gotta love when silly shows make you think

I was a late pickup on a particular bandwagon earlier this year, but I climbed aboard at the beginning of the regular TV season. And now I have to admit to being a gigantic lover of this show, anxiously counting down the hours each Wednesday until my television is lit up with abnormally beautiful "teenagers" and the power of song and dance. No denying it, Glee is at the top of my TV list.

Apparently, I'm late to the Glee-fan-blogging as well (even lovely hubby beat me), and especially so because the episode that's still on my mind is from last week. For me, the appeal of this show is layered- yes, there are the aforementioned beyond-realistically attractive cast of (supposed) high schoolers, and that doesn't hurt. Of course, the singing is phenomenal, and since a cool friend gave me the first CD release of the show's music, I've been singing more Journey than ever before in my life. Even the kids are getting into it, which is a clear sign that I've played the CD a ton. (JAM told his teacher that he likes the version of Leaving on a Jet Plane on it since he and his teacher are both John Denver fans; Red has been singing the line "She took a midnight train going an-yyy-wheeerrrreee!" over and over; and Pudge is a big fan of Gold Digger, although his favorite line comes out, "Get down Dora, get down.")

But then there's more. Sure, you've got to suspend your disbelief for much of the silliness, and Jane Lynch's behavior is hysterically funny in a way that it wouldn't be if it was played out for real in your own child's school, but there's something that isn't easily described that's at play with this show. The characters are becoming more multi-dimensional, in addition to their beautiful appearances and voices, and the story lines' complexities are increasing.

Case in point: the Wheels episode. So much going on in this one, and yes, this silly little show actually challenged us a bit to think about real-life, serious stuff. Without going into the nitty-gritty of the episode (my gut tells me that if you care about watching the show at all, you've most likely already watched last week's episode), suffice it to say that the viewpoints toward people with physical and cognitive disabilities was interesting and thought-provoking. The "nice" people may have kindness on their sides, but that doesn't necessarily mean that their approaches are the best. The "mean" folks might be abrasive and uncouth (and goodness knows, even more strong adjectives than that!), but that doesn't mean that they don't have good intentions, at least sometimes.

I watched this episode play out with a twinge of prediction in my heart, so I wasn't entirely surprised by the WHAT? reveal at the end. Siblings of people with significant special needs may not all be the same (while I would love the biting sense of humor, I would look simply awful in a warm-up suit day after day), but there's certainly a common ground of knowing that everyone simply wants to be treated the same. Not spoken down to, not humored, not pitied. Just respected. While I was initially feeling prickly about where this episode's storyline was going, I was pleased with the final direction, even while a few tears trailed down my cheeks.

To think that I first thought this was just a silly little show. What a nice surprise.


Trying not to sound like too big a TV addict,



**How am I doing on my gratitude challenge?? Come check up on me here since I'll be adding new entries each day!**