Gleeful

Did you all watch the "Director's Cut" of the Glee pilot last Wednesday night? 'Cuz you should had. And if you didn't, you can catch it on Hulu, and you should. 'Cuz it's awesome.

It's about a glee club in an Ohio high school. The glee clubbers are misfits, of course, and the club has no funding, all available monies being siphoned off to the championship cheer squad. It is up to the teacher in charge, Will Schuester, to get his group together, polished and performing, and hoping to make a name for themselves in the regional competitions.

I thought the pilot was great. It's very well-put together, with some big production numbers. Although at first glance the characters seem to be caricatures, there's actually some depth and quirk to most of them. The musical numbers are organic - performances, rehearsals - and not of the spontaneously breaking into song whilst walking in the park variety. There are no big name actors here - Jane Lynch, hilarious as the Evil Cheerleading Coach, is probably the most widely recognizable - and I suspect they've blown the show's budget on music rights.

Hopefully in this American Idol-ized world this little show will make it, people being more accustomed to song and dance these days. (Yes, yes, the original Fame television series, I know, leave me alone.) It's on Wednesdays on Fox.