Glee Pilot Review

I find myself very glad I watched Glee several weeks ago, before FOX really began promoting it. What is, in and of itself, a charming and amusing hour of television now arrives with an unrelenting amount of hype behind it that I'm sure is going to turn away some potential viewers, which is understandable.

The funny thing is Glee isn't even debuting as a series until this fall – FOX is only showing the pilot this May, in an effort to use the giant audience of an American Idol lead-in to check out the show via this "preview" episode. So what will they find if they tune in?

Well, Glee tells the story of high school teacher Will (Matthew Morrison), who is most definitely a guy in a rut – uninspired by his job and feeling pressure from his wife (Jessalyn Gilsig, known to Heroes fans as Claire's biological, fire starting mother). But inspiration and excitement strikes Will when he takes over the high school's glee club, a pathetic group who have previously been mocked and/or ignored, and attempts to turn them into something triumphant.

Front and center in the group is a wanna-be diva, Rachel (Lea Michele), who has plenty of talent when it comes to singing, but is something of a social pariah with her off-putting, Tracy Flick type-A personality. Will also recruits school football hero Finn (Cory Monteith), having overheard the boy's previously undiscovered singing talent. Add in other assorted oddballs and outcast and you have the makings of a Glee Club version of The Bad News Bears.



Best known for his FX hit Nip/Tuck, Glee creator Ryan Murphy sometimes recalls his previous high school set series Popular here, with a toned down version of the bigger-than-life world that WB series possessed. Morrison is a nicely cast lead, bringing a calm, relatable energy to this amped up, song-filled world. And yes, there is plenty of singing in Glee - no, the characters don't break into song at all times, but the Glee Club setting obviously gives them plenty of chances to sing some familiar songs.

When it comes to the songs, Michele is the true star of the show, bringing her Broadway-honed skills to the role and wowing in the big "Don't Stop Believing" number that ends the pilot (and which you might already be sick of thanks to all those damn ads – though the scene really does work in context). Monteith is a bit more problematic, considering we keep being told Finn is an excellent singer, while Monteith (who has never sung professionally before) actually sounds merely adequate and is clearly outmatched by Michele.

The cast are engaging and fun, including the always funny Jane Lynch as a gym teacher and another Heroes alum, Jayma Mays, as the sweet teacher nursing a crush on Will. The pilot is not perfect, but it sets the stage for a show that, if it can maintain the right tone, could certainly make for a charming series. Murphy seems well aware of those who would dismiss a show about a glee club as being all schmaltzy, cornball sentiment, and makes sure to put in plenty of moments of sarcasm along the way, allowing the glee club's own outcast status to let other characters make fun of them before the viewer can, while also making sure to not make them total buffoons either. As a pilot, Glee is a solid one, though it rides a fine line between cute and cutsey that it sometimes comes dangerously close to crossing. Will Glee work as a weekly series? We won't know until fall…

SOURCE: http://tv.ign.com/articles/983/983903p1.html
WATCH ONLINE: http://watch-glee-show.blogspot.com/2011/04/glee-season-1-episode-1-pilot.html