I’ve already given my initial impressions of this week’s Glee, the first episode back after a grueling World Series in which I’m still not sure who won. Yes, I basically stayed away from Fox during the World Series and used Twitter as my gauge for whether going back to the channel was safe.

While I have other shows to write about, this episode was one of which I was eagerly looking forward to. I like Glee, so much that my brain has glossed over the bad episodes and I have forgotten them, like a bad memory pushed to the back of my mind, fondly recalling “the good old episodes”,  on which list this week’s Wheels will surely remain.

First, the musical numbers were quite good. The “diva-off” proved that Rachel was the right singer for the part, but then again, Kurt did a good job as well. Switching between the two characters highlighted the differences in their voices better, but I was not surprised that Kurt threw the part. That’s just the way it should be written to give the viewers a healthy parent and gay son relationship story. Kurt would have to make some concessions as well. Not singing a girl’s song would be one of them.

The most amazing part of this episode was Sue Sylvester. Allison Waldman at tvsquad says, “There is much more to Sue Sylvester than the hyper-competitive coach with delusions of grandeur.” James Poniewozik at Times.com writes, “And speaking of no saints: Jane Lynch—holy crap. I suppose some fans might see the softer side of Sue Sylvester as a jump-the-shark moment for the show—threatening to take the fun out of her hard-assed mercilessness—but Lynch absolutely killed in the subplot, and I think it has the potential to make Sue not a different character, but an actual person.” Yet the writers at tvfanatic write, “This wasn’t our favorite episode of Glee.” They also wrote, “Sue Us… for saying this, but did we really need to be hit over the head so hard by Sue’s soft side?… If Sylvester isn’t back to cracking wise and making inappropriate judgments next week, we’ll be very unhappy.”

I personally loved the Sue parts. I watched with the same suspicion about Sue Sylvester as Mr. Schu, but the ending put her actions and attitudes in perspective in a very real and satisfying way. When she was talking to Schu about her treatment of Becky, she was right about it. She was treating Becky like a normal girl, which was all Becky wanted. Alan Sepinwall wrote, “Sue Sylvester still said outrageous things, but didn’t seem like a cartoon (and that was even before the payoff to the Down syndrome story, which Jane Lynch nailed).” I totally agree. That scene was so amazing, she truly did become a real person in my eyes. The Baywatch line reminded me of her character from Party Down, but I do not regret the tears I shed when she was reading Little Red Riding Hood to her sister.

Sepinwall also wrote, in the same article, “…tonight’s episode represented a show I… well, that I at least didn’t dislike as much as I’ve disliked some past outings… but at least with this episode, I could see the outlines of the show that the “Glee” fans are so obsessed with.”

I’ve liked Glee the entire time and the general consensus is that it was a great episode to a great program. Like Sepinwall, I wonder if the audience for the show can be succinctly categorized. Maybe that’s what makes this show work, that it appeals to so many different types of people and not even all the people in one category. For most people, all it takes is one good episode and they’re hooked. Maybe it’s not for everybody, but it’s reach is not limited and that’s just fine by me.

If this is the type of episode we will continue to see, even though it’s not as funny as some of the other ones,  I know I will continue to enjoy Glee. The tiny moments of clarity make this episode a home run.

Every year I do this in some form or another. I go through all the clips and interviews for upcoming shows that are airing for the first time and I decide, based solely on those clips, whether or not the show will get a season 2 pick-up. I did it last year here and I always give each show 3 episodes to prove me right (though every now and then, I can be wrong).

My score from last year:
Total: 19 shows with actual comments
Correct:10
Incorrect:9
Percentage:53% correct

Not bad. If it hadn’t been for Fox and the CW, I would have lost out big! Anyway, you can play along at home, just add your thoughts to the comments.

The CW

Melrose Place – 9/8/09 – I have a feeling this will be high drama drivel filled with characters doing senseless things just because they want to and people will still watch it and declare it their favourite show (though not as good as the original). I’m hoping this show will fail, but I am pretty sure it will get a 2nd season. This show will not be canceled.

Vampire Diaries – 9/10/09 – There was a movie that came out recently, you may have heard of it. Twilight. Yeah, that one. It’s about a vampire who falls in love with a mortal (since when did we start calling humans mortals – or bloodbags for that matter???) and then has to fight other vampires to save said bloodbag mortal. Wait, am I talking about the movie or the tv show? Yeah, I don’t care either. However, Twilight made a shit ton of money and that practically guarantees that Vampire Diaries succeed. This show will not be canceled.

The Beautiful Life – 9/16 – A show about models. *sigh* Corbin Bleu is in this. You know, the cute kid from the High School Musical movies with the crazy awesome curly fro that the two little girls I baby-sit are in love with? Yeah, he’s in it. And some other people, trying to be tragic about being beautiful. Beauty if pain, blah blah blah. I have a feeling this show will not be canceled.

Of course, one of these shows has to go. Maybe I will re-analyze after I watch my 3 episodes.

Fox

Glee – 9/9 – I loved this premiere and can’t wait to see it again. The buzz about it is good, although two friends (thanks, B. and C. for your input!) think they got the singing team together too quickly and we all agree that his wife shouldn’t have been that much of a bitch. Other than that, good solid acting and a likeable lead has us anticipating this show’s season. This show will not be canceled.

Brothers – 9/25 – This is Fox’s attempt at a new comedy this season that is not a cartoon. Last year’s attempt was disastrous for all involved. Yikes, was it awful! (and if you remember that it was called Do Not Disturb, then you are disturbed. The only reason I remember it is because I wrote it down). Well, Brothers, don’t be another Do Not Disturb. I can’t imagine, with CCH Pounder, that it will be. Michael Strahan did not even seem to be straining too hard either. Fingers crossed for more black people on prime time television. This show will be canceled.

The Cleveland Show – 9/27 – I hate Family Guy. No. I don’t hate it. I just despise that it is so funny. I don’t have a real reason and giving Cleveland his own show makes me want to scratch my head. I really hate American Dad, but this is about the Cleveland Show. Obviously, I haven’t watched Family Guy enough to really understand why Cleveland gets his own show. Is he still with his cheating wife? *sigh* This show will not be canceled because of Family Guy. *sigh*

NBC

The Jay Leno Show – 9/14 – Although The Jay Leno Show took the place of 4-5 new one hour dramas or reality shows, I will judge it by the same harsh standards that I judge everything. I mean, I hate stuff that I think will stay on the air and stuff I want to get off the air will stay. It is certain. However I think the Jay Leno Show will be funny. Jay is pretty consistent and the move to primetime, while it saddens me, just makes him more accessible to others and will give NBC the much needed financial boost they seem to need. This show will not be canceled.

Community – 9/17 – Starring The Soup host Joel McHale, Community is about a lawyer who is disbarred and must graduate from college (community college, hence the title) to become a lawyer again. Also stars Chevy Chase and Ken Chong. What I saw was very funny. This show will not be canceled.

Mercy – 9/23 – Another nurse drama that is a season late and a dollar short. It has all the elements of a nurse drama, a tough as nails nurse that heads the whole show, a newbie nurse that wants to kill themselves or change the world with their sunshine and light, an ethnic nurse who is the embodiment of the black/gay neighbor, someone to add some *spice* to the mix, the handsome doctor who cares but not as much as the nurse and I’m pretty sure some manager that is usually caustic but shows a heart every now and then. Yeah, pretty standard. Also, considering Royal’s Pain’s penchant for being the McGyver of doctors, they added a little bit of that for the head nurse. This show may be canceled, but for the purpose of my count, This show will not be canceled.

Trauma – 9/26 – I have a friend that is an EMT. He wants to start being able to carry guns and break up street fights and arrest people. Yeah. Scary right? That’s how I feel Trauma is going to be. The concept seems sound, but based on the preview, it just doesn’t look like it’s going to cut it. This show will be canceled.

CBS

Accidentally on Purpose – 9/21 – Jenna Elfman made me laugh as Dharma in Dharma and Greg, but can she pull off this tv baby (that is the older woman with the younger man). This comedy does not scream funny to me, but then again, how many other comedies on CBS gets my “not funny” check mark? This show will be canceled.

NCIS:Los Angeles – 9/22 – Yeah, so O’Connell gets shot up at the end of the 2 part “premiere” during the regular NCIS and we have to wait a few NCIS episodes and the whole summer to find out what the heck happened to him? Yeah, I’m pretty hyped up for this show. Therefore, in all my bias, I’m going to say this show will not be canceled.

The Good Wife – 9/22 – A wife whose politician husband is disgraced goes back to work as a lawyer and must deal with having been in the public spotlight and using a skill she hasn’t used since she got married… lawyering. Anyway, it seems very dramatic and that guy from Gilmore Girls is in it and though I found him annoying, most people like him and we need something to fill the empty void that whatever that law show with William Shatner was called left, so I say this show will not be canceled. It actually looks good.

Medium – 9/25 – While not technically a new show, the move from NBC to CBS is something. Also, Medium will be playing with a show that I just can’t stand, The Ghost Whisperer, which means that those Friday night seance followers just might have another spooky show to add to their repertoire. I already liked Medium so this show will not be canceled.

Three Rivers – 10/4 – I miss Moonlight. Alex O’Loughlin stas in this drama about organ transplantation set in Pittsburgh that tells a story from three perspectives – the donor and the donor’s family, the recipient, and the surgical team of the hospital. Please, can their be a doctor that doesn’t care about shit? Can you also have someone who is an adrenaline junkie! Can we have a head of the hospital that impedes the doctors from doing their work? Can we also add a dash of the “second chances” moral every episode??? This show will be canceled. Too bad. I like looking at O’Loughlin.

ABC

The Forgotten – 9/22 – Christian Slater certainly is trying, isn’t he, to make a comeback. Jerry Bruckheimer has another show on television. I fell for the face/off ripoff that was My Own Worst Enemy and I think I’m going to do it again in this Cold Case-esque drama about people who find out the identity the Jane and John Does in homicides. This show will not be canceled. I believe in you Christian Slater!

Modern Family – 9/23 – 3 different types of family that make up one. Ed O’Neill and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (the one that goes crazy about the creampuff comment) let me know I’m going to be watching this until they cancel it. Which they won’t. So it has been said, so it shall be! This show will not be canceled.

Cougar Town – 9/23 -  What happens if you get divorced at 40 and look like Courteney Cox? You get some hot guy. But fortunately Courteney Cox is funny, although I’m not 100% sure of the concept. I will give this it’s 3 episodes, but I don’t think this show will make it. This show will be canceled.

Eastwick – 9/23 – I have a thing for witches. Not the Wiccan variety who are just plain people that are a little too close to nature, but the idea of a woman who has a familiar who cause things, good and bad, to happen to those around them. It’s a bit romantic, I guess, and something of a “living in the shadows” type thing, but I like it. However, this show is not gonna make it. It’s the Sex and the City, Candace Bushnell-esque story of women with supernatural powers. Unlike Sex and the City, it’s not going to succeed unless the concept has much changed from the pilot. This show will be canceled.

Flash Forward – 9/24 – People lose a few minutes of their lives… or do they? After they come back to the present world, they discover that they may have traveled forward in time. To what end? I dunno. I guess we gotta watch. Yet the previews for this didn’t seem half bad so, this show will not be canceled.

V – 11/3 - Very happy to see some 4400 people on this show. You know with a big ball of aliens appearing in the sky and all… In the preview where the reporter is about to interview the head alien in charge (it’s Inara!!!!!), the tension there is so palpable that I can’t wait to see how it is resolved and see when they first become the lizard like creatures we know they are (although we seem to be in love with lizards now, I’ve seen so many commercials with the reptile in them). This show will not be canceled.