Fall TV Preview

SYNOPSIS

McKinley High School's Glee Club used to be at the top of the show choir world, but years later, it has turned into a haven for misfits and social outcasts. But at McKinley, things for the Glee Club are about to change. From Ryan Murphy, the creator of "Nip/Tuck," comes GLEE, an uplifting comedy musical series with biting humor that features a soundtrack of hit music from past to present. The show follows an optimistic high school teacher as he tries to refuel his own passion for singing while reinventing the school's glee club and challenging a group of underdogs to realize their star potential. WILL SCHUESTER (Matthew Morrison) has offered to take on the Herculean task of restoring McKinley's Glee Club to its former glory with the help of fellow teacher and germaphobe EMMA PILLSBURY (Jayma Mays). It's a tall order when the brightest stars of the club include KURT (Chris Colfer), a nerdy soprano with a flair for the dramatic; MERCEDES (Amber Riley), a dynamic diva-in-training who refuses to sing back-up; ARTIE (Kevin McHale), a geeky guitarist who spends more time avoiding bullies than chasing girls; and TINA (Jenna Ushkowitz), an awkward girl who needs to suppress her stutter before she can take center stage. Will's only hope lies with two true talents: RACHEL BERRY (Lea Michele), a perfectionist firecracker who is convinced that show choir is her ticket to stardom; and FINN HUDSON (Cory Monteith), the popular high school quarterback with movie star looks and a Motown voice who must protect his reputation with his holier-than-thou girlfriend and head cheerleader, QUINN (Dianna Agron), and his arrogant football teammate, PUCK (Mark Salling). Driven by his secret past, Will is determined to do whatever it takes to make Glee great again, even though everyone around him thinks he's nuts. He's out to prove them all wrong from his tough-as-nails wife TERRI SCHUESTER (Jessalyn Gilsig) to McKinley's scheming cheerleading coach SUE SYLVESTER (Jane Lynch) to an ber-hip world that thinks jazz hands and sequined tuxedos litter the road to infamy rather than pave the way to Hollywood dreams. PRODUCTION COMPANIES: 20th Century Fox Television, Ryan Murphy Television

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Dante Di Loreto

CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Ian Brennan, John Peter Kousakis

DIRECTOR: Ryan Murphy

CAST: Dianna Agron as Quinn, Chris Colfer as Kurt, Jessalyn Gilsig as Terri Schuester, Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester, Jayma Mays as Emma Pillsbury, Kevin McHale as Artie, Lea Michele as Rachel Berry, Cory Monteith as Finn Hudson, Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester, Amber Riley as Mercedes, Mark Salling as Puck, Jenna Ushkowitz as Tina

IMAGE GALLERY & VIDEO PREIVEWS

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REVIEWS

Please note that these reviews may contain spoilers.

Gordon McDougall's Take
When I first started writing reviews for this website, one of my reviews was so far off the mark, I'm surprised I was asked back for a second year. (Now, here I am in year three.) I will never let myself forget that I gave The Big Bang Theory a bad review, since it has become one of my favorite shows! Perhaps it is the sort of humbling moment every reviewer should experience. I mention this because I am inclined to give Glee a bad review, but everything I've read about it on blogs and on various entertainment websites has been raving about this show. I watched this last spring, when a preview episode aired after American Idol. I was bored by the clichéd characters, I found most of the music grating and I could see where the stories were going from a mile away. Obviously, I was just not "getting" it. When the time came to actually review it officially, I decided to watch it again (the same episode that aired on Fox is the one being provided to reviewers). Considering all of the glowing (and gleeful) responses I've read, it deserves another chance. So here I am, back again, trying to watch it with a fresh set of eyes...trying to get into the spirit of the show... I was not a member of my high school's Glee Club, by the way.... This time, I tried to approach Glee as a "campy" satire of high school life and a very affectionate stab at a generation with a fanatical devotion to Idol and High School Musical. And while I still prefer my high school television in the form of Friday Night Lights, Freaks and Geeks and The Wonder Years, I am starting to see what others are seeing in Glee. Will Scheuster is a teacher who has just taken over the glee club. He wants to mine the school for talent, even if that means pilfering students from the "Cheerios" cheerleading squad or from the all-important football team. He's not making fast-friends with either of those coaches, nor the "closet case" (as one uber-focused student star-in-the-making puts it) teacher who really wants the position Will has. There's a funny little subplot about medicinal marijuana running through the teacher's lounge that gives this soft, fuzzy show a bit of an edge. There's also a potential love interest for Will at work (in the form of teacher Emma Pillsbury), even though he has a newly-pregnant wife at home (with an unnatural dependancy on crafting). Giving in to the spirit of the show (I promised), it does have a nice crescendo of plotlines when the football jock realizes it's not so lame to be in glee club and the teacher with a baby on the way realizes he doesn't have to give up teaching to support his child (even if his wife refuses to stop mainlining "mod-podge"). Arguably, those are unrealistic outcomes, but maybe that was my problem the first time around. To enjoy Glee, you need to give in to the fantasy a little bit. The one thing I can't get past is the music. They have a knack for picking Top-40 songs that I could barely stand the first time around and turning them into the same kind of homogenous 21st-century-Muzak that perfectly-enunciating yet overwrought singers love to belt out on the Idol-type shows. However, that's my hang-up. Everyone else seems to love it! TV Gord's Verdict: It will be a hit, no matter what I say. Airing after So You Think You Can Dance in the Fall (and American Idol in spring 2010), it's eager audience is built in. Personally, I didn't hate the show. I might give it another chance when it settles in. I don't expect to watch it in the fall, but I do expect to hear a lot about it.
About Gordon McDougall TVGord is a radio host at 580 CFRA in Ottawa. He does a weekly segment about TV every friday which you can hear in MP3 in the '580 CFRA Interviews' section of their website, www.cfra.com