GLEE - SEASON ONE (2009-10)

The Score: 7.5 out of 10

Glee (2009-10) Season One finished its 22 episode run on a mixed note. The first 13 powerhouse episodes of the season were fresh and politically incorrect. The first 13 episodes of season one would easily earn a score of 9 out of 10. The writing, direction, acting, singing, dancing, and comedic tone were close to perfect. Glee really earned its Golden Globe Award as the best comedy on television last year. But as the season progressed, the show began to feel more commercial and politically correct. The unique blend of humor and drama was simply abandoned and it digressed into formulaic television. In short, it seems the passion is gone.

Glee Pilot Episode Ending - Don't Stop Believing

After the Golden Globe Awards and Glee's Christmas hiatus, the network executives apparently began to take more interest in their new cash cow, imposing new constraints on the writers and production team, seeking quick profits and homogenized marketability over substance. Unfortunately, the formerly creative show waned in quality in its last nine episodes to receive a score of 5 out of 10. Therefore, we give its first season a composite score of 7.5 out of 10.

Quinn Fabray and Riley Finn's Relationship is Disturbing, But Remarkably Honest Considering it is on Network Television

An early Glee episode would have somewhere between three to four songs featured in each episode, leaving enough time for the characters to develop and the story to progress. And the writers seamlessly integrate those musical numbers into the central story, so you rarely felt like you were watching a musical at all. But after the Fox executives noticed how much money they were making on iTunes and Amazon from the mp3 sales of the soundtrack, their eyes filled dollar signs and ordered five to six songs to be featured in every episode, leaving no room for the characters or story any longer.

Football Stars and Glee Singers: Finn and Puck

This move to increase the number of songs was a disaster. Since the show's running time remains the same, the extra songs took the place of character development and story progression. The songs now clutter the episodes, making the songs lose all meaning in the process. With multiple, unnecessary, and unrelated musical excursions, Glee has become a joke; a boring joke. And with only one or two notable exceptions, the final nine episodes of Season One fail to carry forward the same story introduced earlier in the season.

Doogie Howser/Dr. Horrible vs. Glee Club

One of the notable exceptions is a highly entertaining episode directed by the master of TV angst himself, Joss Whedon, who reteams with his Dr. Horrible star Neil Patrick Harris in the Glee episode "Dream On." This perfect return to form, matching the tone and quality of the amazing first episode of Glee, the Pilot - Director's Cut.

Quinn Fabray Finds Happiness as She Joins the Glee Club. She First Attempts to Sabotage the Club, But is Eventually Converted by the Kindness of its Members and the Passion of Music and Dance

In the last nine episodes, central characters like Quinn Fabray are sidelined and turned into minor characters. This is unforgiving to the tone of the program, as the story becomes wrapped up with characters and storylines we are not interested in watching. Unless Fox wises up and stops milking Glee dry, then the creativity we learned to love in the earlier episodes of Glee might disappear and be replaced with simple money-making gimmicks when Season 2 airs starting September 21, 2010.

The Newer, Hipper, Executive-Mandated Lady Gaga Episode!

One of the pleasures of the early episodes of Glee is an ecstatic sense of political INCORRECTNESS. Glee was bold and fearless as it mocked people equally across political, physical, ethnic, and social divides. It subverts normal teen-drama scenarios with relish, mocking the clichés of the genre while still providing heart-felt drama mixed with biting satire.

The Glee Club at its Best

This show has been de-fanged, every episode deteriorating into a bland sermon of political correctness. The central character, Glee counselor/director Will Schuester has gone from the heroic core of the show to a weak and vacillating character whose personality shifts depending on the mood of the writers. His constancy was vital, and now it is gone. Theses trends need to end quickly if Glee hopes to return back to its strong roots. Although the show would wander off course, the first half of Season 1 takes off on full thrusters and is an amazing experience no one should miss.

Riley Finn and Will Schuester Work Together to Pull Off the Impossible

The Glee Season 1 Blu-Ray Box Set is available on a beautifully rendered and worth buying for the dozen or so inspired episodes. Most of this season represents satirical television at its best, but the "back nine" episodes begin to show a clear decline in the show's writing. So aside from hilarious political incorrectness beginning to slide toward boring political correctness, Glee Season 1 on Blu-Ray is well worth the purchase. But we have a grim forecast that unless this series begins to revert back to its originally strong roots, this show could be doomed to a mediocre destiny.

Glee Season 1 Trailer

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KICK-ASS (2010)

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