TV Verdict

(Please welcome our newest addition to the team, Denice Landry.)

I just watched the preview of Fox’s new fall show, Glee. I wasn’t sure about the show at first but the ads for it had some catchy tunes that stuck in my head so I had to check it out. The show is a combination of Fame, Mean Girls and Bring it On.

The preview episode gives us an introduction to McKinley High, some of the teachers and students as well as the awful shape the Glee Club is in. There’s Will Schuester, the Spanish teacher who decides he’s going to take over Glee Club and turn a couple of misfit nerds into a championship act. He attracts a few new members in Kurt, a pretty faced soprano that looks and sounds like he should be in the Vienna Boy’s Choir; Artie, a wheelchair bound guitar player; Mercedes, a Diva wannabe; Tina, a quiet girl with a stutter and Rachel, a star in the making who’s been dancing since she was 3 months old and puts a daily video of herself singing on her MySpace page.

Everyone is against the Glee Club and Will needs to attract new talent so he persuades or should I say blackmails one of the football players, Kurt to join. Kurt is one of the popular kids who with his football buddies pick on the nerdier kids, especially Artie. After Finn joins the Glee Club you find out he’s really not the bully he pretends to be. He’s happiest when he’s singing with the club. Finn is dating cheerleader Quinn who is also President of the Celibacy Club. I thought it was great when she decides she wants to pray in the middle of their making out.

In order to keep the Glee Club going Will has to pay the school $60 a month and cover detention a few months for free. To add to his stress and frustration is his wife, Terri who’s a spoiled princess is trying to get pregnant. She’s upset when she finds out he’s going to be working late for a while because she works 4 hours a day 3 days a week and can’t possibly be expected to go home and cook her own dinner.

After Will takes them on a field trip to see a last years Glee Club Champions who are totally awesome he goes home and his wife tells him she’s pregnant. With new responsibilities he finally caves to her wishes and decides he needs to get a better paying job as an accountant. The Glee Club with the exception of Finn decides they need to keep going and Rachel appoints herself interim director, after all, she is the one with the most experience. Rachel finally talks Finn into coming back and they’re doing a great job with “You’re the One That I Want” from Grease when Will comes in and announces he’s staying.

At the end of the episode they showed scenes from the fall and it looks to be better than this little preview. Terri finds out she’s not pregnant but having a hysterical pregnancy. When the doctor tells her there is no baby she asks if it fell out. The cheerleader coach, Sue Sylvester is all about winning and her cheerleaders have won her a lot of trophies to polish and display proudly. After she sees the Glee Club rehearsing and sounding fairly good she decides she has to destroy them at all costs. After all she has said that there’s a place for everybody. The cheerleaders and football players are in the penthouse, nerds are in the ground floor and Glee Club is in the sub-basement. There’s no way she’s going to let them become good and take some of the school’s pride away from her. Added to the mix is Emma Pillsbury another McKinley High teacher who has a secret crush on Will.

I honestly think I’m going to come back in the fall and see what the future holds for McKinley High’s Glee Club. If you haven’t seen the preview it’s available all summer on Fox.com at http://www.fox.com/glee/

GLEE: Members of the Glee Club rehearse premiering this fall on FOX. Pictured L-R: Jenna Ushkowitz, Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, Amber Riley and Lea Michele. ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. CR: Carin Baer/FOX