Glee - Season 1

Initially, I really wasn't interested in Glee at all. I tolerate musicals better than some people do, but the whole high school/super diverse cast thing really didn't appeal to me. It wasn't until I heard more about some of the stuff working under the surface that I gave it a shot, and turned out to be pleasantly surprised. It's sort of like a guilty pleasure that I don't feel too guilty about. It's kind of bubbly and cheesy a lot of the time, and when it actually gets series it's often overly dramatic. But the show definitely has an edge to it, one that starts with its villain, Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester, who I put on my characters of the decade list despite only having 13 episodes to work with. They do make strides to humanize her, especially near the end of the season, but she's still a great foil to Will and antagonist of the student body, and the glee kids in particular. The show just couldn't work without her, as her absence in a recent episode was eminently glaring as it leaned heavily on the melodrama.

So yeah, you're going to need some tolerance for sappiness and the convenience of musical numbers and that the cast is a bunch people in their early-to-mid twenties playing high school sophomores and that one of the male leads is clearly auto-tuned in nearly every song. The good still outweighs the bad in my opinion. It's often bitingly funny, even in scenes without Lynch. The chemistry of the whole cast is pretty strong. There are a lot of cases where the more dramatic stuff actually works. It tackles a variety of issues in a pretty respectful way. The song selection isn't always perfect, but usually pretty good, and the cast is extremely talented. Yeah, they're lip syncing their own performances, but that's how this stuff works. They get some good guests like Kristin Chenoweth and Neil Patrick Harris, and it's just enjoyable week in and week out. It definitely walks a fine line every time out, but I don't think they've really stumbled yet. I'm definitely interested in seeing more.