‘Glee’ has rabid fans, but they deserve better

Fox's “Glee” has only aired a half-dozen episodes, but it has already established a rabid fan base. Because creativity and frivolity is so rare on network television, those fans have latched on to the over-the-top satire of high school life told through a glee club.

“Glee” is a fantastic show. It's also getting worse.

The five new fall episodes have offered more of what “Glee” first introduced last spring, starting with fantastically over-the-top musical numbers with their obvious lip-syncing and amusing choreography, never mind the dramatic lighting and staging that appears from nowhere.

Episodes have also been full of quick, witty dialogue; ridiculously absurd moments; and obvious but still cutting satire, like the high school's celibacy club president getting pregnant. It's also tackled some touchy subjects, from performance-enhancing drugs to teenage premature ejaculation, and found its way into some emotional and rich moments.

The best example of that so far was Kurt's coming out to his friends and then his father, which was a great moment. It worked so well because an actually dramatic moment was paired with the series' brand of ridiculous fun, in this case the football team's choreographed performance of Beyonce's “Single Ladies” during a game, which ended with Kurt dancing his way to kicking the winning field goal.

Balancing out “Glee's” disparate elements — the insane and the emotionally resonant — works quite well, but it's not happening consistently. The characters, though, are too consistent.

Video   ‘Glee’ star takes quiz AccessHollywood.com's Laura Saltman quizzes "Glee's" Cory Monteith with 10 questions about his fellow castmates. Access Hollywood

With a few exceptions, the actors deliver strong performances, but none is better than Jane Lynch, who could read a greeting card and make it sound cynical and jaded. As Sue Sylvester, Cheerios coach and the series' villain, Lynch is completely self-absorbed and relentless in pursuit of her goals, all while being endlessly, viciously sarcastic. Her matter-of-factness is hilarious: “Me? Never wanted kids. Don't have the time, don't have the uterus.”

As much fun as it is to watch Lynch do her shtick, she hasn't had anything other than that to do since episode one, and that's the show's major problem: “Glee” hasn't changed much from its first episode, and what was once truly gleeful is rapidly becoming repetitive.

Stereotypical characters need depth
In some ways, the series is like a procedural drama such as “CSI.” Those work for a season or two without their characters going through much growth or change because there's a mystery of the week to solve. When that formula gets tired, procedural dramas focus more on their characters' personalities, which often alienates fans.

Video   Behind the scenes The "Glee" cast rocks the house with their rendition of Kanye West's "Gold Digger." Plus, why does Jane Lynch's character want to destroy the glee club? Access Hollywood

“Glee” doesn't have a mystery of the week, but with its rich characters, has an opportunity those shows do not. Instead of letting its characters become more vivid and real, it's chosen to splash around in the shallow end of the pool of stereotypes.

While Sue Sylvester doesn't necessarily need to grow or change who she is, she does need to become more complicated, or at least more understandable.

Many of the characters are, at their cores, stereotypes: Finn, the popular but dumb jock; Mercedes, the African-American diva; Kurt, the flamboyant gay kid; Artie, the nerd in the wheelchair; and so on. Those are OK starting points for a show that's trying to mock high school archetypes by embracing them, but it should be that: a starting point, not what we see every week.

But many of the characters have quickly become one-note, and some are downright offensive in their pandering to stereotypes. For example, glee club adviser Will's wife, Terri, as played by Jessalyn Gilsig, speaks in an excruciating baby voice as she embodies negative stereotypes of women with her desperate, manipulative, insane behavior (drugging students, lying to her husband about her pregnancy).

Stephen Tobolowsky's character, Sandy, however, is simply inexcusable: a pedophile played for laughs who confirms bigoted audience members' fears about men who are more feminine than masculine. It's incomprehensible that a show that is so progressive with its stories about a gay character, Kurt, would include another who embodies such a false stereotype, never mind making light of that.

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