Glee

There was so much drumbeat about "Glee" we thought our TV would be taken away if we didn't watch it.

I have to say up front that Carol mostly enjoyed it. She was in theater in both high school and college and then did a lot of acting and commercial work after graduating. We in fact met on a commercial I was working on in Chicago. So the world of Glee is in several respects her world. All these young Glee club singers and actors. It's not my world at all. I never joined anything remotely like Glee or theater until my final two years when I got a playwriting scholarship. Then I spent four or five years with various acting groups. But my experience was very different. We spent most of the time avoiding the landlords who wanted to evict us for not paying the rent.

I guess what startled me about the episode I saw was how stereotyped the characters are and how much it reminded me of High School Musical, which I managed to get through only because two of my granddaughters wanted me to see it. They sat on either side of me. It was cute but vapid. Glee isn't even cute, except for the actress who plays the germ-a-phobe guidance counselor, Jayma Mays. Matthew Morrison is believable but bland as the star but Jessalyn Gilsig as his wife is given a character that is both shrill and profoundly irritating.

The big disappointment here is Jane Lynch. I've been a fan of hers since I saw her as the gay dog trainer in "Best of Show." I'd follow her anywhere. But she's wasted here as a butch coach of the cheerleaders. She's Cruella McNasty and not convincing for a second.

I'm not capable of seriously reviewing the singing or dancing since I know nothing about either art. All I can say as an amateur is that it all it sounded and looked like a series of uninspired music videos. All the songs are lip-synched of course but when you're looking at a lead and three backup singers on a bare stage but what you're hearing is this large sleek chorus...it kind of breaks the illusion.

Damned if I know what the fuss was all about. But I suppose there's a chance it'll be a big hit with teenagers.