1.) Killer song covers. Don't believe me? Listen to the Warblers' a capella version of "Teenage Dream", Rachel's heartfelt rendition of "The Only Exception" or Kurt's beautiful adaptation of "Blackbird". You'll change your mind.
2.) Fun guest stars. Glee had them on all the time during the first two seasons. Kristin Chenoweth as a boozy ex-glee club star. Molly Shannon as a pill-addled science teacher. Eve as the director of the glee club at a school for delinquent girls. Gwyneth Paltrow as a less-than-responsible substitute. Idina Menzel as Rachel's bio mom/rival glee club coach. Sarah Drew as a student who almost died over her obsession with Mr. Schue. Olivia Newton-John and Josh Groban as really douchey versions of themselves (or maybe just regular versions of themselves, who knows?). Katie Couric as herself, humiliating Sue on national TV. Britney Spears appeared as herself, infiltrating the dreams of our favorite glee clubbers. Not to mention that Meat Loaf and Barry Bostwick appeared in the Rocky Horrror episode.
3.) The fact that there even WAS an episode devoted to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
4.) Guys you (better have) loved from shows on in the 90s have appeared on the show. John Stamos (Yes! Uncle Jesse from Full House!) played Emma's dentist-turned-husband-turned-ex-husband Carl Howell. Neil Patrick Harris appeared as a washed-up former glee club star who took out his frustrations on the glee club, realized how much he missed singing, was nice to the glee club, then competed with Will for the role of Jean Valjean in a community theater production of Les Miserables. Mike O'Malley from Nickelodeon GUTS plays Burt Hummel, Kurt's lovable dad and Finn's stepfather.
5.) The costumes in the Lady Gaga episode, "Theatricality", and the Super Bowl episode, "The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle", are worth watching for alone
6.) Awesome mash-ups. Would you have thought mixing Beyonce's "Halo" with Katrina and the Waves' "Walking on Sunshine" could sound so good? Not to mention mixing "Thriller" with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Heads Will Roll". Pure genius.
7.) You could make a drinking game out of it. Every time Sue makes a joke about Will's hair, you take a drink. Every time Brittany says something stupid, you take a drink. Every time Rachel talks about herself, you take a drink. You'll be singing along in no time.
8.) Mike Chang. He's just awesome. (BTW...I'm Mike Chang. Watch "The Substitute" and you'll get it).
9.) Beneath all the singing and the teenage drama, they really do address real issues facing teens today. Topics such as teen pregnancy, safe sex, abstinence, alcohol, bullying, sexuality and body image are discussed.
10.) Brittany S. Pierce may be one of the funniest characters on TV. Her random comments are one of the best parts of the show.
If these reasons aren't good enough for you, I don't care. Watch it anyway. You'll love Glee, do you hear me? YOU WILL!!!
adapted from my GLEEBLOG post at Mike and Tom Present
