TV Eye: Woes make Glee worthwhile

From left, Shannon Beiste (Dot Marie Jones), Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) and Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) in Glee. Photo / AP

Tears, tantrums, teenagers. The usual Friday night line-up on TV3, then. New Zealand's Next Top Model gave way to the third series of Glee last Friday, that bizarre amalgam of Americana high school comedy-drama and ... singing.

As one who can't stand musicals, the constant breaking into singing-dancing can be disconcerting but the presence of Jane Lynch as Coach Sue wipes any whiff of cutesiness out of Glee. Coach Sue's psychotic barking and facial rictus is really the single reason I watch Glee.

But is Sue's reign of terror under threat? Trouble has arrived at William McKinley High School in the form of the box-shaped Shannon Beiste, the new football coach, sucking up the funds taken away from the Glee Club and the Cheerios because they are losers.

Beiste (Dot Marie Jones) is taller, wider and even more butch than Sue, so my heart lifted when the two women almost literally butted heads in Principal Figgins' office last Friday. At last, someone who can roust Sue Sylvester. But Beiste has two fatal weaknesses, which Sue quickly sniffed out. She is no good at repartee, telling Sue she was "all coffee and no omelette". "That makes no sense," sneered Sue, nevertheless rattled (initially) by this new foe. And the Beiste - who has a face like carved butter and wears knee-length shorts matched with knee-high socks - carries a lifelong burden of being mocked. She is emotionally vulnerable. She cries too easily. Sue is going to hurt her.

With the Glee Club down and almost out, having lost at the regionals, Coach Will is desperate to get them to the New York Nationals. But they only have 11 members standing and no one wants to join. In the toilets, self-absorbed Gleester Rachel discovered a new girl called Sunshine (Charice) from the Philippines who could sing as well, or even better, than her. She gave sweet little Sunshine "directions" to the audition, sending her off to a crack house. When the Glee gang later heard Sunshine sing her socks off, they were in raptures. But their rivals, Vocal Adrenaline, poached her.

Meanwhile, Sue enlisted Will in her Beiste vendetta, further evidence that Sue is as immature as any high school student. Her campaign included ordering pizzas for the football team, which Beiste had to pay for, manipulating a student to lay a sexual molestation claim and making dog-poo cookies. She went too far. When Will realised the effect of her viciousness, he stood up to Sue. He is now the new Beiste friend.

Aside from the songs, the dance, the fights and the feuds - exhausting - Glee does boast some sly dialogue. Newbie golden boy Sam Evans, played by Chord Overstreet, has that completely weird Justin Bieber look but he can sing. "Dude, your mouth is huge - how many tennis balls can you fit in there?" asked a boy watching his audition. "Uh, I've never had any balls in my mouth."

Glee does a Britney Spears tomorrow night. Coach Sue is furious. "Are you doing a BRITNEY?" That might be my second reason for watching Glee.

-TimeOut