Glee (Fox)

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.