The singing and dancing cast of Glee. I however fear the chap in the wheelchair will not get an opportunity to develop his quickstep.
American high school setting, singing, clichéd but questionably hot characters, singing, dark humour, singing, Jane Lynch being totally brilliant, singing, dancing, and yet more singing. New hit musical comedy Glee is set to become the most popular form of escapism for the (female) population.
For those of you (males mostly) who aren’t yet aware of Glee, or who have maybe heard of it, maybe noticed it in the trending topics of @twitter, and wondered “well golly-gosh, what is this ‘Glee’ people are speaking of?”…prepare yourselves. Glee is not just another one of those American imports where everyone is pretty, nothing is believable, and much fun is had. Well, actually it is all of those things…and more. Glee is a new phenomenon.
From the creator of the gloriously dark Nip/Tuck, Glee follows the musical adventures of an idealistic high school teacher Mr Schuster and his bunch of misfit students who are trying to revive their school Glee club (or choir to us Brits), and subsequently conquer the world with song. At first glance this is pretty typical teen fodder. There are all the usual stereotypes: the cheerleaders and the jocks, the nerds and the losers, the token gay, the token black girl (singing Aretha Franklin…of course!). But there’s also a welcome sprinkling of that satirical, quirky edge that made Nip/Tuck so brilliant. The two elements go hand in hand to make something that, although familiar, feels brand new.
Mr Schuster has his work cut out for him to round up members for his glee club in a school where the cheerleading squad – a sharp-tongued troop of ice-queens – rule all. The school cannot afford to fund both, fuelling a bitter rivalry between the cheerleaders and glee club, and making way for much plotting and dry one-liners from aggressive cheerleading coach meets drill-sergeant Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch, utter genius of 40 Year Old Virgin, and Role Models fame). It cannot be stressed just how brilliant Lynch is in this role; Glee would be great without her, but she takes it to a whole new level adding wry mockery to what may have otherwise been a little too light and fluffy.
Of course it’s the music that really makes Glee what it is. Even before the characters start bursting into song, the all-acapella incidental music is fantastic. I defy anybody to listen to the Swingle Singers and not love them a little bit. Beyond this, the use of music to convey what is happening and how the characters are feeling is very well done, and never feels too contrived. The cast cover a mixture of songs from classic to contemporary pop, and even a few showtune favourites, again adding to the air of familiarity. And as if that wasn’t enough, each week after an episode has aired, two of the songs featured become available for purchase on itunes (kaaaaatching!!!).
Glee appears to have redefined the use of popular music in TV drama. The Glee cast cover of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ has been hanging around in the itunes charts for weeks now, and the original version has made it into the top 10 in the singles charts itself. Similarly, when the cast covered Rihanna’s Take A Bow the original saw a 189% rise in sales. This spells giant “KAAAAATCHING” for the programme makers and musicians alike, and artists are rumoured to be lining up around the block to have their songs “Gleed”. Apparently the second season will contain an entire episode dedicated to Madonna songs…so we have that to look forward to.
Most of all, Glee is just pure escapism in its finest form. It may be a physical impossibility to watch an episode without at some point expressing a smile that stretches from ear to ear. It’s happy, it’s glossy, nobody gets murdered (yet at least…that would be a rather morbid twist) and there isn’t heavy emphasis on global warming, obesity, or the fact that the real world is not nearly as wonderful. “Glee” is not just the name of the show, it is a promise. Personally I think that we should all be encouraged to Glee a little every day…jazz hands should be made a part of the national curriculum.
Tags: 40 Year Old Virgin, American High School, American Import, Aretha Franklin, Cheerleaders, Choir, Cliché, Comedy, Cover, Dancing, Dashings of Jazz, Distracting Comedy Fluff, Don't Stop Believing, Escapism For Ladies, Glee, Glee Club, Gleed, iTunes, Jane Lynch, Jocks, Journey, Madonna, Mr Schuster, Musical, Nerds, Nip/Tuck, Rhianna, Role Models, Singing, Songs, Students, Sue Sylvsters
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Personally, I find this show offensive to anyone who is black, gay, asian, Jewish, disabled or ugly. Why, you may ask? Why do you ask why it is offensive to them? I will share with you as for why:
1 black character.
1 gay character.
1 Jewish character (probabaly, him witht he curly hair and glasses, or maybe that nasty schmoigle of a boy who demanded to see the girl’s bra.)
1 disabled guy.
1 Ugly girl (the main one with the nose who everyone doesn’t seem to want to sing lead ever.)
So, all these cultural minorities have been represented by ony one character apiece! Unless you’re ugly, and therefore represented by the main girl, you will not feel represented by this film at all. You will be left feeling alone, disillusioned and favourless.
:’(
Yelter (/8¬)@
Hoiley schmoiley! I meant ‘programme’ (or even, ’series’,) instead of ‘film’.
Real sorries miss website writer person.
Crackles!!! I also forgot to mention ‘asian’ in my list. Well, there is only 1 asian character too. Hoy, what a day!
ahhh see, maybe that’s why i like it so much. Being ugly as i am, i feel totally represented by the main character with whom i have nothing in common but apparently will identify with due to our shared level of ugly.
or maybe i just want to be entertained by all the whimsical singing and dancing.
who knows!
hoy! i’m schvitzing like a pudding at a picnic. shalom!
Are you guys French or something?