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Chronicles the life of a sassy 15-year-old Latina caught between two worlds: the traditional world of her Puerto Rican family and the modern world of her friends and life at the Manhattan School of the Arts.
Christina Vidal Mitchell
Taina Maria Morales
Khaliah Adams
Renee Aretha Jones
Christopher Knowings
Lamar Carlos Johnson
David Oliver Cohen
Daniel Nathaniel McDaniel
LaTangela
Martiza Hogg
2001
Taina Morales, an aspiring entertainer, begins her first day at Manhattan School for The Arts, but when her drama teacher, Mr. Colon, calls her out on her overacting, she starts to doubt her acting ability. Lamar is convinced that Daniel is a jinx, then he's forced to take an all-female ballet class.
Taina is asked to join the senior girl group Blue Mascara (3LW). However, the group discourages her from continuing to hang out with Renee, feeling that she will interfere with the group's career pursuits. Meanwhile, Daniel loses a bet to Lamar and must join the school's losing basketball team. Taina ultimately decides that her friendship with Renee is more important than being in Blue Mascara and quits the group. Gia (Adrienne Bailon), Lia (Kiely Williams), and Ria (Naturi Naughton) go on to perform "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)" without Taina, and Maritza tries to take her place in the group.
Taina and Gloria disagree on what dress she should wear for her Quinceañero, her 15th birthday party; Lamar competes with Alex (Nick Cannon), Maritza's boyfriend who appears to have feelings for Taina.
Taina is forced to find her own way to get money to go on an amusement-park trip to see singer Joe perform, after her parents refuse to giver her the money. After winning a cash prize in a radio contest, Taina spends almost all of the money on an expensive pair of shoes instead of on the trip. Lamar and Daniel win the chance to be radio DJs for a week at Papito's, but Lamar's ego goes to his head, ruining the experience for them both.
When Taina gets a bad grade on a Spanish exam, Abuelo Gregorio goes overboard immersing the family in their Puerto Rican heritage. Lamar helps Taina write a love letter to Papito's nephew, who only speaks Spanish. A weird goth girl, Ice, falls in love with Lamar.
After buying a cheap bracelet and being told that her great-grandmother was psychic, Taina is convinced that she is also psychic. Daniel and Lamar are so obsessed with a skiing video game at Papito's that they refuse to take showers.
A short play that Taina wrote is chosen for a showcase which she must also direct. The task becomes overwhelming when her actresses Renee and Maritza, her musician Daniel, and her assistant-director Lamar all want to do their own thing.
Taina auditions for a soap opera but Santito, who accompanied her, gets the role. Beatrice (Benita Robledo), whom Daniel had a crush on back in band camp, moves to town and falls for Lamar.
Taina is desperate to be cast as Robert De Niro's daughter in a movie. Daniel and Lamar get jobs to buy a used computer program to make their movies. Taina's Titi Carmen visits, causes tension with Abuelo Gregorio.
Taina wants a new cell phone after hers malfunctions. When Titi Rosa buys her a new phone, she sells her old one to Renee; when it finally breaks down for good, Renee asks for her money back, causing a rift in their relationship. Daniel and Lamar try to bribe Maritza for Knicks-Lakers tickets.
Taina, Renee, and Maritza must team up to perform for a talent show or get a failing grade in drama class. Taina has difficulty telling Renee that she can't sing. Daniel has writer's block and turns secret, embarrassing stories from Lamar and Taina into songs.
Taina suspects that Alex of the group MDO is a fraud.
Taina is selected to record a song with a popular artist and must go on tour for a year; she faces a tough decision on whether or not to go.
2002
Taina acts like a tough girl to snag a role in a boxing movie; Daniel and Renee build a robot for a robot-fighting competition.
Taina and Maritza join forces to take down Lizzie (Brooke Allison), a southern girl who sabotaged her way to the lead role in the school musical; Renee develops romantic feelings for Daniel.
A scary story Mr. Colon told spooks Taina and the gang; while staying at school at night for costume fittings, Taina and Renee make a bet with Lamar and Daniel to see who can last longest there without being scared.
Taina and Renee take a magazine quiz on their friendship and find out they hardly know anything about each other; Lamar, Daniel, and Maritza must work at Papito's to pay for a display-case glass they broke.
Eduardo questions Taina about whether she attended an all-night party after he told her not to, and Taina vehemently says she didn't go; Lamar and Daniel get jobs at a movie theater and promise they will sneak Taina and Renee into the film premiere starring Teck Money of The Real World.
Taina tries to audition for the lead in the new school play directed by Shevchenko (Liz Torres), a once-prestigious theater director, but she must overcome the long-standing rule that only seniors can audition for lead roles in school plays. Lamar and Daniel sell tickets to the play with extreme measures, and Renee and Maritza compete for the affection of Darius, the play's senior male lead.
Taina discovers that the guy she's crushing on is younger than she thought; Lamar gets jealous when Renee and Daniel share interest in sumo-wrestling.
Abuelo Gregorio spends more time with Taina but starts to cramp her style; Maritza wants to write her own songs and asks Lamar and Daniel for help.
Taina gets a bad review of a play from Lamar, which has her reevaluating her performance. Daniel invites Maritza as his plus-one for an opera show in exchange for Maritza promising to give him a guitar signed by all four Beatles, but her fashion advice drives him crazy.
Taina is willing to go through many extremes to be signed by an agent; Daniel, caught in a lie by his dad, blames Lamar for not cooperating with him on hiding the truth.
When actress Nicole Burke (Kelly Rowland) starts at Manhattan School for the Arts, everyone believes that she is as evil as the character she plays on her popular teen soap and only Taina gives her a chance. On Mr. Colon's orders, Renee and Lamar pretend to be mother and son outside of class to bring better performances out of them for an emotional scene.
Taina's old friend Lisa shows up to the Manhattan School for the Arts to audition for the lead in the school musical and asks Taina to help keep secret that she isn't a registered student. Lamar asks retired wrestler Gladys Goldfinger (Roma Maffia) to help him perform better in his stage combat class in exchange for teaching her how to cry to fulfill her acting dreams; when her elderly piano player dies, Maritza asks Daniel to be her new one.
Lamar shows the drama class his Behind the Music-style documentary looking back on the short-lived group made up of Taina, Renee, Daniel, and Maritza.
