Glee: It’s time to start believing

Although difficult to explain in purely logical terms, especially when one takes into account the stratospheric amount of money produced by this show, its world tour, album sales and branded lunchbox tie-ins, I think that Glee is underrated. Undoubtedly if you haven’t already stopped reading this article it’s safe to assume that your eyebrows are raised so high right now they’d be shot down over Libya, so allow me to justify such an outrageous claim.

Straight off the bat I feel the need to declare that I live with two women, women who watch videos of kittens on the internet and insist on the flat having weird things like fluffy cushions, blankets on the sofa, and a clean shower. Furthermore, my beloved girlfriend is an active member of Imperial’s fantastic Musical Theatre Society, and as a result it was only a matter of time before I was exposed to the most potent piece of commercial entertainment of the decade. As Stephen Fry’s exceptionally good interview with Lady Gaga in last week’s Financial Times pointed out, it makes good financial sense to appeal to teenagers who feel like outsiders. It also makes good financial sense to produce brilliant pop music, so by combining both, Glee is on to a total winner.

"What took me by surprise was the fantastic sense of humour"

All the above can be confidently stated without seeing a single minute of the show, but what took me by surprise and pulled me into the show was the little-commented-on fantastic sense of humour. Sue Sylvester, the cheerleading coach bent on the destruction of the Glee club, is the best example of a comedy arch-nemesis character on television at the moment. The rate at which the scriptwriters have attempted to include story lines about every single aspect of teenage life, coupled with the fact that the show has to fit in at least 3 full-length musical numbers, leaves Glee with a plot about as subtle as Pippa Middleton’s arse. However the frantic pace of the show adds breathlessness to the comedy which makes it funnier, helped by some expert timing from the all-singing and dancing cast. So yeah it’s auto-tuned in places and is single-handedly responsible for Journey reforming and bringing out a new album, two crimes which it takes a lot to compensate for. However through sheer hilarity coupled with pure old-fashioned sing-a-long and a story so unashamedly feel-good that it actually makes you feel good, Glee somehow manages to pull everyone along in its appeal. I’m no diehard “Gleek”, and have no intention of rushing off to buy the DVDs and tickets for the live show, however in the likely event that it’s on in my flat, I’ll watch it and have a good time; and if you haven’t seen it yet I recommend you give it a try.