Glee: TV Review

The world of high school has been tackled by many shows throughout the years, but very few have focused on the niche world of show choir, incorporating song, dance and sharp dialogue the way that Fox's "Glee" has done in just a few episodes.

Fox seems to have confidence in this premise, announcing on September 21 that they had picked up "Glee" for a full season. Created by Ryan Murphy (FX's "Nip/Tuck"), the show follows the McKinley High Glee Club, led by the ambitious Spanish teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison). Among the prominent Glee kids are the self-proclaimed star Rachel (Lea Michele) and the football quarterback Finn (Cory Monteith).

Since last spring, many critics have sung the praises of the show calling it "so funny, so bulging with vibrant characters" (Ken Tucker, EW.com) and "full-throttle, no guilty-pleasure-rationalizations-necessary fun" (Mary McNamara, LATimes.com). Members of the college audience seem to agree.

"I like how it's a parody of high school. You can blatantly tell that they're not completely serious about everything. They kind of take the stereotypes and try and put a new twist on them even though they're pretty similar to the cliché ones," said Michaela Burns, a secondary education and English major at St. Michael's College in Colchester, VT. "I like that you can tell that it's a comedy, without it being out-and-out, 'Oh you're supposed to laugh at this.'"

Metacritic.com, a Web site that calculates a Metascore rating based on aggregating critics' reviews, gave the show a 77, which is considered "generally favorable reviews."

However the site also pointed out that not all critics' reviews have been glowing.  The lowest-rated review came from Brian Lowry at Variety.com stating, "The promise and energy associated with the debut of 'Glee' last spring largely evaporates in previewing two additional hours, where the musical numbers generally less infectious and buoyant than the first time out- can't compensate for overly broad characterizations and absurdly soapy situations." Ouch- but even regular viewers of the show offer their own criticisms.

"The songs could be toned down a little bit. The first episode, the songs came at a natural point- There was a purpose to them," said Nick Martin, a junior international affairs major at Northeastern University. In some of the subsequent episodes, Martin said, it felt "High School Musical-y."

Part of the issue is that there seems to be a disconnect between the light environment of show choir and the show trying to take on more dramatic material, said Mykal Urbina, a junior integrated marketing communications major at Ithaca College.

"I think it's only issue is that it hasn't really figured out which direction it wants to go because it tries to be light and comedy and 'we're doing show choir' and then they try and be totally serious and dramatic and have major plot twists," Urbina said. "They're still trying to figure out what kind of show they're going to be because they've got the comedy thing going and everyone loves it, but that can only last so long, so they've still got to have a plot. It can't just be musical numbers. But they haven't really figured out how much drama is too much."

The pilot episode appeared last spring after the final performance episode of the Fox hit "American Idol" on May 19.

"Everyone thought it was going to be a new summer show," Urbina said. "But then the second episode didn't come till the fall. So all summer it was building up all of this hype."

The hype continued to grow all throughout the summer hiatus until the second episode finally aired on September 9.The pilot was then available for viewing online after the premiere and two songs from the pilot- "Rehab" and "Don't Stop Believing"- were also released on iTunes on June 2. The "Gleek" tour, which kicked off on Aug. 17, had the cast appearing at various Hot Topic stores throughout the country. Their Facebook fan page posted a note about Glee's "Show Us Your Gold Star Potential" contest on Photobucket.com in June to win a trip for two to Teen Choice 2009. Later in the summer was a contest to find the "Biggest Gleek," with a grand prize being a trip for four to Los Angeles to have dinner with the cast.

Guest stars have already included Broadway veterans Kristin Chenoweth, Debra Monk, Victor Garber and John Lloyd Young. Josh Groban has also had a cameo and hip-hop artist Eve is scheduled for a guest appearance later this season.

"It's fairly popular for how short a time it's been on." Burns said she spreads the word to many friends who end up coming back to her saying they're fans of the show.

"I loved the pilot and all the characters they introduced," Burns said. "I don't think it's been hyped too much to the point where you're like, 'Oh my god, it's on TV and everywhere I look."

Urbina said that even though the season is under way, "Glee" is still relying on the hype to keep increasing its audience. The release of some songs on iTunes in advance gets people excited for the upcoming performance on the show and is an example of the show's effective current marketing, Urbina said.

"Every week they keep releasing the next single, which I think is brilliant," Urbina said.

After the fourth episode aired, the "Glee" cast had all fourteen of their released singles in the top 200 single downloads on iTunes. Covered artists have ranged from Queen to Rihanna, Journey to Salt-N-Pepa, and Celine Dion to Amy Winehouse.

"The singing's amazing. I also like that they do current songs in the Broadway fashion. I think I listened to their version of 'Take a Bow' like a hundred times," Burns said.

With the recent full season pickup, "Glee" has the opportunity to continue engaging audiences and perhaps resolve some of the plot issues worrying the audience. Still fans of the show, like Urbina, are impressed with the unique quality that "Glee" brings to television.

"It's taken the teen drama but added theater, music, dance, pop music, celebrities," Urbina said. "I think right now it kind of stands alone."

"Glee" airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Fox.