<p>I don't know about other parts of the country, but GLEE was a big hit here in SoCal. It was especially exciting for my son and his school being that Matt Morrison (who plays the Glee Club teacher) is a famous alumni of their school. </p>
<p>It is really great to see the successes that come out of a small school and see how it inspires other young people to achieve dreams such as Matt's!</p>
<p>All in the spirit of promoting the performing arts world :)</p>
<p>I really enjoyed the show though I agree with a newspaper critic who said that the writers left no stereotype untouched. 
(I am hoping that once the series gets underway, the writers will explore the various characters – especially Matt’s seemingly selfish wife – so we get a more dimensional view of them.) I also thought that the guy who played the football-player-turned-glee-club-singer seemed way too mature looking to be a high schooler. But those are small things and I definitely will watch it, if only to hear Lea Michele sing and watch Morrison.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree with NMR! I hope they tackle more of the character’s backstories etc. And I looked up the football kid on IMDB and he is like 27 or 28, and definitely looks way older and I don’t think it fits as much here having an older person playing a high school role like it does on 90210 or shows like The OC. But I love Lea and Matt Morrison. And Matt and Jenna Ushkowitz went to MT schools, Matt to CAP21 and Jenna to MMC MT. So it is nice to see this! I also can’t wait for Deborah Monk (as Matt’s mother) and Kristin Chenoweth to join the show! I think they were smart in casting Lea, not just because she is talented, but because Spring Awakening drew a crowd for the exact age group that FOX is hoping to target and many kids will follow the show just because they are fans of Lea, which will help ratings soar :)</p>
<p>I thought it was kind of cute but I had a lot of issues with it. As NMR mentioned, too many stereotypical characters; way too much packed into a pilot episode; the boy playing Finn can’t sing, in addition to being too old; speaking of too old, Jessalyn Gilsig is way too old to play Matt Morrison’s wife (and her character is awful); the musical numbers were fun but so overproduced that they were impossible to even be remotely believable; oh, and lip-synched; inconsistent writing - sometimes promising and sometimes really bad. Lea and Jenna will no doubt draw in the SA crowd, and Matt is wonderful - I hope they let him sing. </p>
<p>The show has potential, and an appeal, in the way that Boston Public did but they’ll need a couple more experienced adult actors. Would love to see them bring Loretta Devine in, and maybe Stephen Spinella. I hope they try to simplify things a bit in future episodes and not try to do too much.</p>
<p>I actually thought Lea looked a bit too mature to be a high school sophomore, but she is so wonderful as a singer (and so perfectly over-the-top in her portrayal of a girl desperate to be recognized) that I gave her a pass. But I also agree with alwaysamom about how the numbers were over produced and not believable, especially “Don’t Stop Believing,” which we were supposed to believe came together over the course of a few days with no teacher or mentor. I also agree with alwaysamom that the guy who played Finn didn’t have that great a voice.</p>
<p>I watched it last night with my daughter and several friends who all belonged to show choir in high school (quite successful nationally too!) The show’s originator performed in a show choir a about 10 miles away about 15 years ago (Prospect HS in IL). Also, Burbank’s In Sync (show choir) did film for the show but ended up on the cutting room floor. Their director was the former director of our show choir. Small world and lots of fun to watch. While the adult characters were over the top, the student’s being portrayed weren’t that far from what we have seen.</p>
<p>We laughed so hard… you have to laugh at the stereotypes and just have fun with it. Don’t you love the cheerleading coach? She’s my favorite “You think this is hard? I have hepatitis. That’s hard.” Ha ha…</p>
<p>The evil football player looked 30… I wish they tried harder to cast kids closer to the age of the characters.</p>
<p>I agreed with the LA times, who I think said the worst thing about Glee is waiting four months for the next episode!</p>
<p>We watched Glee and loved it. Unlike the High School Musical Disney fare which actually seems to take itself seriously, Glee was pure satire and tongue in cheek. (Yep, lots of stereotypes used in satire.) The gym coach was our favorite, too. Agree that the football player is a bit ripe for the role, especially when they could have cast someone more age appropriate, but otherwise we’re in for the fall.</p>
<p>I totally agree with anne1244. It was pure satire, a la Christopher Guest’s “Waiting for Guffman”, “Best in Show”, “A Mighty Wind”, and “For Your Consideration” in the mockumentary style. It was whole-heartedly, unashamedly poking fun at the entire “high school sub-genre” of movies (breakfast club, high school musical, ELECTION, bring it on), including the stereotypes that they portrayed and updating them for our generation.
It was a pilot, we can’t blame them for trying to show the network and producers everything they could possible do for the show.
I agree that Finn was too old, but thought his voice would be appealing to the non-MT crowd because of its “rock-and-roll-ish” edge.
I’m really excited to see what they do with this show!</p>
<p>I am in for the Fall as well and agree with pretty much all that has been said above, especially with NMR and alwaysamom’s comments. Hopefully there will be a chance to “tweak” things somewhat, but I do love having “something musical related” on TV as opposed to all the crime or hospital series…</p>
<p>I’m wondering whether “Glee” is borrowed from recent episodes of the popular UK series “Waterloo Road”, one of which coincidentally aired in the UK last night and which tells the story of the success and heartbreak of a middle/high school chorus made-up of an eclectic mix of kids from a disadvantaged school in the UK. </p>
<p>In response to ChrissyBlu’s comment above re: age-appropriate casting, below is a link to an article about the “Waterloo Road” series that cast age-appropriate students in the role of the choristers and which, in my humble opinion, offered a more believable story line than the new Fox series “Glee”, probably making it more enjoyable to watch:</p>
<p>[School</a> choir tunes in to television fame - News - Rochdale Observer](<a href=“Rochdale - Latest news, what's on and events from Rochdale”>Rochdale - Latest news, what's on and events from Rochdale)</p>
<p>Here is the link to the “Waterloo Road” series website: <a href=“http://www.waterlooroad.co.uk/[/url]”>http://www.waterlooroad.co.uk/</a></p>
<p>I adore Matt Morrison. I’ve seen him perform in The Light in the Piazza and other things in New York, and have actually gotten to meet him. He is a talented actor and singer and it’s great that he was offered this television opportunity. I’m sure he will shine.</p>
<p>However, with the UK series “Waterloo Road” as an example, it seems that it may have been possible for Fox to cast “Glee” age-appropriately with talented, high school age “unknowns” who perhaps were actually members of a high school chorus, rather than resorting to gimmick-casting of actors who are far too old to believably play high school students, with the hope of garnering an audience.</p>
<p>Anything with Jane Lynch in it is worth watching!! I hope she has a bigger presence in the series.</p>
<p>haha. i loved it as a pilot. it could have been better, but i believe it will develop and get better. and i don’t have a problem with the stereotypes. i think that’s why it works because it’s making fun of all the stereotypes and all the movies that try to break down stereotypes. yes. the music was over produced, but it was still enjoyable listening to the music…lea michelle’s voice on tv is amazing no matter what. can’t wait for the season!</p>
<p>I agree it will improve, but was a bit disappointed. I’m sure it was developed due to huge $ maker HSM has been. Trying to rip off the story line with the brunette girl who needs a guy who can sing with her - oh, a jock, what a surprise! Now it would have been far more original to see a stoner trade in his weed to belt some Broadway tunes!</p>
<p>Loved last night with the kids referring to Kristen Chenoweth as “ancient.” My D has watched and said it seems like a cross between HSM and Mean Girls!</p>
<p>Love Glee and Chenoweth but this was not the best episode ever. I think the writers were so eager to showcase KC’s voice, and to allow her to sing with Matthew Morrison and Lea Michelle that the storyline was rather weak.</p>
<p>Daughter and I have watched every episode of Glee to date…and we are torn. It’s hard for us to tell if the writers are going for full-out irony…or if they think the target audience (I’m assuming that my 16 y.o. would be that target) really doesn’t have a thoughtful bone in their heads, having been weaned on over-the-top reality TV shows. We are both disappointed that much of the series (so far) seems to be focussed on the sex lives of the cast, with very little glee club-based plot (which, given the over-production others have mentioned, plus the badly-tracked lip synching, might not actually be a bad thing). Kind of reminds me of last season’s Taking the Stage on MTV – we really wanted to see the “drama” of kids working toward becoming performers…not the high school “drama” of who’s kissing who!</p>
<p>We enjoyed Glee last night. As TV goes we find it fun. DH and I (D was watching elsewhere) really enjoyed KC’s acting, maybe over the top, but funny. I am a very uncritical TV watcher so as entertainment it great - I am not really concerned about how it reflects reality. Mommafrog funny that you mention tha bad lip-synching because since we have gone to HD we have found that sound track and video frequently don’t synch and fax is the worst for this.
As for Taking the Stage - it will be back and I believe less arts focused than last year. Although currently the majority of the crew is sick (flu, but not the swine kind) so D is actually home at reasonable hour. I gues the crew needs to build up their “school” immunities.</p>
<p>I’m with keepingclam as a very uncritical TV watcher. I love Glee. It’s fun and entertaining. And while it’s not exactly realistic, I’m not expecting it to be. In fact, its sometimes blatant implausibility makes it endearing and all the more histerical.</p>
<p>BRAVO! - Its a FOX show - america doesn’t care about the drama of kids working towards becoming performers.
It’s not about our kids - it’s entertainment.<br>
Hope you keep enjoying! :-)</p>