Chewing over chicken...and TV

I feel like the premier episode of FlashForward is similar to the General Tso's chicken at Ohio University's Jefferson Dining Hall. It looks really great at first, and if you only pay attention to it at a surface level, it seems like it truly is that good. However, under further scrutiny, it’s not that great compared to restaurant-quality chicken. In the case of the chicken, the first few bites are excellent, but then it’s easy to just toss aside. But even though it’s only satisfactory at best, I still get the chicken every time it’s served. Why? I don’t know. It’s just much more appealing than it should be. Such is the case with FlashForward. But we’re discussing food for the eyes right now and not food for the stomach, so it’s time to move on to the critique!

When I first saw the trailer for FlashForward, I thought that the show was going to be very similar to the book. Every thing in the commercials related to the book, and everything made sense. But once the show started, I saw that this was not the case. The initial plotline is the same—the entire world blacks out at the same time and has “visions.” But the differences between the book and the show are many.

For one thing, none of the characters from the book, except for Lloyd Simcoe (whose main role is yet to be revealed), even have the same name in the show. Also, the book revolves around a physicist, rather than an FBI agent.

However, those differences are trivial and negligible when compared to the one thing about the show that irks me the most. In the book, they figure out what causes the blackouts rather quickly, and the book then goes on to focus on other things, such as what the main characters saw when they blacked out. The show has not revealed what caused the blackouts, and appears to be taking on a very different storyline from the book.

Though I am not happy about the direction the show is taking in relation to the book, I do like the show on its own when I don’t compare it to anything. It’s like the chicken. On its own it’s fine. I just can’t compare it to anything, or else I won’t like it.

I also feel like anyone, college student or not, can relate to this show, albeit in an unconventional way. In FlashFoward, everyone on Earth blacks out for two minutes and 17 seconds, and sees a glimpse of the future. This causes many people to completely change their outlook on life. And now to you, reader, I pose a question: If you had a glimpse of your future for two minutes and 17 seconds, and the outlook was not what you wanted, would you let it happen, claiming that it’s destiny and can’t be changed? Or would you seize any opportunity you had to make yourself a better future, and completely change it? Chew it over.

The first course: A giant helping of Glee

Hello, everyone! Well, it’s the last week of September, which means that many new TV shows have begun. My purpose in doing this blog is to inform people of what new shows are out there, what I think of them and how they can be relevant to the lives of college students. I’ll be reviewing a wide variety of shows, including Glee, FlashForward, Mercy and The Cleveland Show. Hopefully the reviews and opinions I give will be helpful to you as you find your new favorite shows, and you can chew them over as you eat some food for the eyes.

The first course that this blog will dish out is Glee. Glee originally premiered on May 19, 2009, which was a bold move as far as TV shows are concerned—if the show had flopped, then the entire season would have been a flop before it even started. However, this was not the case. Glee exploded, as can be seen here in a Los Angeles Times article. The second episode aired on September 9, and I have been hooked ever since.

Glee takes place at William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio, where the football team and the elite cheer club, the Cheerios, rule the school. Spanish teacher Will Schuester (played by Matthew Morrison, who portrayed Link Larkin on the Broadway production of Hairspray) decides that he would like to take over the direction of Glee Club and restore it to its former glory (the school won a show choir championship in 1993).

However, the only students who try out are the social misfits, although they are amazingly talented. Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley), Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale), Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) form the original five members of the club, with Rachel quickly becoming the obvious star and best singer of the group, although she is somewhat of a prima donna.

The first rehearsal is a disaster, and Will (known as “Mr. Shu” to his students) quickly becomes discouraged, wondering what he can possibly do to make students want to join the glee club. His colleague Emma (Jayma Mays) inspires him, telling him that if he can get a few of the more popular kids to join, others will follow. Unfortunately, he has no luck—until he blackmails star quarterback Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) into joining the club. Finn is talented, a star who can keep up as a male lead with Rachel.

Things start to look up for the club, until Will’s wife reveals that she is pregnant, forcing him to make the difficult decision to leave his passion—teaching—to become an accountant. The club appears to be finished, but then Finn brings some new music to the group, and the first episode ends with a fantastic (at least in my opinion) rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

Glee has quickly become one of my favorite TV shows. The actors sing all of their own songs, and the acting is cheesy, but great. For example, the Cheerios coach, Sue Sylvester is played by Jane Lynch, and she is hilarious. She yells at her cheerleaders, telling them that the pain they feel in their workouts is similar to the pain she feels by living with hepatitis and has one-liners that sent me to the floor laughing, because she is so mean yet so funny. In an interview, Lynch describes her character as one who is “pure evil and doesn’t hide it.”

The rest of the characters all develop their own unique personalities throughout the later episodes as well. I know it sounds clichéd, but Glee is a sweet treat after a long day. Chew it over.

Preview of the pilot episode: