Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Still Loving Glee

The first new episode of Glee aired tonight after a four month wait, and it did not disappoint. So far, I'm finding the show to be pretty much perfect: full of music and performance, biting social commentary on high school and life in general, and served up with the same sort of humor that made Ryan Murphy's earlier series, Popular, so enjoyable.

I was a bit worried that the show wouldn't be able to sustain the heights reached with the pilot episode, but so far so good. Jane Lynch continues to steal the show as cheer coach Sue Sylvester, and the budding but forbidden romance between Will and Emma adds a sweet yet tortured element to the proceedings. On top of all of that, I don't know when I've laughed harder than I did at some of the moments from tonight's episode, like Finn's flashback to hitting the mail man and his mother's reaction.

Best of all, Matthew Morrison (who did have a song in the director's cut of the pilot that aired last week) got to perform Kanye's Gold Digger with the Glee kids on tonight's episode, and I'm hoping we'll be hearing him sing more often.

I'm also hoping that the rest of the Glee kids, aside from Finn and Rachel, get more story as the show progresses. Don't get me wrong, I like Finn and Rachel a lot, I'm just hoping that Kurt, Artie, Tina, and Mercedes will get to come into their own as characters, too.

It's just really nice to have a show on the air that is centered around teen characters but isn't like every other Gossip in the O.C. of One Tree 90210 teen show out there. That may not be a fair comparison, of course, since those shows are dramas and Glee is primarily a comedy, but it's still refreshing.

The previews they showed for the rest of the season looked great. I'm always wary when any show I like airs on Fox (which has an awful track record, not to mention being owned by Rupert Murdoch!), but I'm really hoping that something as special as Glee will be able to attract the audience it deserves.

By the way, AfterElton has a great new interview with Matthew Morrison that you should definitely check out. Among other things, he talks about being a straight man in musical theatre! He also mentions that the gay character on Glee, Kurt, will be coming out later in the season:

AE: Does your character interact with Kurt? I interviewed Chris earlier and I know some of his story. Are you involved with his coming out at all or anything going on with that?
MM: Yes, I will have some involvement with his coming out. He comes out to me and I'm definitely there for him when he comes out. It's like a group coming out kind of event that happens.

AE: Did you have any experiences in your theater life or even in high school with friends coming out?
MM: Oh absolutely. Actually, my college roommate, I was the first person he came out to. A lot of friends have come out to me.

Check out the whole interview, Matthew sounds like a really awesome guy.

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