For some, it may be stealthily reaching down into the cookie jar or even blasting a Miley Cyrus song not named "Party in the USA" in your headphones, but FOX has offered up the most irresistible guilty pleasure yet. Every Wednesday night, despite my desire to keep my tough and manly reputation, I am parked on the couch waiting for another hour of indulgence. But when I first came upon this addictive dose of song, stereotypes and scandal, I passed it for just another cheesy primetime soap opera.
Unbeknownst to my heavy, channel-changing thumb at the time, Glee was exactly the quirky show that the crime-solving-dominant primetime network scene (CSI anyone?) wanted. Glee, like most of its characters, is the loner show that may not fit in but can surely hit the highest of notes.
Centered on and named after an overtly stereotypical glee club, the show follows the club's ascent in the high school hierarchy. Spanish teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) is trying to inject passion into his life by reforming the glee club, which had been the source of his high school glory. Unfortunately, the devious writers of the show refuse to make it easy for Will, who is up against a monopolizing and dictatorial cheer coach, a dishonest wife and very unique, special kids. Rachel Berry (Lea Michelle) and Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) are the two leads in the club, who, like your average teenagers, have some minor problems - from being outcasts to having a baby despite a persistent premature ejaculation problem. If that wasn't enough to draw the ire of some viewers, Glee incorporates - and pokes fun at - nearly every minority group under the sun.
Glee's uniqueness lies not in trying to elude the classic high school stereotypes, but rather exaggerating them to a ridiculous point. The cheerleaders, for instance, are never seen in anything but their uniforms. In highlighting the labels that each student thinks is stapled to his forehead, the show can offer up handfuls of uncomfortable ironic moments that push along the plot and inject comedy into the show. Jane Lynch, who plays the strong-armed cheerleading coach, is fantastic as her obscene and threatening dialogues provide the majority of the shows laughs.
The one blatant instance of stereotyping that proves inaccurate in real life, however, is that everyone in the school can flat out sing. It is no coincidence that 10 of the top 102 songs on iTunes come from the vocal adrenaline that is Glee. The show skillfully incorporates both popular songs and Broadway hits, including a couple sung by guest-starring Broadway superstar Kristin Chenoweth.
Glee comes off as a mash-up of a high school soap opera, Grease, Desperate Housewives (the teachers are just as stereotyped as the students) and a Broadway musical. Therein lies the beauty of the show. It is, despite its stereotypes, simply different.
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