Entertainment 2

Practice review numero dos shall be a show that is now near and dear to my heart, even thought I've only seen one episode. But that's okay, because almost everyone else who's seen the show has only seen one episode. If you haven't guessed already, the show is Glee.


Like its lead group of diverse characters, Glee comes off a bit awkwardly at first but charms with big heart once it hits it's stride.
Glee, which debuts September 9, stars Matthew Morrison as William Schuester, a high school Spanish teacher who takes over the glee club in an attempt to bring it back to its former glory. What he gets is a ragtag group of students: diva singer Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley), cocky Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), Asian-American goth Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushowitz), paraplegic guitarist Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale, and the shining star of the club, Rachel Berry (Lea Michele). Along the way, William manages to pick up star quarterback Finn Hudson through means of blackmail after discovering he has a terrific singing voice.
Starting the club, however, proves to be one of the easier parts as the club is soon faced with adversity from all ends. The principal refuses to fund glee, instead spending most of the school's budget (and more) on the school cheerleaders (or Cheerios), Finn is forced to choose between glee and football after his teammates find out he's in it, and Will is pressured by his wife Terri to leave his teaching position and and pursue an accounting job in order to finance their new family.
Glee comes off as a bit cheesy and uncomfortably bright (do they both mean the same thing?), but once the show hits its stride, its appeal shines through with its large cast of quirky characters. Unlike High School Musical, which was one of the more immediate comparisons, Glee has a deeply defined cast of characters, rather than interchangeable stereotypes.
Unlike High School Musical, each character does not have a perfect body and beautiful hair (though some of them come close), and all of the musical numbers do not cause the entire population of William McKinley High School to burst into a frenzy of song and dance.
Some of the adult faculty characters are a bit over the top, such as Jane Lynch's maliciously haughty Cheerios coach Sue Sylvester, but the craziness is all balanced by the presence of Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays).
Overall, Glee is exactly what its title implies: its a lot of fun, sure to get plenty of smiles and good laughs. Sure, it is a bit idealized and bright, but guard your eyes a bit and its charm will come right through.