“Glee”
Tuesday 9pm, Fox
Please, God, let this be as good as it looks. “Glee” is a new musical comedy about a well-meaning high school teacher (dreamy Matthew Morrison, Broadway’s Hairspray) who takes over his school’s glee club in an attempt to return it to its former glory. Naturally the club is stocked full of geeks, dweebs, losers, and other social outcasts, and one notable self-important bitch who thinks she’s the second coming of Barbra Streisand. The concept sounds a little twee, but it’s from the mind of Ryan Murphy, who brings us the cracked-out plastic surgery drama “Nip/Tuck,” and also features Jessalyn Gilsig (Crazy Gina from “N/T”) and Jane Lynch (general awesomeness). So I have high hopes. Note: This is just the pilot; should it do well, the series won’t start up until fall.
“So You Think You Can Dance”
Thursday 8pm, Fox
As I write this, the final three “American Idol” candidates have just performed, and Adam Lambert seems poised to take the 2009 crown. Whatever. I just want it to end so this show can take its place on the schedule. “SYTYCD” is better than “AI” in almost every way. While “Idol” features endless opening auditions followed by weeks of mostly mediocre karaoke presided over by inane judges, “Dance” dispatches with the initial auditions fairly quickly, and then gets right to the semi-finals, which feature incredibly talented dancers bringing to life original pieces by some equally talented choreographers.
“Jon & Kate Plus 8”
Monday 9pm, TLC
Up until a month ago, Jon and Kate Gosselin were known as the parents of eight kids—a pair of fraternal twin girls and a subsequent batch of sextuplets—who had their own reality show documenting their harried lives. But for the last few weeks they’ve become better known as tabloid trainwrecks whose marriage is about to explode. In April, Jon was dogged by reports that he was cheating on Kate with a college co-ed, which he denied. Then Kate was accused of having a long-term affair with her bodyguard, which she denied. One thing is for sure: This is a huge mess, and it will be directly addressed in the new season of their TLC show, which debuts tonight. My question: How do parents of eight kids have enough time for a social life, much less one that involves sneaking around and cheating?
