| ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. | |
| OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Parents need to know that this edgy teen comedy promotes a positive message of cooperation and acceptance amid a mine field littered with jokes about homophobia, bullying, substance abuse, teen sex, and other envelope-pushing topics. There isn't an outright issue with language, although characters use some terms (including "penis," "tranny," and "cripple") that parents probably wouldn't want kids repeating. There's also a bit of name-dropping when it comes to brands, and the cast performs songs by popular artists like Aretha Franklin, Britney Spears, and Amy Winehouse. One teen is gay, and one character has two gay dads who conceived her with a surrogate mother.
In GLEE, high school Spanish teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) renews his own passion for music by starting up a glee club composed of talented misfits. His star pupils turn out to be a pitch-perfect but unpopular overachiever (Lea Michele) and a well-rounded jock (Cory Monteith) whose friends practically disown him for putting singing before sports. But Will's home life with an overbearing wife (Jessalyn Gilsig)? Well, that isn't quite as fulfilling, and eventually that relationship crumbles. As the series progresses, a popular teen deals with pregnancy, other teens consider having sex for the first time, and teens pursue love interests -- all mixed in with song-and-dance numbers.
If you love singing, musical theater, or show choir, Glee is going to make you happy. For one thing, there's the presence of two big Broadway names (Morrison has starred in shows like Light in the Piazza, while Michele is known for her stellar work in Spring Awakening). But there's also a talented supporting cast that includes the always-reliable Jane Lynch (of Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and Party Down fame), a comedienne whose gift for deadpan one-liners practically guarantees that she'll steal any scene she's in.
Glee's atypical blend of high school fare like Election, High School Musical, and Mean Girls is exciting -- and its hip sensibility has music-loving teens buzzing. While some critics have complained about its uneven narrative and its over-reliance on song-and-dance numbers at the expense of story development, we think the combination of offbeat characters, fantastic performances, and a willingness to take on controversial topics in a sensitive manner make this show a winner despite its flaws.
Families can talk about the realities of high school hierarchies and whether students of any age truly divide themselves into insular groups. Kids: Does your school have cliques, and do you ever have trouble making friends outside the lines? Parents: Do cliques still happen in adulthood, or is high school its own little world?
Do you know anyone who's had a problem with bullying (either face to face or cyberbullying)? Have you ever tried to stop someone from getting picked on?
How realistic is the show's portrayal of high school? Are the characters relatable?
| TV rating: | TV-PG |
| Network: | Fox |
| Cast: | Cory Monteith, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison |
| Genre: | Comedy |