Glee – another guilty pleasure

OK, I’ll admit it.  -- I’m totally hooked on the new TV series, “Glee.”  It is hard to explain exactly what the show is all about.  It takes place at a high school where the once-famous glee club has fallen far from grace.  An alumni, now faculty member (Will Schuester, payed by Matthew Morrison)  who was a member of the club in its heyday takes it over.  He faces opposition from the hilariously played (Jane Lynch) head of the snobby cheer leader squad, and draconian budget restrictions.  And the kids in the glee club are winsome.  Add to that Will’s semi-crazy wife who is faking a pregnancy to keep him in the marriage and a fellow faculty member who has a big crush on Will, and you have a pretty good sit-com setup.  But that is not what makes the show worth watching.  The musical numbers are what makes this show work for me.  They are so superb that I wonder whether they can keep up such a high level into future episodes.  Last week was simply glorious, because through a dubious plot twist they were able to work  Kristin Chenoweth into the  show.  I was first exposed to her at the end of the Westwing series where she played a strictly dramatic role to great effect.  At the time, my wife commented that she was also an accomplished singer and dancer, which at the time I sort of stored away in my brain.  Anyway, she has several fabulous musical/dance numbers in the last episode that really blew me away.  She is great!

Anyway, check out Glee.  Sure, like all musicals (with the exception of Cabaret) it’s kind of cheesy and artificial, but I guarantee that you will have a smile on your face after every episode.