Glee

I started binge watching this show everybody was talking about only a few weeks ago and grew to love it, for the music, dancing and humor... Santana was really cruelly funny, Brittany a hell of a dancer, Rachel and Mercedes have an amazing voice, Kurt is your bff... They lost me early in season 4 with the new (some of them flat boring) characters but the "older" cast were never far away so the pill ended up easy to swallow. It's a great show, you just feel like shaking it and dancing all the time while watching... It's just so sad to know that some of the lead actors are no more...

None of the characters seem to have any sort of consistency. They keep changing their personalities to suit the episode plot. Same with the story line. There is no overall coherence to what it happening. Every episode pushes and pulls the plot to suit that particular episode. The characters aren't likable. What motivated them is as yet not understood, neither can the audience understand how they call connect together. Besides dedicated fans to the actors, I doubt if anyone likes the show. The songs are just smoke and mirrors to cover up a weak script, story and characters. The way they keep adding new characters and new plot twists and obstacles seem a desperate way to keep the drama alive. The casting seem totally senseless, Lea Michelle most certainly does not come off as a wanna be diva or stuck up goody two shoes. All she portrays is a very annoying girl of below average IQ. Brittany seems to stupid to be true (considering the show is trying to keep it 'realist'). Sue's character seems to have holes in it than a sieve and Miss Pillsbury is another awful caricature! And Chris Colfer is so squinty and whiny at times its painful to watch!

OK...so the plot line of the new Fox TV series "Glee" leaves a lot to be desired. In many instances, plot points from earlier episodes are ignored entirely in later episodes (like the mandate that all songs be about God or balloons after the club put on a sexed-up routine to "Push It" at a pep rally) and the story seems to be based more on recurring themes than a cohesive plot line. But who cares?! The real magic of the show lies in its two strong points: the characters and the music.

The characters are hilarious, and obviously a masterful fusion of great acting and clever writing. They are over the top, extreme, and purposefully cliché. Whenever any of the characters gets a section of internal dialogue in the show, it usually leaves me breathless with laughter.

The music is brilliant. Kudos to Fox for their continued clever use of iTunes that they started with American Idol. The cast covers songs from all genres and are unerringly original and 100% fun. I'm seriously impressed with all members of the cast. (Especially as it becomes apparent that ALL of the cast can sing, as Emma revealed in last week's episode). It makes me wish fervently that there had been a glee club in my high school.

So the plot is lacking...I really can't bring myself to care.

What I really liked about "Glee" in its first two seasons was that the characters and their situations were so easy to relate to, especially for someone like me (and many others, naturally) who went to a conservative, small-town school and never seemed to fit in. Despite the odd ridiculous moment or some bland covers of already bland songs, "Glee" became a true guilty pleasure, and I put the emphasis more on pleasure than on guilty. However, the whole premise of it involving a group of pupils at a high school would mean that it was never meant to last that long, and I do think it should have stopped once the main characters had left the school. Now the ridiculousness has become more and more pronounced, and I've stopped paying attention to the series. Sorry.

'Glee' may not be everyone's cup of tea, but in my opinion, it's a great feel-good teen comedy. The casting is without a doubt great, and each member brings something individual to the show - Lea Michele does an especially great job in her role as Rachel. I also think that the musical numbers add another dimension to the show - they are often fun and done well, and I think they are a good way of introducing many aspects of music to the younger generation... I like the way that this show deals with a wide range of different issues, such as bullying, loss, homosexuality and the various kinds of pressure that many teens face today. I would say that the only thing that lets down the show in places is an occasionally over-cheesy script - I think that some of the more emotional scenes have been slightly tainted by over-doing it a little on the dialogue front.

Overall, though, I have really enjoyed watching this show and at times I have found myself getting quite involved with the characters and their journeys - however I wouldn't recommend it for the cynical amongst us - you might find it quite tiresome...