The Future of Family Television is...GLEE? Yep.

Last May, America anointed Arkansas's Kris Allen its new Idol and Glee made its debut on national television. A year later, America has a new Idol in Illinois's Lee Dewyze (I was on Team Bowersox, btw) and Glee has become a cultural phenomenon.

These events are inextricably linked together for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that in one short year, the once indomitable American Idol has seen its ratings and clout over water-cooler chatter falter while the show about a ragtag club of show choir misfits has single-handedly redrawn the schematic for family television.

Let us take a moment to remember the TV world as it was on Tuesday, May 19, 2009:

• The final showdown between Kris Allen and Adam Lambert was the pinnacle of appointment family television for most of our country.
• The producers of AI, the devoted viewers, and many of those in the media had turned this title match into an almost good vs. evil spectacle for families sitting around their HD television sets to behold. With Allen as the all-American, clean-cut, worship leader from the South and Lambert as the androgynous, is-he-or-isn't-he-gay, glam rocker from the West Coast, our country was pop-culturally divided.
• The 8th season of AI was one of the show's most buzzed-about, and the execs at FOX Broadcasting Company made the decision to air this funny little show about queer-ish high-schoolers who like to sing immediately after the AI performance finale.

Twenty-four hours later, the good ol' boy was crowned the winner of television's Grandest Karaoke Contest and these three magical minutes were quickly on their way to becoming iconic. Since that night, one year ago, American Idol has had its most lackluster season and lost its true star in Simon Cowell, and Glee, the little show that could, has become the touchstone of must-see family TV.

I've anticipated a few of the questions you may or may not be asking yourself at this point. "Why should I care about this silly gay show?" or "How the hell can he call Glee family television?" or "Why is any of this significant?" or "How does someone eat a whole KFC Double Down and not submit to fits of violent regurgitation?" Okay, so maybe that last question is one that I've been asking myself ever since I shit my Dockers upon learning that 10 million (10,000,000!!!!!) of those have been sold but I digress.

The reason I think you should care about Glee is a pretty simple one. The creators, Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, have crafted and continue to execute the perfect balance between realistic and fantastical, and they have set their show in a world all of us have experienced: high school. Whether you look upon your high school years with glowing appreciation or stomach-turning disparagement probably depends on who you were in high school. However, the showrunners do a stellar job of giving equal representation to both sides of the hallway and writing our beloved characters as realistic, three-dimensional people. Does this mean that Glee is as true to life as something like HBO's critically-adored The Wire? Hell no. It's not even as authentic as FOX's Malcolm in the Middle for chrissake, but Finn, Rachel, Kurt, Puck, Mercedes, Artie, Tina, Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Matt and Mike have become near and dear to our hearts over the course of twenty-two episodes. We care about these kids and we celebrate, laugh and sing along to their triumphs and we clench our jaws and allow our hearts to ache over their disappointments and blunders week after week.

I believe down to the core of my being that Glee has turned family television on its head and has paved a new path for the long-standing genre. Usually when people think of old-school family TV, they think of Leave It to Beaver or The Brady Bunch or, more recently, something like 7th Heaven. But these were only considered family-oriented television shows simply because they were about...well...families. Beyond that point, however, I don't accept that these shows did a respectable job of honestly establishing and fleshing out real issues concerning the people that comprise families. Honestly is the key word here. In our first season of Glee alone, Murphy, Falchuk, and Brennan have more genuinely and convincingly addressed issues like marital troubles, mental and physical handicaps, teen pregnancy, coming out, social identity, first loves and breakups, losing your virginity, death of a parent, depression, and so many more. THIS IS SEASON ONE FOLKS! And the mere fact that these matters of contention are expressed through exceptionally arranged and choreographed musical numbers is just like whipped cream on top of a perfectly made ice cream sundae. Murphy is personally responsible for selecting all of the songs used and Zach Woodlee does all of the choreography. It says a lot about the show that I call the future of family television when the credits that roll at the end of every episode also read like a family. Each episode is a labor of love for the crew and cast involved and it's evident in every frame.

Now, I've had a lot of people tell me that they can't stand show tunes, or that they don't find the acid-tongued Cheerios coach Sue Sylvester funny (you're a mental defective if you don't, btw), or that they can't stand the preaching of the New Directions's coach Will Schuester (you're not alone if you can't, btw), or that they find the show too [enter any offensive and imbecilic adjective here].

Too campy? "Of course! It's called frickin' Glee."

Too gay? "Really? Are you that insecure?"

Too musical-y? "Shut up. You're dumb and boring."

Granted, we all have our own tastes and zest when it comes to the sources of entertainment that we choose to immerse ourselves in, but it doesn't take too much gumption to acknowledge how Glee is slowly but assuredly reapportioning the boundaries of family-oriented network television while also making impact on iTunes. This is a show that cleverly resurrects songs that can be found on any Best of the 80s! CD, reignites and solidifies fixations with past (Madonna) and present (Lady Gaga) pop-icons, and expertly handles the struggles real Americans are going through in these unsure, chaotic times. FOX has already greenlit two more seasons, the cast is currently on tour across the country, and the show has been given the coveted post-Super Bowl spot next February. You see, Glee no longer needs the help of American Idol to reel in its audience, and American Idol no longer provides the sole platform for mischievous, glittered, genre-bending performers (Adam Lambert & "Mad World" meet Kurt Hummel & "Bad Romance" HA!). In other words, the show is not going away. My advice to those of you who have not yet caught on would be to catch up on the first season this summer on Hulu. The thing is, we Gleeks are here to stay and we don't stop believin'!

P.S.: America, stop eating those motherforsaken Double Downs. Thank you.