20th Century Fox | 2009 | 580 mins. | Not Rated
Created by Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck), Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, Glee, a series about the trials and tribulations of a high school glee club, has had a decidedly odd path to success. Fox aired the pilot episode back in May of 2009, but then the second episode didn’t air until the following September. Perhaps unsure whether Glee would be a hit, Fox only ordered 13 episodes before they gave the go ahead for nine more. In a smart move, the first 13 episodes provide a solid story arc that results in a satisfactory ending, had the show been cancelled after its initial run. As it stands now, Glee: Season 1, Volume 1 – Road to Sectionals, serves as a nice gift for fans and a primer for newcomers before new episodes air in April, 2010.
McKinley High School Spanish teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) Mr.Shu, to his students, was a member of the school’s glee club back in its glory days; a tad naive, he longs to bring the club back to prominence. His job won’t be easy, thanks in part to cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch)—a barracuda of a woman who leads a squad hilariously referred to as “Cheerios”—who resents having to share school funds and resources. Despite Sue’s constant meddling, Will remains determined to turn the school’s ragtag group of singers into a full-fledged show choir capable of competing at the upcoming sectionals.
Glee is not without its soap opera tinged dramatics. Will’s wife of five years, the annoying and manipulative Terri Schuester (Jessalyn Gilsig), feigns a pregnancy in hopes of saving their marriage. Popular cheerleader Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron), president of the celibacy club finds herself pregnant by bad boy Puck (Mark Salling), though she convinces her boyfriend Finn (Cory Monteith) it’s his. A stand up guy, Finn does his best to stand by her, even though he finds himself increasingly attracted to Glee club member Rachel (Lea Michele); a girl with undeniable singing talent, but also blessed with an ability to annoy everyone around her. In the midst of all this is Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays), a mysophobic guidance counselor who they all turn to for advice, while she pines for Will.
The first thing that struck me about Glee is the talented cast, and the well staged music numbers. For anyone who’s old enough to remember the 1980’s series Fame, there are similarities to that, but Glee is decidedly a bit more polished. Whether it’s an acapella version of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” or a wonderfully choreographed version of “Proud Mary” in wheelchairs, each episode has at least one showstopper.
Smartly, Glee’s producers have moved all over the map for the musical numbers: there are the expected show tunes (“Maybe This Time,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Defying Gravity,” “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade”), but there are plenty of pop and rock classics, some smooth jazz, and some rap and hip-hop along the way. Additional standouts throughout the season are Broadway veterans Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele making something special out of “Endless Love,” the tender interpretation of John Lennon’s “Imagine” with the show’s glee club alongside a choir of deaf teens, the simple, loving delivery of “True Colors,” and the club’s bid for its first Sectional championship with “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” For sheer energy, it would be hard to top the group’s magnificently choreographed and performed “Jump” as the club moonlights by doing a local mattress commercial.
Not everything about Glee is realistic. But if you can just sit backand enjoy the music and amazing talent on display, Glee is just one heck of a good time.
The program’s 1.78:1 television aspect ratio is presented at 720p on Fox, and the 480p downconverted transfers here look very colorful and impressively detailed for the most part. True, there are more soft shots than one might like, and some slight edge enhancement is noticeable in several episodes. Flesh tones are usually accurate but some early episodes tend to veer them toward pink. Still, it’s a well above average image on display here. I must say, if Glee continues for awhile though, it’s one of those shows I’d love to see on Blu-ray.
Audio is delivered in the form of a strong Dolby Digital 5.1 surround presentation that delivers the musical numbers just as faithfully as the broadcast version. Dialogue comes across clearly, through the center channel for the most part. In the non-musical sequences there’s usually not a lot of activity beyond the dull murmur of the school hallways, but it works for the series.
The set contains the following special features:
• Welcome to William McKinley! is a fictional introduction to the setting for the series, William McKinley High School, hosted by principal Figgins (actor Iqbal Theba in character). It’s as funny as anything on the show.
• Music Video: A somewhat cheesy video for “Somebody to Love.”
• Two Full-length Audition Sequences: Lea Michele sings “On My Own” and Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones) singing “Respect.”
• Fox Movie Channel Presents Casting Session is the most substantial bonus on the disc: Twelve minutes with creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan discussing the genesis of the project and going into some detail about casting three major student roles: Rachel (Lea Michele), Finn (Cory Monteith), and Kurt (Chris Colfer) with clips of their actual auditions.
• Deconstructing Glee: A very short piece with Ryan Murphy describing the need for triple threat artists in the parts and the chance everyone took hoping that this kind of series would work.
• Dance Boot Camp finds choreographer Zach Woodlee showing the original steps to six major cast members for the pilot episode.
• Jane Lynch A to Glee and Meet Jane Lynch are two throwaway vignettes with the show’s resident villain on display. The first is basically clips from the pilot while the second has the actress very briefly describing her character.
• Things you Don’t Know About is a series of brief featurettes with four of the show’s stars telling some semi-private things about themselves. We find out five pieces of information about Jayma Mays, seven things about Cory Monteith, six things about Amber Riley, and seven things about Chris Colfer.
• There are eight video diaries shot when the cast gathered for the network upfronts in New York City. They may be viewed individually or in one piece.
[xrrgroup][xrr label=”Video:” rating=”4.0/5″ group=”s1″ ] [xrr label=”Audio:” rating=”4.0/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Extras:” rating=”3.0/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Film Value:” rating=”4.0/5″ group=”s1″] [/xrrgroup]
