What Murphy has created with "Glee"
Glee DVD is something both ambitiously spectacular and loads of fun. The trick he pulls off amid this tonal chaos (comedy, drama, musical, etc.) has a lot to do with the latter quality. Watching "Glee" is fun. You always get the sense that Murphy's keen sense of winking at the cliches - jocks versus nerds, cheerleaders versus the less beautiful, the put-upon teachers, etc. - is something he pursues with, pardon the pun, real glee.
Chuck DVD He takes convention and flips it on its head. But that would be easy to do in a dismissive, completely ironic way. What Murphy does with "Glee" is give it an earnestness that blends nicely with the knowing sarcasm. He creates dramatic story lines while endlessly skewering the comedic mother lode of high school, and then wraps it all up in a musical. An exceptionally talented cast holds it all together. Morrison and Michele have Broadway-tested skills that give "Glee"
Mad Men DVD maximum musical power - from Journey's "Don't Stop Believin' " in the pilot to Kanye West's "Gold Digger," which is performed in tonight's episode. (Columbia Records is releasing a 17-song "Glee" soundtrack next month and plans more if the show is successful.) That might be a big if. Though "Glee" is fantastic and surprising on a number of levels, it's still a musical. It has riotous comedic moments from Lynch that are offset by heartfelt, let's-put-on-a-show musical numbers.
Modern Family DVD Will people watch that? The series premiered on the last night of last season, airing after "American Idol." Not only did "Glee" get noticed and sampled, but those people who fell in love with it had to wait through the off-season as anticipation built. There's been plenty of hype for the show, and being one of the few alternatives to the president tonight might not hurt either. Left on its own, bumping up against a cop drama,
MI5 DVD "Glee" might not work, but it will benefit greatly by being paired with "So You Think You Can Dance" and later "American Idol."