Glee

Nowadays there’s not that much on network TV to really get excited about. Some of it is okay and even better than okay…but most of it is just there (or worse shouldn’t be there at all.) But almost every season I find something that just flat out makes me happy…it usually doesn’t last long (the show gets canned or, worse, it jumps the tracks and crashes and burns) but I enjoy it while it lasts.

The first season of Heroes made me happy (not so much since then…)

And during the last two television seasons the quirky charm of Pushing Daisies made me happy.

This season, Glee makes me happy. Some of the subplots veer towards the soapy (a fake pregnancy…a real pregnancy with the boyfriend’s best friend really being the father…closeted effeminate gay boy…etc.) but the show manages to stay out the weeds with its quirky (there’s that word again), subversive pluck.

And the musical numbers are gloriously compelling and unabashedly over the top (from Journey’s ubiquitous “Don’t Stop Believin’” to Kanye West’s infectious “Gold Digger”…the breadth of tunes that they got cleared is amazing and almost all of them are used to good, sometimes surprising, effect.)

It’s a delightful confection…an enormously entertaining cross between Fame and Freaks & Geeks with a sterling cast (extra credit for the guest shot by the wondrous Kristin Chenoweth, late of the aforementioned Pushing Daisies)…that I just adore.

Glee makes me happy.