As we sit in quarantine looking for new things to watch or classics to rediscover, I’ll be coming to you daily with Binge On This options to help you get through the downtime! I hope you enjoy!
Binge On This: Glee (2009-2015)
Number of Episodes: 121
Starring: Lea Michele, Cory Montieth, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, Kevin McHale, Chris Colfer, Dianna Agron, Jane Lynch, Matthew Morrison, Jayma Mays, & Jenna Ushkowitz.
Plot: Centers on the fictional William McKinley High School glee club, the New Directions, which competes on the show choir competition circuit while its disparate members deal with social issues, especially regarding sexuality, race, relationships, and teamwork.
Accolades: The season was nominated for 19 Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, six Satellite Awards and 57 other awards, with wins including the 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Musical or Comedy Series, and Emmy awards for Jane Lynch, guest-star Neil Patrick Harris and Murphy’s direction of the pilot episode. In 2011, the show once again won the Golden Globe for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, and Jane Lynch and Chris Colfer won Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively, and Gwyneth Paltrow won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. In terms of music, across 121 episodes, there were over 729 music performances, and over thirty-six million copies of Glee cast single releases purchased digitally, and over eleven million albums purchased worldwide. In 2010, it placed eighty singles on the Billboard Hot 100, the most for any artist or group, surpassing 64 singles places by The Beatles.
Where To Stream: Netflix
Why You Should Binge: In these times of quarantine and self-isolation, you might want to dive into a series that is a bit light with its heart on its sleeve. Glee is that very show that appeals to the underdog in all of us while supplying covers of oldies and current hits that remind us what we loved about those songs in the first place. The series could’ve easily gone done the road of Disney-Channel cheesiness but thanks to the writing of Ryan Murphy and his team, the show always had a level of snark and self-irreverence that gave it a bit more of a kick. The ensemble cast is great from top to bottom but it’s MVP Jane Lynch that steals all of her scenes as gym teacher Sue Sylvester who will stop at nothing to make sure the New Directions fail, mostly because she low key wishes she could’ve been a part of something like the glee club once upon a time in her life. The accolades section says a lot about Glee, which accomplished a lot in its six seasons and while the show fell off a bit in quality after season 3, the most important achievement of the show is that it probably made so many young adults out there watching it proud to be involved in something that was a little bit different. It made the band geek relevant. It made the drama nerd the popular kid. It showed that it was ok to love sports but also have a love for musical theater. It was a show that gave all of those kids a voice and its popularity proved that their abilities were on par with anyone else’s. It’s the perfect forget about your cares and just enjoy the journey kind of show and this is the perfect time to rediscover it for all of its charms.
