gLeeK

Why are TV shows about high school so popular?

You know what I'm talking about.

The most current (and favorable) example of this phenomenon is the hit FOX show, Glee. The hour long mini-musical episodes follow the trials and tribulations of high school life, seen through the eyes of the Mckinley High School Glee Club.

Like many televisions shows that have shaped American culture, Glee masks underlying adolesent themes into its witty characters and quippy one-liners. The pilot episode of the show tells the story of a jock that loves to sing (High School Musical, much?) but is too afraid to show his sensitive side.

Since then, the show has dealt with teen pregnancy, homophobia, stereotypes, racism, divorce, socioeconomic prejudice and other societal issues facing this great nation, all while breaking into song before every commercial break.

So what makes shows about high school so damn interesting?

Personally, I think it's the characters.

They're what keep me going, especially in Glee. I love a good male lead ( think: Derek Shepherd, Grey's Anatomy) and Finn Hudson, (played by Canadian Cory Monteith,) is no exception.

Hudson is a downright gorgeous, tall, hunk of a man, who says silly high school boy things and has a heart of absolute gold. He falls in love with the pushy, snotty, and downright selfish ( but ridiculously talented) female lead, Rachel Berry (played by Lea Michelle).

One of their best lines as a couple is:
Finn: You're a controllist.
Rachel: Controlling. Controlist isn't a word.

Alongside Hudson is another loveable male lead, gay teen Kurt Hummel (played by Chris Colfer), who is constantly dealing with issues surrounding his sexuality.

Hummel is a fiercely emotional, hilariously quotable dream of a teen, who sometimes gets in over his head when he lets his pathos- driven side take the wheel.

The previews for Never Been Kissed, which airs November 2nd, show Kurt considering switching to a more affluent (and what he believes to be) more accepting high school where an out, proud, and quite darling gay character attends.

Kurt deals with a lot of things that are on the minds of gay (and straight) teens today when it comes to acceptance, self confidence and knowing who you are.

Hummel is a shining example of someone who isn't afraid to be different.

The FOX hit is not a show about rich teens in Orange County or scandalous eleventh graders on the Upper-East side. Glee is about the insecure quarterback of the football team, and the president of the celibacy club who gets pregnant her junior year.

Shows like Glee that reflect pop culture are like time capsules we can take into our later years.

Remember Saved By The Bell, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Boy Meets World? These are shows the babies of the 80's can keep for the future to remember the 90's by.

The cultural references in these sitcoms can transport us back to whatever cultural revolution that decade was in the midst of.

Glee is no exception.