Glee - Pilot Episode

Impressions before seeing it
As you can see by the poster, they already aired the pilot back in the spring. I didn't catch it back then, but it looked like something a little different with possible comedic potential, so I checked it out.

How was it?
This probably won't be the last time I say this, but I have a problem with the way high school is portrayed in movies and on TV. It could just be me, but I have yet to see anything resembling my own high school experience.

For example, in this episode of Glee there is a scene where the football jocks trap a wheelchair-bound student in a portable toilet so they can tip it over. Forgiving the fact that modern schools don't tend to have portable toilets, I don't believe there are kids who would do that. I'm not saying there aren't cruel kids, but almost all of them have limits. NOBODY does things like that to handicapped (mentally or physically) kids, they simply ignore them, or maybe make fun of them verbally behind their backs. As far as I know these kids just do not get physical abuse from other students. Hell, even physical abuse/pranks against non-handicapped kids isn't that common. Most of the cruelty is verbal. And furthermore, anyone considered to be good looking will always be in the "popular" crowd, no matter what they do or what is done to them. This was my experience anyway. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway, back to Glee. This show was advertised as a comedy but in the one hour pilot there were probably only about three or four jokes. It felt more like a drama to me, and believe me the last thing we need is another high school drama. Since none of the students felt real I can't say I really cared for any of them, and that says a lot because I usually like to root for underdogs. I actually found the teachers more sympathetic. It did have a message, and that was to not be ashamed of the things you love, but the way it was delivered just felt bland. Again, probably because I didn't care enough about the characters.

Recommendation
I may give it another episode or two in hopes that it will pick up, because the concept could be a good one, but the pilot wasn't that strong. This show may appeal to the ever-growing popularity of nobodies singing popular songs, so if you're into that and typical high school drama then perhaps this show is for you. At this point I can't really say it's for me though. They did happen to perform Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", but it was only awesome because how can anyone not love that song?