glee: The Complete Second Season (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

September 14, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“glee” season two had everything that one would instantly fall in love or become hooked on the series. Fun, emotional and heartbreaking storylines but also seeing the writers do something different and meaningful on television and continuing the trend of featuring awesome music. “glee: The Complete Second Season” is highly recommended!

TITLE: glee: The Complete Second Season

TV SERIES RELEASE DATE: 2010-2011

DURATION: 22 episodes (1000 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (widescreen 1:78:1), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and French

COMPANY: Twentieth Century Fox

RELEASE DATE: September 13, 2011

Created by Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy

Directed by Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy, Bradley Buecker, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Eric Stoltz, Paris Barclay, Carol Banker

Written by Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy

Executive Producer: Dante Di Loreto, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy

Co-Executive Producer: Ian Brennan, John Peter Kousakis

Producer: Alexis Martin, Kenneth J. Silverstein, Michael Novick

Associate Producer: Jennifer Morrison, Thomas Kuehl

Music by James S. Levine

Cinematography by Christopher Baffa

Edited by Bradley Buecker, Doc Crotzer, John Roberts, Fabienne Bouville, Joe Leonard

Casting by Eric Dawson, Carol Kritzer, Robert J. Ulrich

Production Design by Mark Hutman

Art Direction by Michael Rizzo

Set Decoration by Barbara Munch

Series Costume Design by Lou Evrich

Starring:

Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester

Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester

Lea Michele as Rachel Berry

Cory Monteith as Finn Hudson

Dianna Agron as Quinn Fabray

Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel

Jessalyn Gilsig as Terri Schuester

Jayma Mays as Emma Pillsbury

Kevin McHale as Artie Abrams

Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones

Mark Salling as Noah “Puck” Puckerman

Jenna Uskowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang

Naya Rivera as Santa Lopez

Heather Morris as Brittany

Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins

Harry Shum Jr. as Mike Chang

Mike O’Malley as Burt Hummel

Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson

Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans

Ashley Fink as Lauren Zizes

Lauren Potter as Becky Jackson

Dijon Talton as Matt Rutherford

Max Adler as Dave Karofsky

Josh Sussman as Jacob Ben Israel

James Earl as Azimio

Dot Jones as Shannon Beiste

Lamarcus Tinker as Marcus

Jonathan Groff as Jesse St. James

Bill A. Jones as Rod Remington

Stephen Tobolowsky as Sandy Ryerson

Gwynneth Paltrow as Holly Holiday

Kristen Chenoweth as April Rhodes

Charlotte Ross as Judy Fabray

John Stamos as Dr. Carl Howell

Charice as Sunshine Corazon

GLEE is a biting musical comedy about a group of eager and ambitious students who strive to outshine their singing competition to win Nationals while navigating the cruel halls of McKinley High. A pop-culture phenomenon, GLEE boasts critical acclaim, a loyal fan base of “GLEEks,” two Platinum and two Gold albums, more than 29 million song downloads, the record for the most titles on the Billboard Hot 100 by a non-solo act (beating out Elvis Presley, James Brown and The Beatles), an incredible 19 Emmy nominations – earning it the distinction of being the most-nominated series of the year – and four Emmy Awards. To top it off, the genre-defying, award-winning series has been picked up through its third season.

Exciting, fun and a definite step-up from the first season, “glee” is a fantastic series, breaking boundaries and trying to accomplish something new with each episode!

Last season, there was a lot of hype behind the teen musical/comedy/drama series “Glee” and for some series, season two can either substantiate a series popularity or prove it was just a fluke. Fortunately for “glee”, not only did the series prove that it is one of the best series on television, we also got to see producers and creators of the series experiment with different themes, more music and most of all, giving the characters much more to work with and to let them showcase their talent.

The series is created by Ryan Murphy (writer for “Nip/Tuck”, “Popular”), Brad Falchuk (producer for “Nip/Tuck”) and Ian Brennan would gain attention because of its music but for the most part, it would prove to become successful with its catchy music (with actual talent that can sing), a witty storyline and its well-cast characters.

The series proved to become so popular worldwide that several soundtracks have been released and have been hits on various worldwide album charts and in 2011, winner of multiple awards and even earned 12 Emmy Award nominations, as well as earning a Golden Globe Award for Chris Colfer (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television) and Jane Lynch (Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television) as well as earning an award for “Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy”.

“Glee” revolves around the glee club of William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio. Spanish teacher Will Schuester (played by Matthew Morrison, “As the World Turns”) becomes the director of the club and his goal is to turn this group of underdogs to achievers and bring them to Sectionals.

Will used to be part of a successful Glee Club back in high school and wants to make the club prominent once again. But with money now being diverted to this new club, money is taken out of the cheerleading squad (aka “Cheerios”) led by head coach Sue Sylvester (played by Jane Lynch, “Julie & Julia”, “Two and a Half Men”). And Sue is literally hell bent in doing what she can to close the Glee club down.

In Season 1, the Glee Club known as “New Directions!” made it to the regionals (and came in last place). But this time it’s a new year, and season two brings new members and the Glee club will do what it can to make it to the regionals and the final national competition in New York City.

Also, new relationships as Will tries to get closer to Emma (who may have chosen another man), Finn and Rachel have their ups and downs, Santana and Brittany have their ups and downs, Kurt finds love at a new school and Artie finds new love!

Meanwhile, what happens when Rachel finds a rival with a good voice at her school? What happens when Artie wants to join the football team? What happens when the football team gets a female head coach and how will Will react when Sue gives a big announcement of a new group that she will be responsible for?

Members of the Glee Club known as “New Directions!” include:

Rachel Berry (played by Leah Michelle) – Very driven and wants to be come a famous talent. A talented singer and is dating Finn.
Finn Hudson (played by Cory Monteith, “Kyle XY”, “Kaya”) - The star quarterback of the football team who has alienated his teammates for joining the Glee Club. Once dated the cheerleader Quinn and now dating Rachel.
Quinn Fabray (played by Dianna Agron, “Heroes”) - The former head of the Cheerios (cheerleading squad) and now a member of the Glee club and is dating Sam Evans.
Mercedes Jones (played by Amber Riley) – The talented singer of Glee Club who hates being second fiddle to Rachel. She and Kurt are good friends.
Kurt Hummel (played by Chris Colfer) – A gay student who is picked on because he of his flamboyant style. Because of bullying at his school, he attends a private school where he falls for Blaine Anderson.
Noah “Puck” Puckerman (played by Mark Salling) – Finn’s former best friend and a teammate on the football team. He starts to like the tough Lauren Zizes.
Artie Adams (played by Kevin McHale, “Zoey 101″, “True Blood) - A guitarist and also a paraplegic. He is dating cheerleader Brittany Pierce.
Tina Cohen-Chang (played by Jenna Uskowitz) – The shy member of the Glee Club who was once dating Artie but now in a relationship with Mike Chang.
Santana Lopez (played by Naya Rivera) – A member of the Cheerios and the Glee Club. Very blunt and has a crush on Brittany.
Brittany (played by Heather Morris) – The not-s0-smart cheerleader. Joined along with Quinn and Santana to spy for their cheerleading head coach Susan Sylvester. But now a key member of the Glee club and is dating Artie. She also had a relationship with Santana.
Mike Chang (played by Harry Shum, Jr., “Step Up” films) – The dancer who is dating Tina.
Sam Evans (played by Chord Overstreet, “Private”, “The Hole”) - A football player who joins the group and starts dating Quinn.
Lauren Zizes (played by Ashley Fink, “You Again”, “Fat Girls”) – The tough girl who becomes the attraction of Puck.

Other main characters of “Glee” include:

Will Schuester (played by Matthew Morrison, “Music and Lyrics”, “Dan in Real Life”) – A Spanish teacher and the glee director. Was married to Terri until she faked her pregnancy, has dated Emma Pillsbury.
Sue Sylvester (played by Jane Lynch, “the 40-Year-Old Virgin”, “Talladega Nights”, “Role Models”) – The crude Head Coach of the Cheerios who becomes Will Schuester’s nemesis/frienemy.
Emma Pillsbury (played by Jayma Mays, “Heroes”, “Ugly Betty”) – The guidance counselor who is attracted to Will but because of their uncertain relationship, she has married a Dr. Carl Howell.
Terri Schuester (played by Jessalyn Gilsig, “Heroes”) – Divorced to Will Schuester. Dumped after lying about her pregnancy. She loves Will and would like to win his trust again.
Principal Figgins (played by Iqbal Theba) – The fair principal who tends to listen to Glee Club director Will Schuester and Cheerios Head Coach Susan Sylvester going at each other’s throats but trying to make sure there is decorum.
Shannon Beiste (played by Dot Jones, “Material Girls”, “The Boondock Saints”, “Patch Adams”) – The new coach of the McKinley High School football team.
Becky Jackson (played by Lauren Potter) – Sue Sylvester’s assistant who reports to her if anything goes wrong in school.
Blaine Anderson (played by Darren Criss, “Eastwick”) – Attends the private school that Kurt is attending and both become close friends.
Burt Hummel (played by Mike O’Malley, “Yes, Dear”, “Eat Pray Love”, “The Perfect Man”) – Kurt’s father who cares about his son, gay or not gay, he is there for him. He marries Finn’s mother.

“Glee: The Complete Second Season” features 22 episodes on four Blu-ray discs. Here is a spoilerless summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 23 – Audition – What happens when Rachel finds a rival in a student named Sunshine Corazon (played by Charice) who also has a great voice?
EPISODE 24 – Britney/Brittany – What happens when Brittany S. Pierce has to go to the dentist and while under sedation, starts dreaming that she is performing Britney Spears songs.
EPISODE 25 – Grilled Cheesus – What happens when Finn sees the face of Jesus on his grilled cheese sandwhich. Burt has a heart attack.
EPISODE 26 – Duets – Sam joins New Directions and is teamed up with Quinn during the duet competition for Glee Club.
EPISODE 27 – The Rocky Horror Glee Show – What happens when the New Directions put on a Rocky Horror Picture Show performance?
EPISODE 28 – Never Been Kissed – It’s a Boys vs. Girls mash-up competition. Meanwhile, Kurt is being bullied by a football player.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 29 – The Substitute – When Will becomes ill, substitute teacher Holly Holiday comes to replace him temporarily. Meanwhile, Sue becomes the temporary principal.
EPISODE 30 – Furt – Sue’s Nazi-hunting mother Doris (played by Carol Burnett) comes for a visit, meanwhile Finn and Kurt deal with their parents engagement.
EPISODE 31 – Special Education – With Kurt going to another school, New Directions! brings in Lauren to join them. And it’s time for Sectionals, meanwhile one of the couples breakup.
EPISODE 32 – A Very Glee Christmas – Still reeling after the breakup, Rachel tries to make peace with Finn. Meanwhile, the faculty hold a Secret Santa gift exchange.
EPISODE 33 – The Sue Sylvester Shuffle – With McKinley High’s football championship taking place, the football coach makes the team join the Glee club for a special half-time performance.
EPISODE 34 – Silly Love Songs – Will assigns the Glee club an assignment for them to perform a Valentine’s Day song.

DISC 3:

EPISODE 35 – Comeback – Brittany tries to make Rachel more sociable. Meanwhile, Sam forms a Bieber tribute band.
EPISODE 36 – Blame it on the Alcohol – As Principal Figgins wants to teach the student body about the danger of underage drinking, the Glee club gets drunk during a party.
EPISODE 37 – Sexy – Holly Holiday is back as a substitute sex education teacher.
EPISODE 38 – Original Song – New Directions compete against Kurt and the Dalton Academy Warblers and Aural Intensity at Regionals.
EPISODE 39 – A Night of Neglect – The Glee Club perform songs from artists they feel are neglected.

DISC 4:

EPISODE 40 – Born This Way – Santana blackmails Karofsky into starting an anti-bullying club in order to bring Kurt back to McKinley High School.
EPISODE 41 – Rumours – Sue revives the school newspaper “The Muckraker” and prints things about the Glee club in order to cause problems between them.
EPISODE 42 – Prom Queen – The competition for prom queen heats up. Who wins prom king and queen?
EPISODE 43 – Funeral – It’s almost time for the Nationals and Will brings in Jesse to give advice to the New Directions.
EPISODE 44 – New York – Season Finale. The New Directions perform in New York City for the National Show Choir Championship.

VIDEO:

“glee – The Complete Second Season” is presented in 1080p High Definition. First, the good. The good is that compared to watching it on HD via satellite, the picture quality is much clearer as details can be seen. Especially in close-ups of the characters. Colors are much more vibrant and for the most part, picture quality is very good. The bad news is that you will see compression artifacts show up during episodes with a lot of red or a lot of blue lighting.

Fortunately, this is only done only a few times throughout the second season, most notably when the group performs “Blame it on the Alcohol?”, that is where you see it the most. So, I wish that they fit four episodes per Blu-ray disc as opposed to five or six episodes on four Blu-ray discs in order to maximize the video for the entire Blu-ray disc on five Blu-ray discs.

But still, compared to having watched in on HD television, the Blu-ray picture quality is very good and fans of the series who want to experience the show in the best quality as possible, will definitely want to watch “glee” on Blu-ray!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“glee: The Complete Second Season” is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. And for me, the biggest difference compared to watching it on television is hearing how the music is utilized via lossless audio through the surround channels. Dialogue and music is clear coming from the center and front channels but through the surround channels, you can hear how certain instruments and vocals are utilized and definitely makes the music sound really awesome. So, for example, a song such as “Singing in the Rain/My Umbrella”, the surround channels are also utilized for the bass drum. So, the music really makes for an immersive soundtrack and definitely makes the special feature “Glee Music Jukebox” worth using and making the music worth listening to over and over via lossless!

Subtitles are in English SDH and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“glee: The Complete Second Season” comes with the following special features:

DISC 1:

Glee Music Jukebox - The isolated music portions of each episode. Each song for an episode featured on that disc is featured individually, so you can easily select the song without having to search for it during an episode.
The Making of the Rocky Horror Glee Show - (8:47) Cast and crew discuss their role on the Rocky Horror Glee Show and their thoughts of performing the music and the outfits they wear.
Exclusive Bonus Song: Plante, Schanet, Janet -(1:11) Bonus clip from the “Rocky Horror Glee Show” episode.

DISC 2:

Glee Music Jukebox - The isolated music portions of each episode. Each song for an episode featured on that disc is featured individually, so you can easily select the song without having to search for it during an episode.

DISC 3:

Glee Music Jukebox - The isolated music portions of each episode. Each song for an episode featured on that disc is featured individually, so you can easily select the song without having to search for it during an episode.

DISC 4:

Glee Music Jukebox - The isolated music portions of each episode. Each song for an episode featured on that disc is featured individually, so you can easily select the song without having to search for it during an episode.
Building Glee’s Auditorium – (5:31) Cory Monteith gives a tour of the newly built auditorium at Stage 16 on the Paramount lot and we meet Barbara Much (Set Decorator) and Mark Hutman (Production Designer).
A Day in the Life of Brittany – (5:45) Heather Morris in character of Brittany giving a tour of what she does during a day of shooting on “glee”.
Shooting Glee in New York City – (10:31) A look at the excitement by the cast and the fans during the shooting of the season finale in New York City.
Guesting on Glee – (8:06) Interviews with season two guests of “Glee”: Katie Couric, Carol Burnett, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cheyenne Jackson, Charice, Kristen Chenoweth, John Stamos and Jonathan Groff.
Stevie Nicks Goes Glee – (3:34) Stevie Nicks visits the set of “glee” and meeting with the cast.
Sue’s Quips – (2:15) A collection of Sue Sylvester’s quips from season two.
Santana’s Slams – (2:51) A collection of Santana’s slams from season two.
The Wit of Brittany – (2:20) A collection of Britney’s comments from season two.
Getting Waxed with Jane Lynch – (6:08) What went into the making of the Madame Tussaud’s Jane Lynch wax character and the unveiling.
Glee at Comic-Con 2010 – (14:54) Q&A with the cast of Glee and show creators at San Diego Comic-Con 2010.

EXTRAS:

“glee: The Complete Second Season” comes with a slip over cover case.

When I began watching the second season of “glee”, there were a lot of awesome moments during the series and I was quick to proclaim that “glee” season two was magnificent.

I felt the series started quite strong during its first half as we had the opportunity to see the rivalry between Rachel and Sunshine Corazon (who I thought was going to become a cast member and something I was actually quite excited about), the Britney/Brittany episode was fantastic which prompted me to blog about the episode right after I watched it and wrote:

Not sure how you all felt but last night’s episode of “GLEE” was awesome! I definitely want more Brittany and Santana!!! Both Heather Morris and Naya Rivera did a fantastic job on the choreography especially for “Me Against the Music”. Morris tore it up on “I’m a Slave 4 U”.

I’m sure Morris was being modest when she told New York Magazine, “We saw it on Friday, with the whole cast and crew saying they liked the Madonna episode better than Britney. But to me they’re so different. My character’s quirky, so the episode has more comedic stuff; it’s more of a funny episode. I thought it was hysterical. ”

This episode was waaaaay better than the Madonna episode.

My feeling at the time was that the writers were smart in bringing in new characters such as Sam, establishing the Sam and Quinn storyline, the Coach Beiste storyline was emotional but also seeing how the Kurt/Blaine storyline would resonate strongly among viewers. There were so many things that the writers were doing right for the first half of the series and then the series continued with awesome episodes as we had the emotional “Grilled Cheesus” episode with Kurt’s father suffering a heart attack, the awesome “Rocky Horror Glee Show”, the episodes featuring Gwyneth Paltrow and then the fantastic Glee Christmas episode “A Very Glee Christmas”.

And if there was a major improvement, it was the amount of music that was featured in season two and also to see original music being featured as well. In fact, what really hooked me to the series, especially season two was the music. Personally, I’m not a fan of covers but the fact that the people on the show can sing and for the most part, how the songs are incorporate to the storyline has definitely made me a weekly viewer of the series. Also, to find out that “glee” now holds the record for 113 single entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. For a TV series to have that much impact, that is quite phenomenal.

Also, “glee” is not a series about a group of perfect teenagers. Each of these characters have their faults but these characters are well fleshed out in the series that you actually care about these characters and each play their part in each episode. Will, a teacher and the director of the Glee Club deals losing a person he may have loved but has went to another man. And the honest feelings that people have in high school and the usual drama enhanced several times to make things seem so much worse than it is. It’s high school life well-covered.

So, far I found the music to really be pretty fun and enjoyable. The series has strong talents especially with the voices of Leah Michele and Amber Riley and Glee cast jams are pretty fun to listen to as well. But I have to admit that with season two, the two that captured my attention were Heather Morris (Brittany) and Naya Rivera (Santana). I loved how the writers started to use these two much more and when Naya Rivera and Amber Riley are paired up together, wow… what a wonderful musical pair!

But while I loved the majority of the episodes of “Glee”, I started to realize that the writers were drawing a blank with some of their newer characters. Sam who started out strong, became a character that started to fade obscurity and that is sad because he could sing (even sadder is that he is not a returning character for season three). But when he was paired with Quinn, they were able to utilize both he and also Dianna Agron much more to their own storyline but break them up and writers tried to pair Sam with other members and it didn’t work at all.

Then you have Mark Salling who plays the character of “Puck”. He was rarely used and when he was, it was for him trying to go after Lauren Zizes, and while it is an interesting concept to try something different with relationships, this is one couple that I can not picture in my mind, chemistry-wise. If anything, instead of using Lauren’s character more towards the budding relationship storyline, there was so much more she could have been used for and she also seems to have lost her regular character status for season three.

A major plus was the casting of Darren Criss (Blaine Anderson) for “glee”. I was shocked like everyone when his Warbler rendition of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” became a big hit on iTunes, doing better than any of the other songs by any “glee” cast member and no doubt that the Kurt/Blaine storyline has become very popular this past season.

Fortunately, I did like how writers did manage to work things out with Finn and Rachel but the off-and-on status of their relationship can easily grow old. While I did like the Tina and Mike couple flourishing, I’m still undecided with Artie and Brittany but I did like how the writers worked the Santana/Brittany storyline mid-season and towards the end.

So, while I enjoyed season two a lot, I felt there was some stumbling as the season neared the end. Mainly character utilization but everything else seemed to work out great. Gwyneth Paltrow and John Stamos were wonderful additions to this latest season and it would be great to see Neil Patrick Harris make a return.

And with season three coming soon, suffice to say, some fans were shocked with the announcement that characters such as Rachel, Finn and Kurt will be graduating but I do understand Ryan Murphy’s decision as he wants to capture the realistic high school life and the last thing anyone wants to see is a character staying in high school for too long. You’re going to have to say goodbye to characters and say hello to new characters, so it will be interesting to see what Murphy has planned for the 2011-2012 season. But it appears that the “Graduation” may or may not happen. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

“glee” season two had everything that one would instantly fall in love or become hooked on the series. Featuring fun, emotional and heartbreaking storylines but also seeing the writers do something different and meaningful on television and continuing the trend of featuring awesome music (makes you wonder how much is spent per episode for licensing the music).

As for the Blu-ray release, “glee: The Complete Second Season” is definitely an improvement over its HD broadcast but I wish that the episodes were broken down to four per disc to allow for better video for those of us who are picky about picture quality on Blu-ray but still, the picture quality is very good and the lossless audio is fantastic! Also, I enjoyed the number of special features included but it would be great to have audio commentary for the next Blu-ray release.

“glee: The Complete Second Season” is highly recommended!

Filed Under: Blu-ray Reviews, Music DVD/Blu-ray

NSFW: Nuthin’ But A Glee Thang

January 12, 2011 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

We know there are a lot of Gleeks out there! And it’s definitely a treat when we saw that there was a NSFW “Glee” based “Funny or Die” Video. Featuring Heather Morris, Matthew Morrison, Corey Monteith, Naya Rivera and Harry Shum Jr., “Modern Family” star Sofia Vergara with Ashley Lendzion and Riki Lindholme and you got “Nuthin’ But a Glee Thang”.

Young “Glee” fans….this is not for you!!!

Nuthin’ But A Glee Thang with Heather Morris, Matthew Morrison & Sofia Vergara from Heather Morris

Filed Under: What's Trending

glee – The Complete First Season (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

September 22, 2010 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

A series that is just so fun to watch, is well-written, well-cast and songs that are catchy and enjoyable. Glee is definitely one of the best series on television right now and if you find yourself enjoying the series, this DVD set is definitely worth owning! Highly recommended!

Images courtesy of © 2010 Comedy Partners. All Rights Reserved. COMEDY CENTRAL, SOUTH PARK and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Comedy Partners. TM, ® & Copyright © 2010 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: glee – the Complete First Season

DURATION: 24 episodes (974 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: 5.1 Dolby Digital, Widescreen (1:78:1), Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese

RATED: NOT RATED

COMPANY: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

RELEASE DATE: September 14, 2010

Created by Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy

Directed by Brad Falchuk, Elodie Keene, Ryan Murphy and John Scott

Written by Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy

Executive Producer: Dante Di Loreto, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy

Co-Executive Producer: Ian Brennan, John Peter Kousakis

Producer: Alexis Martin, Michael Novick

Associate Producer: Jennifer Morrison, Thomas Kuehl

Music by James S. Levine

Cinematography by Christopher Baffa

Edited by Bradley Buecker, Nathan Allen, Joe Leonard

Casting by Eric Dawson, Carol Kritzer, Robert J. Ulrich

Production Design by Mark Hutman

Art Direction by Kevin Constant, Peter Clemens

Set Decoration by Barbara Munch

Series Costume Design by Lou Evrich

Starring:

Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester

Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester

Lea Michele as Rachel Berry

Cory Monteith as Finn Hudson

Dianna Agron as Quinn Fabray

Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel

Jessalyn Gilsig as Terri Schuester

Jayma Mays as Emma Pillsbury

Kevin McHale as Artie Abrams

Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones

Mark Salling as Noah “Puck” Puckerman

Jenna Uskowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang

Naya Rivera as Santana Lopez

Heather Morris as Brittany

Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins

Harry Shum Jr. as Mike Chang

Dijon Talton as Mark Rutherford

Patrick Gallagher as Ken Tanaka

Stephen Tobolowsky as Sandy Ryerson

Josh Sussman as Jacob Ben Israel

Max Adler as Dave Karofsky

James Earl as Azimio

Jonathan Groff as Jesse St. James

Stephen Tobolowsky as Sandy Ryerson

Romy Rosemont as Carole Hudson

Lauren Potter as Becky Jackson

Idina Menzel as Shelby Corcoran

Bill A. Jones as Rod Remington

Kristin Chenoweth as April Rhodes

Molly Shannon as Brenda Castle

Charlotte Ross as Judy Fabray

Television’s most award-wining new series, GLEE was honored with a Golden Globe® for Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical; a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series; and a People’s Choice Award for Favorite New TV Comedy. GLEE follows an optimistic teacher who – against all odds and a malicious cheerleading coach – inspires McKinley High’s Glee Club to conquer the world one singing competition at a time. GLEE stars Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Jessalyn Gilsig, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison, Amber Riley, Mark Salling and Jenna Ushkowitz. The hit show has attracted celebrity guest appearances by Kristin Chenoweth, Eve, Josh Groban, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Olivia Newton-John, Idina Menzel, and Molly Shannon. GLEE: The Complete First Season Blu-ray and DVD

The music from GLEE continues to shine with inventive renditions of past and present hit songs including Ike & Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary,” Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.”

With a lot of hype behind the teen musical/comedy/drama series “Glee”, many people catching “American Idol” wondered what this new series would be about. The series created by Ryan Murphy (writer for “Nip/Tuck”, “Popular”), Brad Falchuk (producer for “Nip/Tuck”) and Ian Brennan would gain attention because of its music but for the most part, it would prove to become successful with its catchy music (with actual talent that can sing), a witty storyline and its well-cast characters.

The series proved to become so popular that two soundtracks have been released for the television series and even was nominated for four 2010 Golden Globe Awards. With support from various media sites to even celebrities and a fanbase that have branded themselves as “gleeks”. “Glee”, although not exactly original (“Fame” was known for its musical teens in the 1980′s and the teenage jock musical was featured heavily in the Disney “High School Musical” films) and a cast of talent playing teenagers from various ethnicities and even one who is handicapped, “Glee” manages to capture the drama of high school life but also the fun of watching this group of underdogs trying to succeed.

The series revolves around the glee club of William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio. Spanish teacher Will Schuester (played by Matthew Morrison, “As the World Turns”) becomes the director of the club and his goal is to turn this group of underdogs to achievers and bring them to Sectionals. Will used to be part of a successful Glee Club back in high school and wants to make the club prominent once again. But with money now being diverted to this new club, money is taken out of the cheerleading squad (aka “Cheerios”) led by head coach Sue Sylvester (played by Jane Lynch, “Julie & Julia”, “Two and a Half Men”). And Sue is literally hell bent in doing what she can to close the Glee club down.

Members of the Glee Club known as “New Directions!” include:

Rachel Berry (played by Leah Michelle) – Very driven and wants to be come a famous talent. A talented singer and has feelings for Finn.
Finn Hudson (played by Cory Monteith, “Kyle XY”, “Kaya”) - The star quarterback of the football team who has alienated his teammates for joining the Glee Club. Dates the cheerleader Quinn and has feelings for Rachel. He is also the main male singer of the club.
Quinn Fabray (played by Dianna Agron, “Heroes”) - The head of the Cheerios (cheerleading squad) and the Celibacy Club who joins the Glee Club to spy on them for her coach Sue Sylvester and because she notices that her boyfriend Finn has eyes for Rachel.
Mercedes Jones (played by Amber Riley) – The talented singer of Glee Club who hates being second fiddle to Rachel. She is attracted to Kurt.
Kurt Hummel (played by Chris Colfer) – A gay student who is picked on because he of his flamboyant style.
Noah “Puck” Puckerman (played by Mark Salling) – Finn’s best friend and a teammate on the football team. He joins the Glee club only so he can impress mothers at the PTA meetings.
Artie Adams (played by Kevin McHale, “Zoey 101″, “True Blood) - A guitarist and also a paraplegic. He is seen as a nerd and loves being part of Glee Club.
Tina Cohen-Chang (played by Jenna Uskowitz) – The shy member of the Glee Club and is attracted to Artie.
Santana Lopez (played by Naya Rivera) – A member of the Cheerios and the Glee Club. Joined along with Quinn and Brittany to spy for their cheerleading head coach Susan Sylvester.
Brittany (played by Heather Morris) – The not-s0-smart cheerleader. Joined along with Quinn and Santana to spy for their cheerleading head coach Susan Sylvester.

Other main characters of “Glee” include:

Jayma Mays (played by Emma Pillsbury, “Heroes”, “Ugly Betty”) – The guidance counselor who is attracted to Will but she is dating and engaged to the high school football coach, Ken Tanaka.
Terri Schuester (played by Jessalyn Gilsig, “Heroes”) – Married to Will but a woman who will do anything to prevent Will from leaving her and dislikes his commitment towards the Glee Club.
Ken Tanaka (played by Patrick Gallagher) – Head coach of the football team and is dating and engaged to Jayma Mays. He is not too fond of Will.
Principal Figgins (played by Iqbal Theba) – The fair and reasonable principal who tends to listen to Glee Club director Will Schuester and Cheerios Head Coach Susan Sylvester going at each other’s throats but tries to make sure both are on the same footing.

“glee – The Complete First Season” features the following 22 episodes on seven DVD’s (note: the following are spoiler-less summaries):

DISC 1:

EPISODE 1: Pilot - Will Schuester, a former member of the Glee Club and a Spanish teacher of McKinley High School tries to restore the Glee Club in school.
EPISODE 2: Showmance - The Glee club performs in front of the school in order to get new members. Meanwhile, Will takes a second job as a janitor when he finds out his wife is pregnant.
EPISODE 3: Acafellas - Will forms an all-male a cappella group known as the “Acafellas”. Mercedes falls in love.
EPISODE 4: Preggers - Rachel doesn’t feel she is being treated right in the Glee Club and Quinn receives shocking news.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 5: The Rhodes Not Taken - Will brings a former high school classmate and Glee Club friend April Rhodes (played by Kristin Chenoweth) to spice things up with the current Glee Club.
EPISODE 6: Vitamin D - Will starts a competition between the boys and the girls.
EPISODE 7: Throwdown - With Cheerios coach Sue, now a co-leader of the Glee Club, she makes sure to cause tension amongst the members.
EPISODE 8: Mash-Up - Will composes a mash-up. Puck decides to ask Rachel out on a date.

DISC 3:

EPISODE 9: Wheels - Artie’s chances of traveling with the Glee Club at regionals comes to question and Kurt takes on Rachel for a “Diva-Off”.
EPISODE 10: Ballad - Will splits the Glee Club into teams who must sing a ballad.
EPISODE 11: Hairography - Will suspects that Susan may be leaking information about their Glee Club to another high school.

DISC 4:

EPISODE 12: Mattress - The Glee Club are asked to take part in a commercial without Will’s knowledge.
EPISODE 13: Sectionals - Will takes a bullet for the Glee Club and is suspended. Finn finds out the truth about Quinn. With problems facing the group, now the Glee Club must prepare for their competitions at Sectionals without their director and one of their members.

DISC 5:

EPISODE 14 – Hello-O – The return of Sue, Will and Emma start dating and Rachel meets Jesse St. James, the lead singer of Vocal Adrenaline and starts to become attracted to him.
EPISODE 15 – The Power of Madonna – When Will hears how Sue utilizes Madonna songs for her Cheerios, Will decides to utilize Madonna songs for New Directions. Meanwhile, Jesse leaves his school and Vocal Adrenaline and joins New Directions.
EPISODE 16 – Home – Sue wants her new cheerleader Mercedes to lose weight. Meanwhile, Will becomes reacquainted with his former glee singer April Rhodes (Kristin Chenoweth).
EPISODE 17 – Bad Reputation – Kurt steals a video of coach Sue Sylvester performing Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” and members of New Directions post it on YouTube. Meanwhile, Principal Figgins gives an order to Will after a “Glist” is found, which ranks the New Directions members based on sexual promiscuity.

DISC 6:

EPISODE 18 – Laryngitis -Rachel complains that some members of the club are faking their singing and thus Will makes sure everyone must perform a solo act. Meanwhile, Kurt is jealous of how much time his father is spending with Finn.
EPISODE 19 – Dream On – Bryan Ryan (played by Neil Patrick Harris), a former McKinley High glee member and now an auditor of the school board visits and wants to cut the glee club. Meanwhile, Jesse learns a major secret about Rachel and the truth of who is her real mother.
EPISODE 20 – Theatricality – When Rachel discovers that Vocal Adrenaline are planning to perform Lady GaGa at the regionals, Will makes Lady Gaga their class assignment. Meanwhile, Finn and Kurt’s friendship becomes complicated. Rachel discovers who her real mother is.

DISC 7:

EPISODE 21 – Funk – Jesse St. James shows his true colors. Meanwhile, Vocal Adrenaline tries to intimidate New Directions leading Puck and Finn wanting retaliation against them.
EPISODE 22 – Journey to Regionals – It’s time for the regionals and Will learns that Sue Sylvester is one of the judges. On that same day of regionals, Quinn’s water breaks and will be giving birth. Depending on how well New Directions does at Regionals, they may or may not be able to keep the club from continuing.

VIDEO:

“glee – The Complete First Season” is presented in widescreen 1:78:1. Shot digitally, this is a series that I’m sure would look fantastic on the Blu-ray release. As for the DVD release, picture quality is cool as some parts showcase the vibrant colors of the series but one thing I noticed is that the pilot episode definitely shows a lot of noise but as the series progressed towards the second half of the first seaosn, picture quality was much better. Blacks are nice and deep and skin tones look natural on the DVD but for the most part, picture quality for “glee” very good on DVD. But for those who are concerned with picture quality will definitely want to “glee – The Complete First Season” on Blu-ray. Otherwise, the DVD is good.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“glee – The Complete First Season” is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround. The series is front and center channel driven but with those who own modern home-theater receivers may find it a benefit to have the audio set at stereo on all channels if they have a 5.1, 7.2 or higher setup. Audio is clear and understandable but what matters for a series such as “glee” is how the music sounds and for the most part, music sounds great. There is crowd ambiance in the school hallways or chatter in during the competitions but for the most part, “glee” is a front and center channel-driven soundtrack. And similar to the video, if you are an audiophile, then you will definitely want the lossless soundtrack and go with the Blu-ray version.

Subtitles are presented in English SDH, Spanish, French and Portuguese.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“glee – The Complete First Season” comes with the following special features:

DISC 4:

Welcome to McKinley! – (5:02) A video of Principal Figgins introducing 8th graders to his office before they go to McKinley High School. A hilarious featurette.
Glee Music Video – (2:44) A music video for “Somebody to Love”.
Full Length Audition Pieces – Featuring the full-length audition pieces of Rachel performing “On My Own” and Mercedes performing “Respect”.
Fox Movie Channel Presents Casting Session – (11:58) The creators of “Glee” talk about how it was important to have a cast that can sing and dance. The creators and FOX execs also discuss how “Glee” became a television show.
Deconstructing Glee with Ryan Murphy – (2:49) Ryan Murphy talks about “Glee” and how it’s different from other musicals. Classic songs being performed on the show and more.
Dance Boot Camp – (3:12) Interview with choreographer Zach Woodlee about training the cast to learn their dance routines.
Jane Lynch A to Glee – (:52) Jane Lynch talks about what the vowel “A” means to her.
Meet Jane Lynch – (1:03) Jane Lynch talks about her character Sue.
5 Things you don’t know about Jayma – (:39) Know more about Jayma Mays.
7 Things you don’t know about Cory – (1:00) Know more about Cory Monteith.
6 Things you don’t know about Amber – (:58) Know more about Amber Riley.
7 Things you don’t know about Chris – (:41) Know more about Chris Colfer.
Video Diaries – Video diaries for Jane Lynch, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, Cory Monteith, Kevin McHale, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer and Dianna Agron. The video diaries which last about 2-3 minutes long features each talent going to New York City and back to Los Angeles to promote the show.

DISC 5:

Glee Music Jukebox – This section allows people to view the musical portions of “Hell-O”, “The Power of Madonna”, “Home” and “Bad Reputation”.

DISC 6:

Glee Music Jukebox – This section allows people to view the musical portions of “Laryngitis”, “Dream On” and “Theatricality”.

DISC 7:

Glee Music Jukebox – This section allows people to view the musical portions of “Funk” and “Journey to Regionals”.
Glee Sing-Along Karaoke – Karaoke portions for “Alone”, “Somebody to Love”, “Keep Holding On” and “Don’t Stop Believin;”.
Staying in Step with Glee – (6:20) A featurette featuring Zach Woodlee (choreographer of “glee”) and Brooke Lipton (assistant choreographer) at the Tin Shed Dance Studio in Hollywood. The two show how to do choreography of Vocal Adrenaline.
Bite Their Style: Dress Like Your Favorite Gleek – (8:53) Costume designer Lou Eyrich talks about the various clothing for each character.
The Power of Madonna – (10:37) Crew and cast talk about doing the Madonna episode and how the songs were chosen, especially the making of the Sue Sylvester “Vogue” video and more.
Making of a Showstopper – (17:22) Show creator Ryan Murphy and other crew members including Jonathan Groff talk about their thoughts on working on the “glee” finale and making the Vocal Adrenaline performance work and utilizing Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

EXTRAS:

“glee – The Complete First Season” comes with a slip cover case.

The first time I watched “Glee” was its pilot episode and thought it was pretty fun concept, especially with the popularity of musicals such as “High School Musical” but what I liked about “Glee” is that you have your average students and the members of Glee Club are pretty much the underdogs that are picked on by the jocks. It’s really interesting to see how the group dynamics start to evolve from the beginning to the 13th episode and by the second half, you can tell that the hiatus leading to the second half of the series and the popularity of the series definitely made the series get a boost in the types of music that can be utilized, better production value and the cast seem to gel much more.

And it’s no surprise as 2009-2010 have been incredible for the cast members and crew. From award nominations, the cast receiving love from a lot of television show critics and soundtracks that continue to sell incredibly well. “glee” also features solid writing that goes hand-in-hand with the awesome musical performances and for the most part, “glee – The Complete First Season” is a fantastic DVD set.

But what hooked me to the series was the music. Personally, I’m not a fan of covers but the fact that the people on the show can sing and for the most part, how the songs are incorporate to the storyline has definitely made me a weekly viewer of the series. Also, the talent can sing…Matthew Morrison, Leah Michele and Amber Riley do a great job but also for the writers to recognize that its not good that only a few characters receive the spotlight and diversifying the various musical performances to other characters as well, so they can showoff their vocals.

Also, it’s important to note that these characters are not perfect teens and not everyone bursts into song ala “High School Musical”. “Glee” is not a group of perfect teenagers, each of these characters have their faults but these characters are well fleshed out in the series that you actually care about these characters and each play their part in each episode. Will, a teacher and the director of the Glee Club deals with his marital strife with his wife, who is determined to make sure her husband doesn’t leave him. Quinn must deal with being a single mother, Mercedes deals with her weight, Artie deals with being in a wheel chair, Curt deals with how people look at him because he is homosexual and each characters has their own set of issues. It’s high school life and it’s great to see the students have their own set of issues, as well as the adults.

While the first season had a pretty interesting storyline with Will trying to get the glee club going and dealing with his wife, the second half of the series is where things get even more interesting in drama dynamics. Throw in Jesse St. James of Vocal Adrenaline, throw in Curt falling for Finn, Quinn having to deal with her pregnancy and finding friendship from a person she never expected to get close to, seeing things develop between Will and Emma and more. And of course, Sue Sylvester was absolutely wonderful this season. And as for the music, especially with the Madonna and Lady Gaga episodes, the music for the whole season was fantastic.

There is no doubt that “glee” is a series that now has a great budget to license these songs for television, CD and also for the DVD release and just by seeing the sheer amount of songs used on each episode, I’m sure that the music takes a big chomp out of the budget. But that is what makes “glee” work and that is the ability to use contemporary music (and classics) to attract listeners of young and old.

Also, by the second season, it looks as if the talent are more at ease and comfortable working with each other. The vocals are of the cast are much better, the chemistry between the characters are also well done (the interaction between Will and Sue is fantastic) and there is better use of the characters that like Santana and Brittany and also getting some of the other background characters involved as well.

For those who purchased “glee Season 1 Volume 1″ and intend to purchase “glee – The Complete First Season”. You can also get a $10 rebate by sending the proof of purchase that comes with this DVD set and also providing a mail-in form and a barcode from the first DVD release.

Overall, there are a good amount of special features on this DVD box set to keep Gleeks busy but for those who wonder what the hub-bub is all about and why the media is giving so much coverage to this series, check this DVD out and you’ll see what is so special about “glee”. It’s a series that is fun to watch, cool characters, solid performances and a series that has a fantastic soundtrack. “glee – The Complete First Season” is highly recommended!

Filed Under: DVD Reviews