LITTLE ROCK — What is it? Glee, Season 1, 22 episodes on seven discs from 20th Century Fox.
How much? $59.98.
When? Now.
What’s the story? In this musical comedy, Ohio Spanish teacher Will Schuester (Matt Morrison) decides to relive his glory days by rebuilding William McKinley High School’s glee club program. The club used to win national awards. Now it’s a joke.
The club’s lowly status makes it difficult to recruit members otherthan the school’s “losers” like annoying-but-talented Rachel (Lea Michele), diva Mercedes (Amber Riley) and fashionista Kurt (Chris Colfer). Eventually some popular kids, like quarterback Finn (Cory Monteith) and his queen-bee girlfriend Quinn (Dianna Agron), sign on. But personality clashes, a teen pregnancy and tangled romances make the road to club harmony a bumpy one.
While the kids do gradually find friendship and a sense of belonging through the club, it’s notall sunshine, hugs and happy endings. For every scene of forgiveness and understanding, there’s one of cruelty and harsh reality.
It doesn’t help that venomous cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) will stop at nothing in her quest to destroy Will and his “depressing” group of “misshapen teens.” Or that Will’s marriage to manipulative Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig) is imploding and he’s drawn to co-worker Emma (Jayma Mays).
Does it live up to the hype? The show’s biggest asset is probably its musical numbers (covers of Broadway and pop hits), whether big flashy productions or just the kids jamming happily in the choir room. The writing can be wickedly funny, while the characters are colorful, complex and havea lot of potential.
The problem is that sometimes the series focuses too much on the music and not enough on the characters and stories, particularly in the latter part of the season. The results can be scattered and unsatisfying. Also, a couple of episodes veer into Afterschool Special territory.
But, bottom line, this is a creative show that’s a lot of fun to watch. (Season 2 premiered Tuesday on Fox.)
I bought the Road to Sectionals DVD set (the first 13 episodes) in January. Is there a DVD option for just the last nine episodes? Yes, there is a Road to Regionals set ($39.98).
Extras? All the extras from the first set, like video diaries and a music video, are carried over to this one. New additions include karaoke, a choreography lesson, a “Jukebox” feature that allows you to just watch the musical numbers (only for the final nine episodes), a segment on fashion and two short featurettes on the Madonna tribute episode and the “Bohemian Rhapsody” performance.
With no commentaries, no gag reel and no in-depth behind-the-scenes features,the extras are more style than substance.
What’s new: CSI, Season 10; The Cleveland Show, Season 1; Rhoda, Volume 1; Rich Man, Poor Man miniseries; Scrubs, Season 9; She-Ra: Princess of Power, Season 1, Volume 1.
Next week: All in the Family, Season 7; Ally Mc-Beal, Seasons 3-5; Baseball, miniseries; Bones, Season 5; Caprica, Season 1; Gunsmoke, Season 4, Volume 1; The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Season 7; Medium, Season 6; Monk, complete series.
Style, Pages 53 on 09/26/2010