Fox's "Glee" (9 tonight, WPGH), first introduced with its pilot episode in May, returns for its series run tonight.
The show remains unabashed upbeat fun but I still feel the same as I did after watching the pilot in May: If not for the music, "Glee" would be a fairly pedestrian high school show dealing with all the usual issues, including cliques and teen pregnancy.
Granted, "Glee" does the teen years with some edge, but we've seen that before on "Glee" executive producer Ryan Murphy's previous series, The WB's "Popular."
Still, "Glee" is delightful enough to qualify as a fall favorite.
Jane Lynch (pictured, left), playing cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, remains the most acidic member of the cast -- and the most fun. In tonight's episode, "Showmance," Sue freaks out after the glee club performs and unauthorized song during a school assembly.
"This is the most offensive thing I've seen in 20 years of teaching -- and tha includes an elementary school production of 'Hair,'" Sue complains.
The production numbers are not as big as they were in the pilot -- no surprise there -- but they do generally inject the series with oomph. One exception: A song with hip-hop or rap in tonight's episode seems to have a few lip-sync problems.
A better episode, airing Sept. 23, focuses on gay Kurt (Chris Colfer), who comes out in scenes that offer the show welcome emotional highs that don't go in the expected direction.
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Posted
Sep 09 2009, 02:33 AM
by
Rob Owen