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morganchaos 2012-05-19 18:03:42

GREAT music, Okay plots, Horrendous characters

The music in glee, arguably its main selling point, certainly delivers.The cast was chosen for their voices and while the musical theatre"flavor" is a constant presence in the vocals, it doesn't detract, thesongs adapted deftly for the sound. There's at least one great exampleof this in every episode (this show actually made me like "The ThongSong").The plots are a little contrived, but generally pulled off in decentways, even if some of them seem pretty ridiculous. There's really onlyso many plots you can do in a high school show, and it's not Glee'sfault that we've seen them all at this point. They've woven in enoughindividual plot threads to make an interesting tapestry without takingDegrassi's Issue-of-the-week, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach,but even this potential is lost when threads are dropped only to showup five episodes later, when we've all forgotten about them, and I fearsome threads will simply be discarded (though at the time of thiswriting, before episode 9, it's too soon to tell).The problem lies with the characters. Each have huge, glaring flawsthat overtake any good qualities, complete inversions of the"too-perfect" trap with an effect just as vile. Every attempt to make acharacter sympathetic either fades in ten minutes or flops entirely,often seeming entirely incongruous with other traits we've seen. Mostcharacters, in addition, are either overacted or wooden, and many linesseem forced (try saying "That Rachel chick makes me wanna light myselfon fire but she can sing," in a monotone, in under two seconds).Chances for dramatic, powerful scenes are wasted on humor -- not evengood humor, the humor that comes from cheesy slapstick, bad writing,and gimmicky camera angles -- and scenes or lines that should be playedfunny take themselves entirely too seriously.The budget got poured into the music on this show, and it shows, in thegood ways -- great music and good casting -- and the bad -- mediocrewriting and terrible acting and directing.

toonayoshi 2012-05-19 10:04:26

Glee: nothing special.

I was really pumped up for Glee after watching the pilot episode; itseemed like a promising musical comedy. However, throughout season one,I found myself facing disappointment after disappointment.The only real reason why any other episode after pilot was considered"good" was because it wasn't as bad compared to the previous episodeaired. Character development was thrown out the window. "Canon" coupleshave no basis (i.e. just paired because they're the main characters,paired because the series needs more couples, etc.). Rivalries springup without a legitimate reason, except to add the needed drama and tohave a main antagonist. The humor degenerated with each passingepisode-- more of an attempt at crude humor that shows that the scriptwriters were just trying too hard.The sectionals finale was a big disappointment. Instead of setting upfor an actual battle between Glee clubs, the competitors wereridiculous rather than challenging. The Jane Adams girls were great intheir performance, no doubt, and they could have been made into toughcompetitors. But adding in kids from the school of the deaf is anexample of failed comedy. The final blow was when both of these schoolsever did was consent to copying Schuester's set list, and that thejudges didn't really give a crap/know about how to professionally judgethis competition-- not that there was any. Where's the anticipation inthat?Only highlight for season two is probably the guest stars. Otherwise,Glee's not that different from, let's say, the Disney channel-- unlessyou're into the dramatized Kids' Bop kind of stuff. Great singers, badstory (or lack thereof).

GeneralC22 2012-05-17 23:53:31

Let me be frank

i feel like i would enjoy this show if it weren't for two, majorproblems. 1) the singing sounds horribly fake, every single time. 2) ituses every high school cliché in the book, and i mean ALL of them.certainly, it was a good premise for a show if you enjoy comedy/dramaand/or musicals, and to be honest, i was looking forward to it atfirst. and then i actually saw it. the plot was borderline ridiculous(why some teacher, played by the normally hilarious Jane Lynch, isrepeatedly allowed to sabotage any club in a school is beyond me)andthe acting? it would almost seem impressive if we hadn't seen the exactsame clichés played out by every actor in every high school drama forthe last, what, 15 or so years?And then there's the singing. i enjoyed the first few singles theyreleased, i thought it was a nice, creative take on some popular songs.and again, i saw an episode, and heard the actors real voices comparedto their singing voices...and i think the rest speaks for itself.in short, i was very disappointed by this show, and as much as i hatewriting a bad review, this show is getting what i think its earned

jmcneillanderson 2012-05-17 06:39:28

Ist Fox show since "Boston Public"

Ever since Fox canceled "Boston Public" I have not watched anythingother than the NFL on the Fox network, But after the awards Glee wasnominated for and then won, I decided that with all the reruns on theother networks, I ought to give it a whirl. What a surprise! I watchedtwo episodes tonight. How did this show survive the schlockmeisters onFox? I must look up the past episodes. I have been pleasantly surprised. Even that Social Studies Chair ( J. Gelsig) shows up on this show.Too bad Fyvesh Finkle can't sing his song from "Fidler on the Roof."

ctomvelu-1 2012-05-15 08:25:21

OK summer filler

Cross the classic high school comedy ELECTION with the TV show SCRUBS,and you have the new TV show, GLEE. A nebbishy high school teachertakes over the moribund glee club at his school, and soon has acollection of misfits all of whom can sing up a storm. Getting them toperform as a team is another matter. The stereotypes abound and fallclose to the ELECTION caricatures: the overachieving junior miss, thejock who yearns to be sensitive, gay kids, assorted nerds and so on.But the show is quite witty and occasionally funny and has energy. Themusic is right out of almost any SCRUBS episode, with heavy emphasis ontunes made popular by Steve "Journey" Perry and Kevin "REO Speedwagon"Cronin. Nice, safe, loud 1980s American pop songs that allow for greatvocal lines. Nothing wrong with that. They even work in a number fromGREASE. This is probably a summer show only, as I don't think anyonewould want to see too many episodes of this. Ir doesn't have anywhereto go, even if it is cute and clever for a network TV offering. Butthen again, look at American IDOL. Five minutes of that junk is morethan enough, and yet it's been on the air for years.

2012-05-14 19:35:19

Use Jane Lynch more!

I liked Glee even though I only saw one episode. There is a lot of hypeabout this show about a glee club in a high school where they haveopposition. I love Jane Lynch, she's the best comedic actress around,and she's used but not enough. She plays the ambitious physicaleducation teacher. The episode featuring Kristen Chenoweth was quitewonderful. It reminded me a little bit of "My Name is Earl." For acomedy show, the series is an hour long and it's done wisely but theproblem with show will be in the long run. The kids will have tograduate and move on to college. What will happen to Glee Club? Willthey just all go to the same college. It's fine for a few seasons fornow and I wish the series well. Maybe Jane will get an Emmy too andKristen should get another Emmy nomination for guest actress in acomedy. The show is a cross between comedy and drama with music inthere.

h_wilson92 2012-05-10 14:30:36

Awesome!

I watched one episode of Glee and I got hooked! I love this show! It isvery enjoyable and at times very funny.I did put it off at first when Isaw the episode but someone told me that it is quite good and there wasa lot of hype surrounding the show, I decided to watch it.I love themusic and have all the soundtracks on CD.I think this is a show thatall people of all ages can relate to not just teenagers which is itstarget audience.It has drama and comedy in it.One thing that I finddespite it being a happy show is the fact that the glee club has manymembers that don't feel good about themselves.I miss it already on theTV.10/10 is my rating

ngruber-1 2012-05-09 22:27:17

Pure Schlock

I am most disappointed by the critics at large in their reception tothis latest effort by Murphy. Including Allesandra Stanley who's sweettooth clearly won out in her review of this schmaltzy nonsense of aconfection from Murphy and his WEHO team of writer elves.To the reviewer who acknowledges the nod to Alex Payne's Election, Orrather cheap rip off of it --while Election is clever and dark andmoves deftly around stereotypes, Glee is nothing but a candy coatedstorm of clichés raining down with its tawdry and predictable storylineand characters.It's a shame that in one hour Murphy failed to create any sense ofreality whatsoever. His show suffers from the same over polished peppyfakeness Bryan Fuller's work suffered from. Indeed the producers shouldtake a long look at the fate of Daisies to see that unless theirdemographic is exclusively tweens, grownup Americans will eventuallylong for humanity and grit. They must understand that it isn't thesinging that keeps Americans going back for more American Idol butrather its shameless spectacle of brutality via Simon Cowell'sunflinching sadism.

James Aragorn 2012-05-08 13:39:26

Awesome

Okay, I read the reviews and most of them are from like 2009. I justfinished watching Glee back 2 back for two days straight and I didn'tskip a single song. This show is inspiring and wonderful. Don't get mewrong, I do watch other shows but Glee has a special place in my heart.From episode 1 to 22 you rediscover yourself.I went from a guy watching some musical to a fan and it took only 6episodes at best. Normally, I had to watch 2 seasons to get thatfeeling. Glee is something you should experience for yourself. Nomatter what I say it will never convey the real Glee. You just havetrust me on this, it's wonderful.Just a word of caution, the story might seem predictable and in someepisodes it is but you're forgetting something, life is full ofrepeats, you just need to experience them from another point of view.Therefore, stop reading this review and watch Glee. If you have an openheart and need some pumping up, this series will definitely help you,it helped me and I hope it will do the same for you.Remember, Don't Stop believing.

hnt_dnl 2012-05-08 09:14:19

Glee:Re-review #1!

Well, balancing out Seasons 1 and 2 of GLEE, Season 1 was a solid A (Igave it a 9), while Season 2? Well, I give it a C- (giving it a 5) andthat's being generous! Season 1----9/10 Season 1 was simply amazing and one of the best firstseasons of any new show I can remember. So well thought out,constructed, performed. Many deserving Emmy nominations (probablyshould have won the big one!). The key to Season 1 strengths wasCHEMISTRY! There was the sizzling relationship of Glee leaders Racheland Finn (Emmy nominee Lea Michele and should-have-been-nominated CoryMonteith), the wonderful hate-hate relationship of Glee instructor Shue(Emmy nominee Matthew Morrsion) and Cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester(Emmy winner Jane Lynch), the unique relationship of Finn and Kurt(Emmy nominee Chris Colfer), and the simmering relationship of Quinnand Puck (Dianna Agron and Mark Salling). The original 12 Glee cast ofRachel, Finn, Kurt, Mercedes, Artie, Tina, Quinn, Puck, Brittany,Santan, Mike, and Matt will NEVER be equaled! *Season 2-----5/10 Now that Season 2 is in the books, the show has madea noticeable dropoff. Season 2 was a total caricature! All of a sudden,every character became too self-aware! It was like they were breakingthe 4th wall in every scene. Story lines made no sense, like Will earlymid-life crisis realizing he still wants a shot at the big time. Didn'the already go through this in Season 1? Or Rachel giving a darn aboutFinn's meaningless one-nighter with Santana in Season 1 when sheherself was with ANOTHER GUY that she professed to be in love with! OrFinn getting back with Quinn just because she's a good kisser! Didn'tever realize that when you were actually DATING HER Finn?! Sue wasunderused way too much, just throwing THE EXACT SAME random cheapinsults at Will as in Season 1! And Will's character experienced theworst dropoff from Season 1; he went from likable and engaging tototally full of himself! The Kurt bullying storyline was very powerful(with should-have-been-nominated Max Adler as bully Dave Karofsky beingthe only saving grace of Season 2!), but at the same time felt out ofplace when everything else was so weak and kind of lost steam down thestretch. Also, honorable mention must go to Shannon Jones, who gave anauthentic performance as the tough, yet sensitive and goodhearted CoachBeiste. Also, SOME of the musical covers were pretty fun to listen to(but none by the Warblers!).So, Season 3 has got a lot to improve upon!

basse_612 2012-05-03 15:38:05

overrated x 99999

Glee must be the most overrated series ever, the music makes itwatchable but that's about all it got. There are some good actors likeDianna Agron, Chris Colfer and of course Jane Lynch but then there aresh*tty actors like Cory Monteith and Matthew Morrison that drags theseries down in the mud. I so agree with the by Jane Lynch portrayedcharacter Sue Sylvester that he's(Will Schuester) annoying and I wouldlike to rip off my own hand just to shove it down his throat.. Hisacting is just awful at some points.. And the story is stupid, boringand pure lame! But the thing that gets me through every episode and thereasons for my 7/10 are the songs and the singers. They make up fortheir lack of acting skills by giving me eargasms every time I watchthe show!- bad acting, lame story, the "everyone's great/believe in yourself/wecan do it"-theme and all that annoying bullsh*t that comes with it+ The singing, the pick of songs and their astonishing voicesespecially Lea Michelle, Kevin McHale and Chris Colfer.

stephenpatterson76 2012-05-03 08:38:22

Glee is Absolutely Brilliant!

Glee is an absolutely amazing TV Show. The songs and the overall plotare amazing and the cast work really well together. This is one of myfavourite TV Shows of all time.Lea Michele who plays Rachel is an absolutely amazing singer and she isreally the main star, Rachel is my favourite character. Chris Colferwho plays Kurt is also an amazing actor and singer. Season 1 of Glee was brilliant! in Season 1 we are introduced to eachcharacter for the first time and followed them on their journey as theybecame an amazing group. Season 2 took the story lines even deeper andeven gave the show their first ever original songs, which are amazing.I think the show got better this season. I am really anxious to seewhat season 3 will bring.Glee is a very light-hearted show that never fails to put a smile onyour face, and its been a long time since a show this good has been onthe air, i cannot wait to see it every week. I hope that Glee will bearound for a very long time

ssvfolder-1 2012-05-03 01:57:02

Good Music...that's about it for the good part

Seriously - Just how NOT smart(at very least) these series are supposeto be? The ONLY thing that is reasonably good is a music. I'd like tobegin with characters: Either a stereotypes or unattractive "original"characters (Rachel). I actually felt that I wanted to hurt all theadult characters in the series. In my opinion, the only two charactersthat were decent were gay kid - and a bully that was throwing him intodumpster. Plot lines .... well idiotic! PLEASE let them be a littlesmarter or at least funnier, because other than first two episodes Idid not find anything funny. Songs are nice though. The general feelingis that they are trying make an "original" knock off fame, and failmiserably. That's it.

genau 2012-05-02 12:27:05

Great music, great talent but too drawn out in the drama stakes

Firstly, I do get a lot pleasure out of Glee. The young, talented castis superb and the music and dance routines are so much fun I couldwatch them many times over. My only gripe is that between the musicalnumbers the action is becoming repetitive and a little dull.There are whole episodes that could be cut out and the only thing you'dmiss are the song and dance numbers. I'm sure stringing it out for 22episodes made sound commercial sense but it hasn't been backed up by agood enough dramatic narrative to keep it going. For example, thestupid pregnancy sub-plots were dull after one episode, but it lookslike the writers are going to keep them around forever!The cast though is fantastic. Lea Michele is superb, one of the bestperformers around and the delightfully unhinged Jane Lynch (as SueSylvester) is completely brilliant, as is Chris Colfer. Very good, but could be spectacular with better writing.

marko realmonte 2012-05-01 15:46:30

The gayness of Glee

Ryan Murphy may be trying to push the gay envelope with Glee, but howfar will Fox let him go? First of all, in reality Glee clubs, dramaclubs, etc. are at least half gay. Is Kurt the only gay guy at thathigh school? Sam should be his new boyfriend, but have they wimped outon that storyline?They certainly wimped out with Sam's costume in the Rocky Horrorepisode. If you are going to do Rocky Horror than do it right, do itsome justice!! Stamos in fishnets for Frank...is a start, but that gotyanked too?? Come on.They push some boundaries but it isn't as charmingly gay and witty assay, old Will & Grace episodes. Kurt comes off rather sad and bitchy,and not very self assured or funny or witty. In faith his character wasterrible. He pushed his friends away. Many gay people want to believein God, we just get frustrated because God doesn't want to believe inus. So while Glee is fun, and the song choices are very gay--much of itmisses the mark.

Jamiec523 2012-05-01 05:06:09

Gleeorious!!!

Sometimes in the television world these days its hard to find a comedythat is enjoyable, contagious and AMAZING. Well I am proud to say Gleehold all of those qualities. Glee is like a bag of lays chips, youcan't watch just one lol. One of the greatest things about this show isit proves you can be yourself in more ways then one. It shows that itdoesn't matter if you are gay, a computer nerd, a jock, popular, adevious evil cheer leading coach or anything else, we all havesomething to give to this world that will make it better and that willtake us far, we just need to find out how to use what we have. I reallyenjoy the writing and acting of this show a lot as it definitely hasits unique, enjoyable and LOL moments.I encourage you all to watch this great comedy as I am sure you willall enjoy it in more ways then one. I feel safe to say this show willbring you a lot of Glee!!!

NeverAgain85 2012-04-26 20:31:41

Embarrassing to watch, don't you get that??

This show is just plain awful,god awful. Its forced way too much,completely unrealistic. The characters and their interactions are plainfake and unrealistic. The dialog? It makes you wonder whether its acomedy or a drama,writers please make up your mind.When the students break out into song,nearly every 5 minutes,it givesme goosebumps and makes me cringe,especially if there's someone elsewatching. I have to leave the room. I cant believe what I'm watchingreally. From my recollection,there was and episode in which the mainlead character proves his love for his lady friend, while Sugababes"About you now" is playing,we're suppose to assume that this loves isgoing to last forever,and that were really suppose to like this guy fordoing it. Thats OK. Next episode, nearly 5 minutes into it,he cheats onher straight away with another woman. And it has a comedic element toit?! what the hell? WHY the hell would he do that? and we're stillsuppose to like this guy? so basically the ending of the last episodelied to us? their love wasn't pure at all? everything seems veryforced, and fake, and proves this by throwing away what happened in thegarbage and forgetting about it in the next episode. Makes you think,"do I really care??" This show is all over the place,i don't know how anyone can watch it.This is a craze TV show, and its right up there with Twilight.Hopefully this will be forgotten about in 5 years when the shows ended.

manicdrummer01 2012-04-26 09:13:52

Damian McGinty

My mom and I are big fans of Damian McGinty. We would like to see moreDamian on the show because we love him. We believe in Leprechauns butwe know not many people do. Frankly the New Directions are going toneed extra magic like a Leprechaun to win nationals. Otherwise I do notthink they have a fighting chance. Unicorns are awesome and everythingbut just think about a Leprechaun and a Unicorn both being in the NewDirections! The possibilities are endless!! The magic will be endlesstoo! Also Damian's voice is a great addition to the New Directions.Plus being a foreigner he is a great underdog addition to the show.Please keep Damian McGinty on the show. Thanks!

gunteman 2012-04-24 13:27:15

Remove the music and I just might watch it again..

It's a good enough show, with quite funny characters and......fitting...acting. But, for the love of whatever you find holy,stop fixing every second of singing with massive Auto-Tuning! Iactually believe that many of the actors really are good singers, butit's impossible to know for sure, since all of them are turned intopitch perfect robots. And pitch perfect isn't musically perfect. Farfrom it!Good ol' "Fame" managed to become popular without resorting totechnology. I'm sure it can still be done. Whaddayouknow...Glee is even mentioned in the Wikipedia article aboutAuto-Tune..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-Tunehttp://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/b150204_glees_great_music_aint.html

torcomp46 2012-04-23 21:00:39

Re: Ryan Murphy's comment about Kings Of Leon

First off, I'm not a fan of either Glee or Kings Of Leon. I assumesince Glee doesn't need the promo kick that Ryan said what he said todefend the show and appear tough-unlike the show itself. He went a bitover-board by doing this and it makes him look classless and frankly,ignorant. Not every band out there feels that Glee should be tied into theirmusic (and image). Let's see Glee try to get Kate Bush to offer up oneof her songs-good luck Ryan. She will tell you to F0-* yourself Iguarantee. See what happens with Patti Smith or Joni Mitchell if youapproach them. Glee is uber-commercial which is fine cause some likethat. Caleb (Leon's singer) might love Glee but think it's not fortheir band. Is it COOL for a band's song to be licensed to Glee? Thinkabout that for a minute- how cool is it? Many artists wouldn't lendtheir music to corps for commercials, how does Glee differ from thatscenario. Sure, go ask PEte Townshend for any Who song and they got itif they pay up. Ask Prince for one his songs and his response will be"Well, if I was a fan of the show, maybe, but I'm not". Katy Parry isperfect for Glee. Ryan should not try to come across like a bully thinking this will helpother bands decide to say yes and avoid bad publicity. Although thismay not have been Ryan's decision to say this statement, the entireshow comes across as being unprofessional. Glee offers entertainment, however, it's very commercialized and top 40oriented. For example, is Ryan going to ask Tom Waits to license hissong "Downtown Train" on their show? Waits was around long before Gleeand he has done quite well without "promo" work like that. Ryan justcut the show off from many opportunities. Most successful bands thathave indeed created classic music just don't need Glee. So, Glee canreally only go after up and comers, new acts etc.. Why Queen or some ofthe others offered up their music to Glee is beyond me. The Sopranosmade that awful Journey song popular again and since then it's nowGlee's signature song. Glee only wants to license happy music. Sohere's a list of happy tunes for you to consider. By the way, I liked Jane Lynch more when she was in films like JuddApatow's 40 Year Old Virgin. She's funny and frankly that side of hertalent is sadly not utilized on Glee. The producers really don't knowhow to write for her. Lou Reeds- Berlin (The Kids) Any Pink Floyd song that Rogers Waterswrote about his dad dieing in the war. Depeche Mode-Black CelebrationBlood Sweat & Tears- And When I die