Why I Love "Glee"

There's a new show out there on television that, for me, has actually made me interested in sitting down in front of the TV, every week, at the scheduled time, not wanting to miss a second of it.  In this day and age of TiVo, DVR, hulu.com, youtube and everything else, the urgency of needing to watch a TV show is out the window.  You can pretty much catch what you want to when you want to and it's all good.  Add to the fact that the majority of television shows out there today are either reality show bullshit or same ol', same ol' medical or police dramas, and any way you slice it, TV just fucking sucks.

All that changed when about a month ago I came across the series premiere of "Glee".  And it was love at first sight.

You would think a show that centers around the misfits (by society's standards) of a high school glee club and all the drama that surrounds it would be better off found on the WB or even worse, bastardized on Nickelodeon or MTV.  You would think a show that features bombastic, over the top (albeit high quality and damn entertaining) musical numbers in every episode, sometimes multiple musical numbers, would fall flat on it's face and be disregarded by the mass public.  Thank God it doesn't.

This show is the freshest thing I have seen on TV in a while.  You've got everything: sweet eye candy: Lea Michele is amazing, and super hot, as Rachel.  She is a true diva in every sense, always demanding the spotlight and believing she is a true star.  At the same time she is also not well-liked by the majority of the student body, often a target of ridicule, but soldiers on regardless.  She has an amazing voice, too.  This show will definitely be her breakout, IMO.  Jayma Mays plays Emma, the OCD guidance counselor who is in love with Will Scheuster, the teacher who leads the glee club (more on him in a minute).  I first saw Ms. Mays in the movie "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" and was smitten with her cute, innocent appearance from the jump.  But aside from that, she turns in a very good performane show after show, really hitting on the character's idiosyncracies.

Matthew Morrison plays Will Scheuster.  He is in charge of the glee club, deals with a crazy, overbearing wife, also might harbor a small crush on Emma, and must juggle trying to help the students reach their full potential and also trying to reconcile his own past singing glory.  He's a likable character, not obnoxious and also a good actor.  More than you can say for most male leads on TV these days.

The real highlight of this show for me is Jane Lynch in her role as Sue Sylvester, head of the Cheerios cheer squad and in a sense, the show's main villain.  Lynch has a knack for chewing scenery and just delivering incredible one-liners, a knack she honed from movie stealing performances in films like "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and "Role Models".  Jane Lynch just exudes awesomeness and is pure comedy gold.  The show would have a huge void without her.

Rounding out the cast is my other favorite character, Finn Hudson as portrayed by Cory Monteith.  At first you could quickly write him off as another pretty boy douche pushed down the Hollywood pipeline.  But I dig his character, the conflicted star quarterback with the great voice that he is insecure about letting people hear.  His heart is in the right place, despite being manipulated by his conniving bitch girlfriend, head cheerleader Quinn.  He's a character that, personality wise, I could see parts of myself in, so I can relate to him.  Not a vapid douchebag like people you might find on shows like "Degrassi", "The Hills", etc.  I think that's what works so well about this show: despite some aspects of it being a little over the top, the characters are REAL and they have flaws, and nobody is presented in a constant positive light.  While there are likable characters, in reality, there isn't one character who is always portrayed as the hero.  They all have their dark moments and it's something to appreciate.

I would be remiss not to mention the musical numbers.  In the pilot, it was the powerful, exhuberant performance of "Don't Stop Believing" that "had me at hello", as the old saying goes.  Lea Michele knocked me for loop in episode 2 with her rendition of Rihanna's "Take a Bow".  I think that performance cemented my appreciation of her more than anything else.  The show has continued the trend, most notably last night's awesome showstoppers "Alone" and "Somebody to Love".  My only grudge was the previous episode's overuse of "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)", a song I hated from the first time I heard it and continue to hate.  Stick to the classic rock tunes and we'll be good, "Glee".

If you aren't watching "Glee" then you have serious mental issues.  You want a show that LITERALLY has it all: laughter, drama, music and enough plot twists per episode to keep you on your toes, get your ass in front of the TV every Wednesday night at 9 on FOX and prepare to have your mind blown.