GLEEful!

Yes, I am Gleeful! And I have broken a cardinal rule - never become attached to a show in its first season. And yet, here I am watching and loving Glee. Not only that, Glee is a FOX show, a network that, if you remember, I told that I was done with after the unjust cancellation of Justice back in 2006. (And, btw, to remind myself of the pain I just finished watching an episode of Justice online that I had missed the first time around and I have to say - the pain is now just as fresh).

However, I am willing to give Glee a chance. If Facebook is any indication, Glee is a huge success. Wednesday nights everybody's statuses seem to have some kind of quote from the show.

I missed the pilot back in May last year, but had heard so much about it that by episode 3 I knew it was time to start downloading episodes. And while I have yet to find the any of the episodes match the pilot, I have to say this show makes me laugh out loud week after week and I actually have started trolling the internet looking for clips on the next week's songs.

Now, I've heard some say this show isn't very positive for women - that the women on the show are portrayed as manipulative, lying, sneaky and selfish. But I'm not so quick to judge, the men after all aren't exactly given the best of light either - oblivious, simplistic, a brick short sometimes. I really don't think this is the show where we're going to find role models. Stop looking and enjoy the show for what it is.

And what it is is a group of great singers and dancers that are taking the piss out of the high school experience. When I found out Lea Michele was cast as Rachel, I knew it would be good. She was amazing in Spring Awakening and her voice is incredible. In fact, I really like the songs - I mean, who isn't still singing Don't Stop Believing? My husband plays it for me while I'm cooking because of how it makes me smile. I find myself singing in the shower and in the office. It's been a long time since a show did that to me - made me...happy.

And Cheerio's coach Sue has the best lines - she is the villainesse I think we all love to hate. This week's episode was no different. But I'd be careful to use her in moderation. There is only so much "I've found people's desire to procreate weak. Me, I don't have the time or the uterus" that one can take before it becomes too crass... But it's not just Jane Lynch's lines, it's her delivery that really makes Sue Sylvester.

And then there's Will. And Emma. And Will's "pregnant" (cough) wife. What a great love triangle. Fare more interesting to me than Rachel and Finn. Speaking of Finn - he's 28. He's almost my age. And he plays a 16yr old. Moreover, he looks like a 16yr old. I need whatever elixir of youth he's been drinking.

So Glee is my new pleasure this year. I hear Fox has give a green light on a full season so we've passed the first test. Let's see how this plays out. Though I can't help but think - once they win nationals, what will there be for next year?

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So I hadn't planned on writing this second part, but I just finished watching JAM's wedding and I just couldn't help myself. Probably one of the best wedding episodes TV has ever done. And not just because I married my own version of Jim (I really did - my husband Matt is tall, sweet, has the same goofiness about him and also knew he wanted to marry me the first time he saw me) and I totally teared up whenever Jim talked about Pam because it reminded me of my own wedding.

Besides that it was how Dwight ends up being the ladykiller, how Michael seduces Pam's mom, and BEST OF ALL how Jim's brothers pull the whole "Forever" entrance straight from Youtube. It was art imitating life imitating art at it's finest.