That same old blonde-vs-brunette story

Mr. Murphy, it seems we’ve done this once before. Exactly ten years ago, long before the founding of Glee club, writer and producer Ryan Murphy took a walk down the high school hallways of another comedic drama, Popular.

Like Glee, Popular was an over-the-top, in-your-face depiction of teenisms. But even as satire, Murphy’s caricatures of teenaged good and evil spoke more truth of high school life than any of its ‘90s CW counterparts. Full of blonde queen bee bitches and tortured artsy outcasts, every stereotype was accounted for. Obviously outlandish, Popular wasn’t about how high school actually looked or sounded—it was about how it felt.

Same goes for Glee. High school wasn’t a time when kids from different cliques sang and danced together. It’s more of a slurpee-in-the-face kind of a place, and Murphy knows it. Still, with time the characters will loose their extreme edges, just like the Popular kids did. The geeks will get standing ovations for solos, while jocks and cheerios will receive a downgrade, and all will start to realize that they’re more alike than they’d thought.

Cheerio Quinn Fabray has already lost her head-cheerleader title, shaking up the hierarchy. And on the other end of the social ladder, Rachel’s been dubbed a hot Jew—no small feat for the once least-liked girl in school. I’d save further speculation for future episodes, but let us not forget that this is a Ryan Murphy production, and could get cancelled at any minute.

Post-Popular Murphy has had some success with Nip/Tuck, and has since been given the go-ahead on major productions like the upcoming mom-friendly Julia Roberts flick Eat Pray Love, and the Demi Moore plastic surgery thriller Face. But for those who watched Popular like a religion, the cliff-hanger ending Murphy accidently left on the second season before being told he wouldn’t get to pen a third was too much to take.

So before FOX pulls Mr. Murphy’s take on the American Idol masses, let’s do a quick character comparison, so we can guess what song comes next.

The super sensitive jock

Kind and clueless, Finn and Josh are a lot alike. Both are football quarterbacks with dopey eyes and an interest in the arts. While Josh was the lead in two school plays, Finn is glee club’s main man. If Finn follows in Josh’s footsteps, he’ll probably develops a social conscious and switch from blondes to brunettes once Quinn starts packing on the pregnancy pounds—Josh had a high school marriage to the outcast group’s token non conformist, Lily.

The blonde queen bee

Who could forget a name like Brooke McQueen? At the start of the series Brooke seemed to be all things evil, but as time wore on and the second season began, Brooke broke down, brought a chubby cheerleader onto the squad, and even briefly dated the homely (not to mention unpopular) Harrison John. So don’t be surprised when Quinn quits the cold-heart routine.

The socially ostracized underdog

On the scale of high-school-cool student journalist and Broadway baby have the same rating of double-zero. But the jury’s not out just yet. Sam McPherson had her run at notoriety and power, and so will Rachel. But until she does away with those sweetheart sweaters, I don’t see Rachel in a prom queen crown any time soon.

The evil androgynous staff member

Miss Roberta 'Bobbi' Glass couldn’t hold a glass beaker to Sue Sylvester’s plots of evil genious. No, Sylvester and Glass are in definitely in different leagues, but the sport they are playing is all the same. Scheming, student-hating, and a no-holds-barred attitude towards everything, these two are the most masculine of any of Murphy’s characters, and fear them you should. No predictions here, just pure awesomeness.

And that’s how Sue sees it.