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Saturday, 23 January, 2010 10:23 PM

PREVIEW: ABC Family's 'GREEK' returns on Monday at a new time - 10 p.m.

PHOTO BY BOB D'AMCO / ABC FAMILY

The cast of "GREEK": Dilshad Vadsaria as Rebecca, Jake McDorman as Evan, Spencer Grammer as Casey, Jacob Zachar as Rusty, Scott Michael Foster as Cappie, Clark Duke as Dale, Amber Stevens as Ashleigh and Paul James as Calvin.

LOS ANGELES -- "GREEK" is like a soap opera for teenagers and college students, known as a dramedy. If you like the American Pie movies (minus the nudity) or the Bring It On movies, then you'll definitely enjoy "GREEK." If you are a member of a fraternity or a sorority or you're considering to join one, then this is also a great show for you. This Monday, the show kicks off its second half of its third season in a new timeslot: 10 p.m. "GREEK" will be shown one hour later than in the past. However, there will be just as many twists and lots of surprises thrown in too.

The television show resembles a college in more ways than one. The first half of the season begins at the end of August just as students are heading back to class. The second half of the season begins at the end of January as students are already in class. Many scenes of "GREEK" are filmed on the campus of USC. The show follows students and their lives at the fictional Cyprus-Rhodes University.

Spencer Grammer is one of the original eight members of the cast. She plays the character of Casey Cartwright, who has served as president of the ZBZ sorority in past seasons.

For those who watch the show, Casey was in a relationship with Cappie, who is played by Scott Michael Foster. But what will that continue in the new season? "Yes, you can and it will be fun," Grammer said.

"GREEK" will now air at 10 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. on Mondays. Will the show continue to be successful at its new time?

"I'm not really sure, you're guess is as good as mine," the actress said. "I don't work for the Nielsen report or anything. I think it's great. Our show gets a lot of viewers online. Our target audience is probably 12 to 35. The way people watch television now has changed so much that ratings are not hard indicators of how popular your show might be."

Grammer says there will be a lot of twists and surprises in the new season, which includes 10 new episodes.

"You get to meet Cappie's parents on a camping trip, which is pretty fun," the actress added. "There's a great episode where Ashleigh's character does a makeover for Rusty and makes him look chic rather than nerdy, which is really cute. Her character is really fun this year. We have the Gamma Psi house burnt down at the end of last semester. We're sort of dealing with the repercussion of that in the season. Who rigged the contest? What happened? Some Mardi Gras episodes. Casey has sort of maybe wondering if Cappie is really the one for her. They throw a cute guy in there and suddenly she's like 'Oh my god.' There's some stuff like that."

Also in the new season, the guys from Kappa Tau are in morning since Wade, Jeremy and Ferret were expelled for their joint prank with the Omega Chis. Rusty (played by Jacob Zachar) tries to fill Wade's shoes as the pledge educator but learns that the KT pledges are tough to teach. In addition, Calvin makes a hard decision about his relationship with Grant. Evan isn't sure how to act around Rebecca. Dale (played by Clark Duke) hires interns to do his dirty work on his invention. Rusty and Dale are still vying for the grant money.

"They're all very charismatic, talented actors," Grammer said about the show's cast. "I think I love falling in love on a character on a TV show. For me, it's been really fun. We've been lucky to have the chemistry that we have. We're all really respectful and open and friendly."

The new season will include guest appearances by Martha MacIssac ("Superbad"), Sam Page ("Mad Men") and Lea Thompson ("Caroline in the City"). The returning guest cast includes Nora Kirkpatrick as “Kathryn,” Aaron Hill as “Beaver,” Aynsley Bubbico as “Laura,” and Zack Lively as “Heath.”

The actress who plays Casey says that the television show does some things that most fraternities and sororities probably wouldn't.

"Sometimes I feel like we could probably push the envelope a little bit more on things," she said. "We get really drunk. I think it's a pretty accurate depiction. I think our story mostly focuses n college and the college experience. We talk about Greek life and Panhellenic as a model for the vibrant characters that we have and sort of the struggle that you go through in your late teens, early 20s defining who you are. I think that 'GREEK' definitely focuses on that."

Grammer admits she didn't participate in the Greek system while in college, but says some members of the crew were a part of a fraternity or sorority.

"I didn't go to school with fraternities or the Greek system," the actress added. "One person was, guest stars were. A lot of people didn't go to college. Some people went, I went. Some people went to junior colleges. We all were focusing on our acting careers, I think, more than going to college. But there have been some people that were in fraternities. Our producers were also in them, except for our creator. Piller and Segan were in fraternities in college."

Watch for the new season of "GREEK" every Monday at 10 p.m. E.T. on ABC Family.

Click here to visit the official website of ABC Family's "GREEK."

PHOTO CREDIT: ABC FAMILY

Cappie and Casey (played by Scott Michael Foster and Spencer Grammer) on "GREEK."