Glee Review

It’s almost like producers got together and decided to concoct my dream show.

“We’re going to make this unapologetically cheesy show about a high school glee club. Each episode will feature show-stopping musical numbers of eclectic songs, and we’re going to hire a mix of Broadway veterans and ridiculously-talented young performers to pull them off.”

I mean, as a musical-theatre geek who was too scared to try out for my high school glee club (the fact that we didn’t have one shouldn’t have stopped me), what more could I ask for?

And yet, I have to stop just short of declaring myself a full-on “Gleek.”

The show follows idealistic teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison of “The Light in the Piazza”) as he struggles to establish and maintain the glee club in the face of repeated attacks from cheerleading squad leader Sue Sylvester (the hilarious Jane Lynch, soon coming to an Emmy ceremony near you). The fact that Sue is SO driven to take down the glee club is funny in its own right (hey, her team needs that fog machine), and Lynch completely makes us buy into her nutty exploits.

The club is led by overachiever Rachel Berry (Lea Michele of “Spring Awakening,” sort of doing a Reese Witherspoon impersonation from “Election”) who has eyes for star quarterback/tragic dancer Finn (Cory Monteith). Other members of the club include scene-stealer Chris Colfer as terrifically-foppish Kurt, Amber Riley as the often-one-dimensionally sassy Mercedes, and Kevin McHale as the wheelchair-bound Artie.

Subsequent episodes have done a nice job of working in lively supporting characters. My favorites include Mark Salling as meathead Puck, Patrick Gallagher as gruff Ken Tanaka, Stephen Tobolowsky as the obviously-gay-but-closeted Sandy Ryerson, and Dianna Agron as Finn’s girlfriend Quinn (seriously), and Iqbal Theba as cynical Principal Figgins.

“Glee” is created by Ryan Murphy (“Nip/Tuck”) who brings a sharpness to help balance out the show’s more over-the-top elements – otherwise we might drown in cheese.

Still, the show can’t help but have moments that make even the most fromage-loving viewer roll his or her eyes. On top of that, I wish there were a way to make some of the musical numbers seem more organic and less over-produced. I get that they’re trying to convey a heightened reality and some of the musical numbers are actually fantasy sequences, but I’d appreciate it if the ones that take place in the real world didn’t sound like they were recorded in a studio (which I know they were).

The worst aspect of the show BY FAR, is the anything involving Will’s beastly wife Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig). There have been recent efforts to soften Terri a bit, but she’s so relentlessly shrewish (repeatedly discouraging Will’s ambitions) that I wonder what the writers’ intent is. I mean, are we SUPPOSED to root for Will to cheat on his wife with obsessive compulsive cutie Emma (the adorable Jayma Mays)?

All of this is outweighed by the fact that “Glee” is a relentlessly fun show that almost challenges the audience to come along for the ride. With a strong central cast and the promise of musical (Josh Groban, Eve) and Broadway stars (Kristin Chenoweth, Victor Garber) stopping by every once in a while, I’m more than happy to jump on. Here’s hoping the show ends up lasting longer than the more notorious entries in the musical TV series genre.

Glee…B+