Tonight I experienced the televisual equivalent of complete geek euphoria.
The show is (most aptly) called Glee and it is a musically inclined breath of quirk-filled fresh air. It's the perfect mixture of Popular, Mean Girls and Freaks and Geeks (the high school is even called McKinley!) with a sprinkling of High School Musical (is that another Troy Bolton I see waiting to burst out of the locker room and into a inspirational power ballad?). And that's just the beginning.
The cast includes two original cast members from my favourite Broadway shows: Matthew Morrison (The Great White Way's original Link Larkin in Hairspray) and Lea Michele (Spring Awakening's first Wendla). Oh and the pilot episode alone features not one, but two (!) Journey classics: "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" and of course, pop rock's pièce de résistance, "Don't Stop Believin'".
My friend Melissa once claimed that I had a serious jonesin' for underdogs. I laughed it off but after watching this show, I totally see it. Like those other McKinley castoffs I love, the kids from Glee, are not the privileged kids with the perfect hair and ludicrous lack of genuine problems or social awkwardness (see: 90210, The O.C. - both of which, I can't stand). They are the under-appreciated, the misunderstood, the down-trodden, the nerds, the freaks and the geeks all wrapped up into one. And I absolutely love them for it.
P.S. - Forgive my punny title. I couldn't resist. You should be happy I didn't do something involving the phrase "Gee Whiz!". Cause I was totally thinking about it.
Mood Music: "I'm Alright" by Kenny Loggins
