274/365 Gleeful, but not very happy

This is a can't-miss show in my house. Actually we usually miss it on purpose since we added the DVR to our cable service. An unintended consequence of the DVR is that the resident teen can obsess about each episode all week long, winding and fast-forwarding her way through the hour-long musical drama. I think I know each episode by heart. This show has a bit of everything, larger-than-life characters, interwoven plots, a good sprinkling of wit and sarcasm, song and dance numbers, and A list guests. The writers did well with this week's guest spot by Kristin Chenowith cleverly playing up her "perfection" as her fatal flaw. But for the most part, in our house, we find ourselves annoyed by the story lines. Week after week the characters attain a new level of mean, and the who's-dropping-out-who's-dropping-in-the-glee-club story line is just about used up. But the musical numbers keep me hooked. The singing, the movement, the twists on popular songs in a show choir setting, sometimes funny, sometimes ironic, but always brilliant. I fear, though, that we may DVR and forward past the plot and right to those moments, if the writing doesn't cheer up a little.