I watched Popular when it first aired and up until now I was left with the impression that it's a fun and positively bunkers series. Now, having just watched it again, it actually seems more dramatic and depressing than fun. And I was disappointed because the dramatic scenes were over- saturated with blunt morality. Furthermore, I couldn't buy how aware of all the psychological aspects of their choices and actions most of these fifteen year-olds are portrayed. It's not easy to connect with characters who talk to each other like psychiatrists. The morality that was mostly in-your- face in every episode really put me off. Morality as such can be valuable but it needs to be weaved in masterfully so that it's almost invisible. Lily's overly righteous stance on all issues is more than annoying. Ryan Murphy should've given us some good background on why she is like that, otherwise, again, such a person seems very unlikely, and thus unrelatable. As for all the bonkers stuff, I really loved it. I can definitely see how this was more of an experiment for Ryan, a try for the real thing - Glee, and he really mastered this drama/morality/absurd comedy ratio perfectly in Glee. I love how a situation can get absurdly ridiculous, Ryan somehow manages to maintain good style, thus the absurd mostly doesn't come across annoying or off-putting.
All in all, Popular is a decent attempt for Ryan Murphy's to create his style in the drama comedy world, one that he perfects later on in Glee.
All in all, Popular is a decent attempt for Ryan Murphy's to create his style in the drama comedy world, one that he perfects later on in Glee.