Glee

Glee is my new favorite show this fall. It's got all the elements for an exciting, funny series that captures your attention and pulls at your heart strings at the same time. It's only two shows into the season, so if you want to catch up on an excellent fall program, you can watch those two shows on Hulu for free.

The reason I like it so much? The pilot episode was like sitting down to a good first chapter. I mean, I was HOOKED.

How'd the producers do it? Larger than life characters, for starters, a rockin' plot fraught with conflict, and a setting that adds to them both. Here's a rundown.

*Caution: SPOILERS BELOW*

Glee is set in McKinley High School. Matthew Morrison plays Spanish teacher Will Schuester. He takes over the Glee Club when the current Glee teacher makes inappropriate moves toward a student. When Will tells the principal he wants to take over, the principal asks him if he'd like the captain the Titanic, too. F U N N Y.

He has auditions, and the five (eventually six and will grow in later episodes) people he gets are extremely talented and quirky, and actually follow typical high school archtypes. There's an African American diva (Mercedes) who belts out Aretha Franklin's R-E-S-P-E-C-T, an Asian girl (Tina) who dresses more grunge and definitely sings an edgy number, "I Kissed A Girl and I Liked It." Then there's a gay guy (Kurt) who can really sing great and a guy in a wheelchair (Artie) who just cracks you up when he's doing the shows. They wheel him around while their singing and he sometimes crashes into things. F U N N Y.

Then there are the two main Glee members, about which there swirls an awkward attraction that's not without hindrances. Rachel is a girl consumed with Glee Club. She's extremely talented, a little dorky, definitely a loner at school, and beautiful. Finn is the quintessential jock. He's quarterback on the football team and the boyfriend of the captain of the cheerleader team. He's essentially coerced into the Glee Club by Will, who "plants" marijuana in Finn's locker and "finds" it later. (Will tells the audience that it was his lowest point as a teacher, but he'd just heard Finn singing in the locker room while taking a shower, and he's amazingly talented, as well.) Rachel is in love with Finn; he doesn't know she exists (well, until he hears her sing).

There are four other characters worth mentioning: Will's wife, Terri (she's a whiny prima donna; their marriage isn't going so well, but she tells Will she's pregnant--which she learns later isn't true but doesn't own up to it); the cheerleading coach Sue (played brilliantly by Jane Lynch--from The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Role Models; Sue feels threatened by Will because Will is scouring her cheerleading girls for Glee Club recruits; she makes life difficult for him...but F U N N Y!); the guidance counselor Emma (Amy in Paul Blart: Mall Cop; she's in love with Will and also has an enormous phobia of germs...she's likely OCD); and the football coach Ken (who is trying to get a date with Emma and knows she's got a thing for Will).

Gosh....do you realize all the conflict? Throw in the mix Finn's jealous girlfriend (who's president of the Celibacy Club) who wants to join Glee Club to "get her boyfriend back" and who the cheerleading coach recruits to be her "eyes" on the inside; Finn's growing attraction for Rachel - which he acts on with a kiss and a little hormonal surge that's pretty funny; the fact that for the Glee Club to even continue in existence, they have to final in the regional competition (and to do that, they've got to have at least 12 people); the stereotypes of jocks and nerds (and Glee definitely falls into the "loser" category)...it's awesome people. Awesome.

If you haven't seen it...DO. The singing numbers are awesome. I especially like the more modern songs. Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" is sung in the pilot...I was singing it all week long. So good.

Anyway...just thought I'd share. If all our first chapters could end up with the hooks that the pilot did....we'll final in every contest and be published within hours. No joke.

Q4U: Have you seen Glee? What were your thoughts?

And on a monumental aside, let's send up a prayer for those families who lost a loved one or a friend in the 9-11 attacks.