Victim of Culture

Glee presents a gleefully good time

Fox’s new hour long drama Glee benefitted from lots of hype and premiering after the next to last episode of American Idol this season.  But too much hype can be a bad thing, and a show about high school glee club certainly borders on the edge of terrible just by its premise alone.  Luckily, the show isn’t nearly as bad as it should be, and it hints at great things possibly to come.

If nothing else, Glee is perhaps the most earnest show premiering on television this year.  That’s hardly a huge accomplishment when most programs are as cynical as a group of teenagers (likely because that’s who most shows are targeted at).  Still, it makes the show stand out.  When the soulful jock Finn Hudson stands up for Arty, the kid in the wheelchair, in the pilot episode you almost want to roll your eyes at its innocence, but then he utters a fairly funny, astute diatribe about the fate of everyone in the school and town.  It’s earnest, but not stupid.

The same cannot be said for its comedy.  While the show benefits greatly from having Jane Lynch as a cheerleading coach gone mad, she’s about the only funny part of the show so far.  The rest of the show seems to bounce happily from homophobic jokes to “Isn’t my wife evil?” type jokes.  What’s supposed to be funny just isn’t most of the time.

Luckily, only about the first half of the pilot is trying to be funny.  After that it becomes more earnest and the show really takes off starting with a visit to see another school’s glee club perform.  Their rendition of “Rehab” is jubilant and exciting, like a very good off-Broadway musical.  It isn’t until the main cast performs at the end of the episode though that the music truly comes alive.  Their take on Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” is top tapping good.  It’s also one of the few times that a cover of a song doesn’t embarrass the original.  You can currently purchase it on iTunes, and it would be worth a listen for fans of the original.

I mentioned earlier that the wife is portrayed as a hateful, mean character.  This is a shift from most things on television that portray the wife as long suffering and the husband as overweight and inept.  Here lead character Will Schuester is charming, soft spoken, and motivated.  He’s the opposite of just about every male character on television, and we’re instantly won over by him for it.  Fellow teacher Emma Pillsbury is nearly his equal in charm, though the obsession with cleanliness feels tacked on.  I’d vote it for character trait most likely to disappear early into the first season.

Fox took a gamble in premiering Glee so early.  While the first episode airs now in May, the rest will nor air until this fall as part of Fox’s regular schedule.  If audience had hated this episode, it could easily spell doom for the series.  I didn’t want to like this show, and I really didn’t for the first half.  But by the time the cast broke into Don’t Stop Believin’, I couldn’t.

Related posts:

1. Shock to the world, Fox mulls Dollhouse return
   Here’s a shock—Fox is considering renewing Dollhouse.  Not just considering, that seems obvious that they may consider, but actually...
2. Dollhouse is the rare feat in modern television, a show truly about ideas
   Be aware, heavy spoilers follow if you have not finished the first season. Joss Whedon’s show Dollhouse never had...
3. Lost has one destination next season–Armageddon
   Just to start out, if you have not yet watched the season finale of Lost please stop reading and...
4. Stop motion Wolf and Pig
   While there are tons of short films online, I find few of them to truly be worth my time. ...
5. Rebooting Buffy the Vampire Slayer
   How do you reboot a television classic?  By going back to its film roots.  Many younger fans may not...