On TV: Glee

Ryan Murphy, the canny and mischievous mind behind FX's Nip/Tuck, has lifted his finger to the air, taken some rudimentary atmospheric calibrations, and decided what the world needs now is Glee, sweet Glee. The hour-long musical comedy series previews tonight after American Idol, then gets stuffed inside the piano bench until its official bow on Fox's fall schedule.

If it seems that Glee arrives with heightened expectations, that's because it does. Like a Trapper Keeper covered in colorful scratch 'n' sniff stickers flopped onto a pile of dreary textbook procedurals, this is a show made for a country that needs cheering up. And while there's nothing particularly cutting edge or new here -- the pilot tends to lean too frequently on high school TV clichés instead of subverting them -- the overall package works. There's no mistaking the smiles on the faces of its band of misfit glee club members: That's an actual, uncanned joy for performing, and it's kind of contagious.

The story is straightforward: McKinley High history teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) decides to take on the flailing McKinley Glee Club. The auditions bring out the school's square, yet musically well-rounded, pegs: Kurt, the flaming drama queen; Mercedes, the JHud-in-training (Amber Riley, pictured); Rachel, the bullied, showtune-belting overachiever; and Finn, a popular quarterback willing to face ridicule to share the song in his heart.

Jane Lynch, as the hardball-playing cheer squad coach, steals scenes as often as her "Cheerios" win trophies. And Jessalyn Gilsig (our interview here) does a 180° from her last Murphy-conceived character. She plays Will's classic Type A wife, a manager of a Sheets N' Things linens superstore whose biological clock ticks so loudly, you can practically hear it over her husband's attention-hogging rival as they perform a showstopping (literally) take on "Don't Stop Believing." As anyone who's ever heard that song already knows, there's magic in that opening keyboard riff -- and this is a series that isn't afraid to mine it. And no one even needed to get whacked! Review (out of 10): 8