Singing their Praises

Has there ever been a TV show more aptly named than “Glee?” It both embodies and inspires exactly that quality. Personally, I love musicals – “Enchanted,” “The Sound of Music,” “Hairspray” to name a few – and this show is about a high school glee club that frequently bursts into song musical numbers. This musical-comedy-drama from creator Ryan Murphy (“Nip/Tuck”) is so good — so funny, so bulging with vibrant characters — that it blasts past any defenses you might put up against it. “Glee” will not stop until it wins you over utterly. It’s the story of Will, a high school Spanish teacher, who takes over a pathetic glee club filled with misfits.

Murphy takes what could have been moldy, cliché figures — such as Rachel, the persecuted girl, Finn, the football hero who really wants to croon, and teachers like cheerleading coach Sue — and brings fresh details to them. Rachel asserts, ''Being anonymous is worse than being poor.... Fame is the most important thing in society.'' At first, you want to barf at a sentiment like that, but then “Glee” makes the battle to overcome anonymity seem like a higher calling. “Glee” is all about sparking ambition, getting kids off the sofa and doing creative things. But it also has a healthy dose of sarcasm and skepticism to offset its peppy interpretations of hits.

There’s nothing quite like “Glee” on TV. And the writing is superb. Witness some of the best quotes from Tuesday’s episode, “Funk.”

Sue: "Will, I’m not going to do this. Even your breath stinks of mediocrity."

Sue: "You know, for me trophies are like herpes. You can try to get rid of them but they just keep coming. Sue Sylvester has hourly flair ups of burning itchy highly contagious talent."

Quinn: "Thinking ‘trust me’ was a sensible birth option."

Rachel: "Giving my heart to Jesse, just to have it crushed like the stage floor at a performance of ‘Stomp!’"

"Glee" excels at dealing with themes such as gender and power and hairstyles and hormones and practically every episode is crammed not only with music but nonstop one-liners that sting and will have you have rolling on the ground. I’m definitely dreading the season finale next Tuesday because when it goes on hiatus there will be no more laughter, no more glee.