10 Things I Hate About You: Volume One

"The first thing you'll notice about 10 Things I Hate About You is that it's fairly different from the feature film of the same name, an updating of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. Instead it plays more like a cross between Bring It On and a John Hughes teen comedy. While the 1999 movie was set in Seattle, the ABC Family series takes place in Los Angeles. Newly arrived from Ohio, Kat (Lindsey Shaw) and Bianca (Meaghan Jette Martin) live with their father, Walter (Larry Miller, the sole holdover from the big-screen cast). Socially conscious Kat disdains the hierarchy at Padua High, while bubbly Bianca longs to join the popular crowd, so she starts by cozying up to bossy Chastity (Dana Davis), the head cheerleader. During these 10 episodes, sweet and nerdy Cameron (Nicholas Braun) tries to woo Bianca, while bad boy Patrick (Ethan Peck) and Kat pretend they don't like each other. (In the movie, Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt played the central trio.) Other characters of interest include Kat's black-clad pal Mandella (Jolene Purdy), Chastity's body-conscious boyfriend Joey (Chris Zylka), and Principal Holland (a very funny Suzy Nakamura). If the differences from the film are irritating at first, the series hits its stride by the third episode, in which Kat gets a glimpse of Patrick's softer side. From then on, the show develops its own voice.

Though there's more sexual innuendo than necessary--the show would actually provide a better fit for the CW network--sharp writing and a charismatic cast make for a mostly successful movie-to-TV transition. Bonus features include bloopers, behind-the-scenes featurettes, the pilot of Make It or Break It, and audio commentaries with the cast and crew, including creator Carter Covington and producer Gil Junger, who directed the original film. --Kathleen C. Fennessy"