Fox’s new hit series, GLEE, brings something back that has been missing from the Airwaves for some time: the tv series that revolves around the dreaded high school years. Not since Judd Apatow’s “Freaks and Geeks”, has there been a show that so clearly grasps the awkward, terrifying and inspiring moments, that defined high school for us. The show’s creator, Ryan Murphy, (creator of the Hit-series Nip/Tuck) furthers his obsession wish pushing the envelope with his new prime-time network slot.
The show leaves no stereotypical stone unturned. The shows writers introduced the shows main student characters throughout a montage of each of their contributions (or them making a mockery of) Glee Club. The Soul-singing African-American girl, Mercedes, the flamboyant Musical-boy Kurt Hummel,
Rachel Berry, portrayed by Spring Awakening’s Lea Michele, leads the way as the school’s over-achieving, musical-loving nerd: “You might think that all the boys at my school would totally want to tap this, but my Myspace schedule keeps me way to busy to date.”
Perhaps Jane Lynch’s character, cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, puts the show over the top, with her speaking the pilot episode’s first piece of dialogue to her group of overworked, dehumanized cheerleaders, while they try to perfect a human pyramid: (whom she affectionately refers to as “cheerios”) “You think this is tough? Try being water boarded!” Later in the episode she yells through the bullhorn to her spiritually shattered team of teenage girls to improve their formation, adding at the end, “…and I want the agony out of your eyes!” These mannerisms quickly earn her the title of most loveable and hated character in the show. “I love minorities so much, I’m thinking of moving to California to become one!” Jane Lynch, an openly gay activist, takes her
In the first season of the show the creators have already thrown in teenage pregnancy, marital infidelity, bullying and bigotry into what seems like a perfect microcosm of current American society that is Anytown U.S.A.
My one gripe about this show is the musical numbers that are ever-so-cleverly slipped into scene transitions of the show. I know it’s a show about glee club and happy-go –lucky kids singing show tunes, but for 1 to 3 and a half straight minutes? And sometimes up to 3 times an episode? It may become a quickly-tired gimmick. Lets hope that GLEE keeps us “gleeful” for the rest of the season.
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