Glee made a flashy entrance when its first episode premiered after the season finale of American Idol earlier this year. It promptly vanished until the start of the 2009 TV season proper, allowing the buzz to build for months. Ratings have been so good that it's been picked up for a full season.
There's a lot to like about Glee. The cast is talented, the dialogue occasionally zings in a 30 Rock-esque fashion, and there's nothing else like it on television. It's also heavily problematic, which keeps it from being something I want to watch regularly.
- There's too much going on: Here's a shortlist of what happened during the episode "Preggers." Kurt made the football team as a kicker and came out to his father. Sue continued her mission to break up Glee Club by getting Sandy to re-join the faculty. Rachel, feeling under-appreciated, left Glee Club in order to be a part of Sandy's cabaret. And - deep breath - Finn found out that his girlfriend was pregnant but even though he thinks he's the father it's actually his best friend Puck, which gives Will's wife a chance to come up with a baby because she's lied to him about being pregnant. Phew. At least it's told in a compact time frame; the episode prior to it seemingly took place over an entire month.
- The characters are problematic: I get extremely nit-picky when it comes to characters staying consistent with who they are. For instance, Will and Sandy are fairly chummy in "Acafellas" but one episode later Sandy hates Will with a passion. Granted, their allegiance as part of the Acafellas was one of convenience and not mutual respect, but in "Preggers" Sandy hates Glee Club with the passion of Sue Sylvester, who'd sooner kill herself than team up with Will for anything. Also, while "ugly" high schoolers have been portrayed by attractive actors and actresses for ages, the show still stretches the limits of plausibility by having Rachel moping about being unloved and invisible. Sure, she's a bit of a bitch, but she's also stunningly attractive. It's like when Taylor Swift paints herself as a nobody in "You Belong to Me." I'm not buying it for a second.
- The musical numbers are overproduced: I've never seen a real show choir before, but my God, I can't handle any of the performances in Glee. I did chorus and musical theater in high school. I have Broadway soundtracks on my iPod. I'm one of the few people who don't mind college a capella groups. This sort of thing should be right down my alley. But it doesn't help when all the songs come with unnecessary backing vocals and instrumental accompaniments. Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele were on Broadway. They don't need help from the production booth to sound good. And Jesus, the Acafellas didn't even sing a capella! I can understand why the musical numbers are largely contemporary pop songs - I doubt audiences want to hear "The Lord Bless You and Keep You." But it's possible to do a capella songs, or choral work with limited post-production, and have it be catchy. It worked for Billy Joel. It was a viral hit for Straight No Chaser. And even traditional choirs can make pop music work.
- The show can't commit to what it wants to be: I feel that Glee would work better as a half-hour comedy in the vein of The Office, but that's not my major quibble. Glee could successfully be an hour-long dramedy if it chose to either be an all-out musical or keep the musical numbers in the real world. Instead, Glee is all over the place. Rachel and Mercedes sing in fantasy sequences, but the football team's "Single Ladies" dance happens during an actual football game. I'm all for willing suspension of disbelief, but the team's dance is the sort of stunt that would at the very least result in a delay of game penalty. Establish that the show follows the rules of a musical, and I don't think about that. But the show's first three episodes occur in a reality-based setting. You can't change the rules like that and expect the audience to play along. Perhaps the creators remembered how Cop Rock and Viva Laughlin were colossal failures and decided not to go balls-out. It's a bad call.
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