You've probably heard the buzz. Fox is promoting it so much, they decided to premiere the pilot tonight in the hopes of pulling in a ready and waiting audience come fall. Looks like their devious plan is working. Twitter is a-chirp with excitement over the dark, comical and altogether unique pilot. Not only does it star Christopher Guest comic mainstay Jane Lynch, Spring Awakening superstar Lea Michele, and Ugly Betty's Jayma Mays, but it also features my long time fav Jessalyn Gilsig. No surprise there, why wouldn't Ryan Murphy, the creator of Nip/Tuck, want one of the show's most popular characters to be featured in his new show.
The pilot was bangarang, and here's 10 reasons why:
1. It defied my expectations (of which admittedly I had very few)
2. It chooses to be dark in surprising places
3. It is much better written than I'd anticipated
4. It is perfectly cast, with both new and old faces (that sounds really really cheesy)
5. The whole singing aspect is way too fun. It borders on High School Musical, but better
6. It sets up characters, a certain few in particular, that I instantly want to see more of
7. It's written by the creator of Nip/Tuck, so you know this won't be your typical ABC Family show (no disrespect meant)
8. It's about a band of misfits, and those shows are always fun (case in point, The Big Bang Theory)
9. Like any show set in a school, the possibilities for introducing fun new characters along the way are endless
10. I said Jessalyn Gilsig is in right? And Lea Michele... awesome.
(and they use Glee club music in the background, double awesome!)
The fact that most pilots, even of shows that go on to be great, aren't usually that good, speaks very highly of Glee. Their pilot is pretty spot on as far as introductory eps go. We meet Will Shuester (Matthew Morrison), a high school Spanish teacher who decides to take over the Glee club after a student accuses it's former chaperon of getting inappropriate. Will couldn't be more excited to take on the position, in an effort to relive his own Glee glory days. Will is married to Terri (Gelsig), who will undoubtedly prove herself just as psychotic as Gina Russo, just geared more towards home decorating. Emma (Mays), is a fellow teacher, a germaphobe, and hopelessly in love with Will. And then we meet the singers, an overachieving, but musically gifted nut job (Michele), a Troy Bolton wannabe (Cory Monteith), the token gay guy (Chris Colfer), the stuttering Asian (Jenna Ushkowitz), the sassy black diva (Amber Riley), and a kid in a wheelchair (Kevin McHale, no relation to Joel McHale). There's also a non-nonsense cheerleading coach, a dope smoking football coach, and a band of football players who look like they just came off the Footloose auditions (and the role goes to Chace Crawford). All in all, the show leaves you wanting more, too bad you'll have to wait till fall to get it. Of course a strong pilot doesn't mean much if the show can't continue to go up. This burdens Glee with a lot of pressure. They have to continue to push it. Oh and ladies, the quarterback is cute... I mean really cute.
So line up for role call and meet the cast!
Will, Terry and Emma
Rachel, Finn and Kurt
Mercedes, Tina, and Coach Sue
and Arty!
I'd forgotten this was premeiring last night, so when I happened upon it halfway done I let out a slight "D'Oh!". Instant high marks for the episode-ending use of Journey.
ReplyDeleteA few thoughts...
...Funny that they'd air the pilot, and then leave the rest to run in the fall. Can't say I've ever heard of that before and I have to wonder what the advantage of the sneak-peek is.
...The music budget for this show has to be HUGE given the amount of tunes they pack into each episode - and those performance scenes can't be cheap to film either!
...I wonder if the audience for this show will be too niche. I mean if most of the sci-fi shows have trouble surviving, what hope does the musical theatre sect have?
...Oh yeah, and I loved it!
Brilliant comments as usual Mad Hatter. I think the reason for airing the pilot in advance is to a) build excitement and buzz about the show before they actually NEED viewers. b) given how many new shows get cancelled immediately these days, they are giving themselves more time to get an audience. c)because they could.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing about the music, their rights budget must be huge.
I watched this last night. It was awesome! I am much less ashamed of my extensive a cappella collection now. Hopefully the show's steam will continue to build in the fall. I think Lynch and Mays alone could carry the first season. With Michele and Monteith, there's no doubt I'll be tuning in.
ReplyDelete