20th Century Fox | 2009 | 974 mins. | NR
It seems unbelievable now, but when Glee was picked up by Fox, the show’s creators—Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck), Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan—were just hoping the show would avoid cancelation before finishing its initial thirteen episode run. Needless to say, not only did the series survive, but it quickly became a bonafide phenomenon. With millions of iTunes downloads and CDs sold and the series, broadcast in two segments, separated by a four month hiatus, gained strength in the ratings. Along the way, Glee picked up numerous accolades including Best Comedy Series from the Hollywood Foreign Press, a SAG award for best comedy ensemble, Program of the Year and Outstanding New Series from the Television Critics’ Association, and four Emmy Awards. Not only has Fox picked up Glee for a second season, but a third as well.
The series’ underlying dramatic structure was established almost immediately, with two separate issues around personal relationships. First, the selfish and manipulative Terri Schuester (Jessalyn Gilsig) feigns a pregnancy to keep her Spanish teacher/glee club sponsor husband Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) on a short leash while germophobic school guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays) pines after her unavailable soul mate. Will must deal with a series of conflicted emotions as Emma initially agrees to marry athletic director Ken Tanaka (Patrick Gallagher) despite the fact that she’s not ‘in’ love with him.
Will attended the high school when Glee Club “ruled the school” and it hurts him to see its members being treated as such social outcasts. He thinks he can bring them back to their former glory, but the reality of their position is made immediately clear to him by Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba): no money. When the club can bring in as much as the Cheerios (the school’s award-winning cheerleading squad), all will be well; Since the squad is coached by Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), a woman hellbent on destroying Glee, Will has a big mountain to climb.
On the student side, we get an interesting mix of personalities. Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) is determined to become a star, supremely talented, right now the only thing she gets from her unadoring public is a daily splash of Slurpee. And when Mr. Schuester uses a pack of medicinal marijuana he got from another teacher to blackmail the star quarterback, Finn (Cory Monteith) into joining Glee Club, a triangle similar to the adults begins. Rachel likes Finn the way that Emma likes Will Schuester, but the quarterback is dating head cheerleader Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron) who’s also a leader in the Chastity Club (whose motto is, “Remember, TEASE, don’t please”). Big oops…Quinn is pregnant and she claims Finn is the baby daddy!
The other main members of Glee are: man about town (and the real father of Quinn’s baby), Noah “Puck” Puckerman (Mark Sailing), gay teen Kurt (Chris Colfer) who has a passion for Wicked a Beyonce wannabe named Mercedes (Amber Riley), an Asian girl (Tina Cohen-Chang) and Artie (Kevin McHale), confined to a wheelchair after a car accident when he was eight, left him with a serious spinal cord injury.
When Glee returned after its four month hiatus, a couple of storyline misfires were cleaned up. The annoying, disturbing and somewhat scary Terri rarely appeared, as Will finally filed for divorce. That move cleared the way for him and Emma to begin exploring their feelings for one another. While it looks like that relationship won’t work out for now, let’s hope the writers keep exploring it. At the same time, Ken Tanaka mostly just disappeared from the main plot. The teenage angst between the four principal young characters shifted into concern for Quinn’s well-being during her pregnancy and her plans for the baby. Meanwhile, Rachel and Finn became involved in strange tug of war with Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff), one of the stars of the glee club’s chief rival Vocal Adrenaline, a new transfer to McKinley High. His arrival is indirectly responsible for Rachel learning some big news about herself. Additionally Kurt and Finn have some adjusting to do, as their widowed parents (Mike O’Malley, Romy Rosemont) move in together.
Presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, Glee looks noticeably softer than its broadcast HD presentation, but it’s an image no less clean or colorful. You just can’t count the pores on character’s faces, or blades of grass on McKinley’s football field. Where audiophiles are really going to notice the difference is with this less enveloping Dolby 5.1 Surround mix. The Blu-ray’s DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio can’t be matched for the incredibly impressive musical sequences, although most of the show is dialogue driven and therefore negates the Master Audio upgrade.
Sadly, a lot of the special features are little more than fluff.
Extended Scenes: Rachel and Mercedes’ full performance auditions for the Glee Club. (4 min)
Video Diaries: Go inside the Flip Video magic with Jane Lynch, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, Cory Monteith, Kevin McHale, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer, and Dianna Agron, as they travel to New York for the industry Up-Fronts. (17 min)
Featurette: Making of a Showstopper—The magic and madness needed to bring the season finale’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” to life. (18 min)
Featurette: Fox Movie Channel’s Glee Casting Session—A behind-the-scenes look at how the show and its ensemble came together. (12 min)
Featurette: Unleashing the Power of Madonna—Go behind-the-scenes with the cast and crew as they prep and film this landmark episode. (11 min)
Featurette: Bite Their Style: Dress Like your Favorite Gleek—Costume designers Lou Eyrich and Jennifer Eve talk about the influences used to create each character’s look. (9 min)
Featurette: Staying in Step with Glee—Join choreographers Zach Woodlee and Brooke Lipton, as they teach you the steps used for “Rehab” in the pilot episode. (6 min)
Featurette: Welcome to McKinley!—Principal Figgin’s freshman orientation, as produced by the school’s A/V Club. (5 min)
Featurette: Deconstructing Glee with Ryan Murphy—A quick nuts and bolts look at the show with the show’s co-creator. (3 min)
Featurette: Dance Boot Camp—Choreographer Zach Woodlee shows the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into in episode’s dance routines. (3 min)
Featurette: Jane Lynch: A to Glee—Quick web video capturing a moment of Jane in the makeup chair. (1 min)
Featurette: Meet Jane Lynch—Another quick web moment with Jane explaining Sue’s inner She-Beast. (1 min)
Featurette: Five Things You Don’t Know About Jayma—Fox.com offers up quick cast info nuggets to the internet Gleeks. (1 min)
Featurette: Six Things You Don’t Know about Amber (1 min)
Featurette: Seven Things You Don’t Know About Cory (1 min)
Featurette: Seven Things You Don’t Know About Chris (1 min)
Music Video: “Somebody to Love”—Fox promotional video set to the club’s adaptation of the Queen hit. (3 min)
Glee Music Jukebox—Tweleve musical numbers available to you in individual scenes or one giant mashup. (27 min)
Sing-Along Karaoke—Four musical numbers to which you can unleash your inner Gleek. (11 min)
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