Popular

AGE 5
MUSTWORTHINESS For two gloriously nasty years ('99 -- 01), The WB aired the campiest, most vicious look at high school in TV history. (''Square Pegs'' is ''Nightline'' in comparison.) The first season of ''Nip/Tuck'' creator Ryan Murphy's outlandish series -- set at Jacqueline Kennedy High School -- claws its way to DVD on Sept. 21.
WHAT'S ON IT The set will include a gag reel, outtakes, cast commentary, and deleted scenes -- including an extended version of Lily and Carmen's same-sex kiss. ''It was wildly truncated,'' sighs Murphy.
ON ITS CANCELLATION Two days after mapping out season 3, Murphy learned ''Popular'' had been axed: ''The WB moved the show to Friday nights, but our audience was out at the gay bars.''
SO HOW WAS IT GONNA END ''They would have graduated and we would have shown a black screen that said, 'Five Years Later.' They were all going to be living in a 'Melrose Place'-like development with Mary Cherry [a psycho cheerleader, played by ''What I Like About You'''s Leslie Grossman] as their slumlord.''
NEXT A season 2 disc is in the works, and Murphy says that if The WB wants a reunion, the entire cast is game.