I'm a Gleek!

All right, I’ll admit it: I’m a Gleek; and big time too. Everything about Glee is amazing, from its caricatured impression of the hierarchical high school caste system, to its lovably (and laughably) flawed characters. It helps too that the songs that they sing and dance to are from the mainstream, none of this high school musical crap.

For those of you who don’t know what Glee is I deplore your lack of good TV common sense, and I urge you to head on over to Hulu to watch the latest 5 episodes.

Glee is a musical comedy show that portrays the lives of several teenagers as they weave their way through the trials and tribulations of public high school and the pecking order that comes with the territory. I realize that when people think musical they see corny show tunes and dancing that could only come from professionals trained in the field, and it is true that some of the musical numbers in Glee are complex when looked at from a normal person’s point of view; however most of the numbers are more “natural” they’re not real dance numbers, they’re just a congregation of teenagers singing popular songs in harmony.

The songs sung on Glee are varied and almost unrelated (“The thong song” and “Sweet Caroline”?) making enjoyment of the musical aspect, which is paramount to enjoyment of the show, easy and possible for anybody coming in to watch the show for the first time.

The singing on Glee is wonderful; albeit enhanced by computers this certainly does not mean that the actors are only that: actors. Each of the cast members has a background in music or dance, or both and the show is rife with fresh talents that make it a sight to behold.

Speaking of the show’s acting: it’s great! The actors lend themselves to the attitude of the show quite well, and because this is a comedy first and foremost the interactions on the show are nothing short of a roaring good laugh sure to have you slapping your knees or rolling on the floor crying with laughter (see the single ladies football dance). The comical nature of the show takes nothing away from the “realness” of it, and while its portrayal of high school is more than a little over the top, it, at the same time, hits the nail on the head in that department.

Primetime television has not seen this kind of genuinely good television since the advent of shows like Heroes and NCIS and I am more than ecstatic that Glee has hit it off as well as it has, I truly hope Glee becomes one of those “classic” shows that we can all force our kids to watch, just because it was “that good” when we were younger.