It's funny, because I almost didn't watch this fantastic show (which, as you may have already guessed, gets an A++ in my book). I kind of have this vendetta against Fox, since they air that stupid show that's ruining our culture and once upon a time they cancelled Firefly. So only extreme things can draw me to this network-things like J.J. Abrams, Joss Whedon, and apparently, incessant promos showing a bunch of kids singing "Rehab" as well as Jane Lynch yelling about her hepatitis. But in the end, I had nothing else to do on a Tuesday night, so why not watch the show about a glee club, right?
Glee begins with our handsome high school Spanish teacher noting a trophy case displaying the glory days of William McKinley High's glee club, of which he was the golden boy. Cheesy, right? A lot about this show is. Most of the characters are fairly stock, with the token overachiever good girl, jock who really wants to sing, gay theater nerd who gets thrown in the dumpster, etc etc. But there's a few things that elevate Glee above its teen genre forefathers and risk of musical silliness (I'm looking at you, Cop Rock). Every single character is developed beyond the blurbs I just wrote, and every single one of them is completely lovable for it. I love that Rachel's pursuit for perfection is muddled with loneliness and desire to be admired and respected. I love that Finn got his love for music from his mother's weed whacking boyfriend singing Journey as he destroyed their lawn. I love that Will wants the glee club to succeed so badly that he'll blackmail a student to join by pretending another teacher's weed belonged to the kid. I think quirky is an accurate word for Glee, and a lot of it is in the casting. Yeah, I was reeled in by the always awesome Jane Lynch and the under-appreciated Jayma Mays (few Pushing Daisies guest stars were ever so memorable-and speaking of that, apparently Kristin Chenoweth guests on Glee in the fall!). But literally everyone is awesome, right down to the budget crunching principal and the bully who learns that chicks don't have prostates. Now take these fantastic people to watch and give them something everyone can relate to: a seemingly out of reach goal. This glee club operates on $60 a month supplied by its advisor and it could feasibly have its ass handed to it by rival schools. Who hasn't had some similar David vs. Goliath struggle in their life?
My high school didn't have a glee club, but I was a proud member of the OCHS Drama Guild (Oh yes-we were a guild). And actually, I see a lot of similarities between OCHS and William McKinley High. As Finn noted in his wonderful stand up to the rest of the football team moment, they are all losers, jocks and glee club alike, only half of them will even go to college, and only about two will leave the state to do it. That's kind of how I grew up-people would ignore our plays in favor of watching the football team lose miserably, and most of the kids I graduated with ended up in schools in NJ and PA, if they even went to school at all. So I relate to Glee-I feel kindred to the kids in New Direction and feel like their possible success would be as vicariously satisfying for me as it clearly is for Will.
In addition to being emotionally satisfying, I have to say, I really do even just love the music. Yeah, it's a little cliche to use "Don't Stop Believin'" in the context that they did, but damned if it didn't make me smile. Because ultimately, this show is just pure fun. In the midst of all the shows I know I want to watch, with complicated narratives, shocking death, time travel, dimension travel, and whatnot, Glee is giving me something I didn't even realize I need. This show makes me feel better about the world-I'm happy, giddy, verging on dancing, and absolutely consumed with glee.
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