show, but what does?
32	%%* BreakingTheFourthWall
33	%%* BrokenAce: Josh Ford.
34	* CelebrityLie: Gwyneth Paltrow's "personal shopper."
35	%%* ClassReunion: fantasy version
36	* CliffHanger: [[spoiler: Brooke gets hit by a car driven by Nicole.]]
37	%%* CompressedVice
38	%%* CutShort
39	%%* DaddysGirl: Brooke
40	%%* DatingDoSiDo
41	%%* DisappearedDad (Sam's, deceased)
42	* TheDitz: Mary Cherry, to the point where people think she's mentally challenged.
43	* DorkHorseCandidate: April, who wins after [[AlphaBitch Brooke]] and Harrison drop out of the race.
44	%%* DysfunctionJunction
45	%%* EvilMakeover: Harrison
46	%%* EvilRedhead: April Tuna, sometimes.
47	* EvilTwin:
48	** Jessi, and Mary Cherry's twin, though calling them "evil" really is just that they're only slightly more bad by comparison to the first one.
49	** Both of Emory's sisters turn into burgeoning alpha bitches when became young teens.
50	%%* FoodFight
51	%%* FreeTheFrogs: Lily
52	* FreudianExcuse: Nicole is an AlphaBitch due to the cruelty she endured as a child.
53	%%* FullNameBasis: Mary Cherry, Cherry Cherry
54	* FurAndLoathing: The GranolaGirl at the school is against wearing fur, although in an alternate timeline she's a rich bitch who wears fur coats.
55	%%* {{Geek}}: April and May Tuna, Emory, pretty much everybody below the Sam/Harrison crowd on the scale of popularity.
56	%%* GentleGiant: Sugar Daddy
57	%%* GirlPosse
58	* GRatedDrug: "cough syrup" is the new crack! Also, wacky premenstrual drugs.
59	* HalfIdenticalTwins: the Glass twins have a brother.
60	%%* HeterosexualLifePartners: Josh and Sugardaddy
61	* HiddenDepths: Josh turns out to be an expert on poultry farming.
62	%%* HighSchoolDance
63	* ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe: ''Any'' time a blonde/jock dates a brunette/non-jock on this show.
64	%%* IgnoredEpiphany: Nicole
65	* IHaveManyNames: nicknames in the case of Bobbi "Bio" "Chem" "Claw" Glass. And that's not even counting the nastier ones....
66	* ImportantHaircut: some girls have to shave their heads when they lose a bet. Naturally, they all have wigs that look just like their old hair again within a few episodes- the reverse of HairTodayGoneTomorrow.
67	%%* InWithTheInCrowd
68	* ItsAWonderfulPlot: The second season Christmas episode had this plot with Harrison seeing life without him. The alternate timeline involved the world getting nuked.
69	%%* KidsPlayMatchmaker
70	* LanguageOfLove: Sugar Daddy and Exquisite Woo, though she magically seems to have better English later.
71	* LovableAlphaBitch: Brooke, once you get past her issues, isn't really that bad. Even Mary Cherry has her decent moments. Nicole, not so much.
72	* LovableJock: The jock guys on the show are actually pretty nice.
73	%%* MakeoverMontage
74	%%* MakeWayForThePrincess
75	* ManipulativeBastard: Nicole is the show's biggest example. New student Adam is also very capable when it comes to this (his backstory reveals that he forced a girl into a mental institution just by screwing with her head). Brooke and Sam also have their moments, as their ongoing rivalry gives them more than ample time to demonstrate.
76	* MissingMom: Brooke's mother is never seen.
77	%%* MusicalEpisode
78	* MySisterIsOffLimits: this never works well with Brooke and Sam.
79	* NiceMeanAndInbetween: The three popular girls: Brooke is nice, Nicole is mean, and Mary Cherry is inbetween.
80	* TheNicknamer: Mary Cherry always calls Harrison "Joe." Yes, she knows what his real name is.
81	* NoGoingSteady (doesn't Josh somehow sleep with/make out with/date every female in the cast? Not to mention that you can't keep track of who's interested in who from week to week.)
82	%%* TheOneGuy: Harrison
83	%%* ParentExMachina
84	* ParentWithNewParamour: Sam's mom and Brooke's dad date and shack up with each other, and eventually have a baby together.
85	* PetTheDog: Nicole does have her moments, giving Harrison a bone marrow transplant, and even apologising to a few of her victims after going to far. She gets worse. Bobbi Glass also has a few decent episodes. Basically, no one hurts her students but her.
86	%%* PictureDay
87	* PopularIsDumb: Mary Cherry is completely over the top in this. (Brooke, on the other hand, gets excellent grades. Nicole is something of an evil genius.)
88	* PrettyInMink: This is a school for rich kids, so a fair amount of furs are worn. The most are worn by Mary Cherry, who wears a lynx coat in the pilot, and even in the Christmas Carol episode her "Ghost of Christmas Present" counterpart carries a white fur muff.
89	** Emory Dick has younger twin sisters, Emily and Emma, who ask Nichole and Mary Cherry to train them to be the alpha bitches at their school. Nicky and Mary agree and when they meet the twins at their home the girls are wearing black mink jackets. Mary tells them to pet their furs while showing their best superior attitude faces.
90	%%* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Diane Delano in the second season.
91	* RedRightHand: After a cat eats off Bobbi's finger, she gets a fake one, and the nickname Claw. Which she answers to.
92	* ReReleaseSoundtrack: The show had many songs replaced in the DVD release. One of the examples included replacing Missy Elliot's She's a Bitch" with Roberto Pregadio's "Ballata per un Pistolero (Ballad of a Gunman) in season 1 episode 14 "Caged!"
93	%%* RepetitiveName: Cherry Cherry.
94	%%* RichBitch: Nicole, Mary Cherry, Cherry Cherry
95	%%* SadistTeacher: Bobbi Glass
96	%%* SchoolNewspaperNewsHound: Sam
97	%%* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: all the rich bitch folks
98	* SecondYearProtagonist: Sam, Brooke, Harrison, and the rest were all sophomores in Season One, and Word of God says that had the show gotten a third season, they would have graduated at the end of it.
99	%%* SeparatedAtBirth: Mary Cherry and her twin
100	%%* SoapBoxSadie: Lily
101	%%* SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace
102	* SpecialGuest: Mary Cherry's parents were Delta Burke and Creator/RuPaul. Oh, and Ann-Margret is {{God}}.
103	* StepfordSmiler: Pretty much everybody in the popular crowd, excepting BrokenAce Josh. Brooke and Sugar are the depressed variety, Nicole is the psycho version.
104	* StockSeriesFinales: the first season finale did its best to make fun of every trope it could possibly find.
105	%%* StraightGay: Harrison's mom.
106	%%* StudentCouncilPresident
107	%%* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: the principals.
108	%%* ThemeTwinNaming: Bobbi and Jessi Glass, and April and May Tuna.
109	%%* TomboyishName: Sam.
110	* TonightSomeoneDies: Pastiched all to heck in the first season finale, with a running vote of who should die going on the screen periodicially, and Bobbi Glass in particular having a ''really'' bad day. In the end, it was the [[spoiler:ill girl May Tuna]] who bit it at the last moment.
111	* TwoTeacherSchool: Not at first, but later in the series where Bobbi Glass taught ''everything''.
112	%%* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: Harrison and Brooke
113	* UsedToBeASweetKid: Emory Dicks's little twin sisters were noted to be really nice, but when puberty hit they turned into alpha bitches.
114	%%* WackyHomeroom
115	* WhatMeasureIsANonCute: Subverted, as activist Lily will try to save non-cute animals such as lobsters.
116	* WondrousLadiesRoom: So fabulous it has a name: the Novak. And all the homecoming queen's pictures are posted there. And both genders wander on through.
117	* YetAnotherChristmasCarol: The first season had Nichole be the Scrooge for the Christmas episode.
118	%%* YoureNotMyFather

Context Series / Popular