POPULAR: FALL ON YOUR KNEES (TV)
Summary
One in this series about two teenage girls from vastly different social circles who become stepsisters when their single parents hook up, throwing the entire social structure of Kennedy High School out of whack. In this episode, Brooke is pleased at the amount of money the cheerleaders have raised for UNICEF at Christmastime, although Nicole clearly has more selfish ideas for the cash. Brooke mentions former head cheerleader Marley Jacob, who died the previous year around Christmas, and Nicole flashes back to last December, at which point she was still a nerdy young cheerleading recruit, being groomed to be “cool” by Marley. In the present, Carmen contributes to the charity, which makes Nicole suspicious. At the McPherson-McQueen home, Sam despairs of their fake metal tree, and is further irritated when she learns that Brooke’s annual Christmas party will coincide with her own. Carmen turns up to school on crutches, having injured herself during preparations for cheerleading tryouts, and she is crushed that she will miss out on joining the squad yet again. When the tough Miss Glass cancels their final exam as a Christmas present, they are all surprised and pleased, except for Nicole, who is unimpressed by the sentimental gesture, having no “Christmas spirit” herself. Later, Carmen continues to mourn her missed chance but acknowledges that things could be worse, noting the mockery experienced by the caroling Tuna twins and their nerdy friends, and she and the others decide to reach out to them. Brooke suggests to the other cheerleaders that they accept Carmen onto the team as a show of Yuletide goodwill, but Nicole flatly refuses. She proceeds to steal money from the UNICEF bucket and heads off to a beauty store, where she is pleased to find Miss Glass working, trying to make extra money for a gift, a cat, for her sister. In a further show of heartlessness, Nicole gets back at her strict teacher by getting her fired.
Later that night, however, she is visited by the spirit of Marley Jacob, who says that she was spoiled and unkind before her death from anorexia and that Nicole will be visited by three spirits to help her avoid the same fate. The Ghost of Christmas Past arrives in the form of Miss Glass and takes Nicole back to her unloved childhood in which her only friend was her grandmother and she was the victim of bullying at school. In high school, she “took over” for Marley and became cruel herself, mocking others to mask her insecurities. The Ghost points out her similarities to Carmen, which disturbs Nicole greatly. The Ghost of Christmas Present, represented by Mary Cherry, arrives next and takes Nicole to see Brooke and Sam’s holiday party, and she is shocked to see the girls giving one another presents and being nice to each other despite their differences. Soon all of their school friends, both popular and otherwise, arrive and share a pleasant meal, even toasting Nicole in her absence. She is then frightened by judgmental specters in the form of her victims, and the Ghost of Christmas Future arrives and shows her a Christmas in which Carmen has died and her friends all mourn her. The spirit takes her to the graveyard, and she sees her own tombstone and realizes she died alone and disliked. She becomes emotional, apologizing for her meanness and wasted time, and soon wakes up in her own bed, grateful to be alive.
Having learned from her “dream,” she returns the money to the charity and arrives at Brooke and Sam’s party, much to everyone’s surprise, and presents them all with gifts, Carmen’s being a spot on the cheerleading squad. Elsewhere, the Glass sisters celebrate a humble Christmas together, and are surprised by the arrival of the students, who sing carols for them and give Roberta the gift she so wanted for her sister as a show of goodwill. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: WB
- DATE: December 9, 1999 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:45:06
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:61536
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; High school
- SERIES RUN: WB - TV series, 1999-2001
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Greer Shephard … Executive Producer
- Michael M. Robin … Executive Producer
- Ryan Murphy … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Gina Matthews … Executive Producer, Created by
- Phillip M. Goldfarb … Producer
- Mike Weiss … Associate Producer
- Oliver Goldstick … Consulting Producer
- Ari Posner … Co-Producer
- Eric Preven … Co-Producer
- Elodie Keene … Director
- Donny Markowitz … Music by
- Kendall Payne … Theme Music by
- Leslie Bibb … Cast, Brooke McQueen
- Carly Pope … Cast, Samantha 'Sam' McPherson
- Tamara Mello … Cast, Lily Esposito
- Christopher Gorham … Cast, Harrison John
- Sara Rue … Cast, Carmen Ferrara
- Bryce Johnson … Cast, Josh Ford
- Tammy Lynn Michaels … Cast, Nicole Julian
- Ron Lester … Cast, Michael 'Sugar Daddy' Bernardino
- Leslie Grossman … Cast, Mary Cherry
- Lisa Darr … Cast, Jane McPherson
- Scott Bryce … Cast, Mike McQueen
- Diane Delano … Cast, Roberta Glass / Nurse Jessi Glass
- Hank Harris … Cast, Emory Dick
- Cyia Batten … Cast, Marley Jacob
- Diana Bellamy … Cast, Principal Cecilia Hall
- Robert Clendenin … Cast, Godfrey
- Anel Lopez Gorham … Cast, Poppy Fresh
- Kelvin Yu … Cast, Freddy Gong
- Adria Dawn … Cast, April Tuna
- Mandy Freund … Cast, May Tuna
- Eve Brenner … Cast, Nana
- Annie Franchek … Cast, Little Nicole
- Lauren Summers … Cast, Ariel Murphy
- Brenda Song … Cast, Mandy Shepherd
- Brie Larson … Cast, Robin Robin