When Fox’s long-running musical Glee sings its last note on Friday, it will have been after six seasons of slushies and songs. But back in 2009, when the show premiered after American Idol (before returning for its regular run that fall), it wasn’t clear whether the network’s risk would pay off.
After all, as TIME’s critic James Poniewozik noted back then, the top models for TV-musical success at the time were American Idol and High School Musical. Would something that sometimes took a tongue-in-cheek approach work, or would potential fans be turned off by what they saw?
Poniewozik, for one, was hopeful for the former:
What makes Glee more than sketch comedy, and what may save its commercial appeal, is that it is also an underdog story (not just about the kids but also idealistic music-lover Will) with heart. Like Ugly Betty’s, its spoofing is bright, not dark. And with a well-chosen sound track and arch comedy, the pilot is just a giant basket of happy. If Murphy can flesh out the overly broad characters, this series could be a rare, sophisticated, joyous hybrid that gets to have its pop candy and satirize it too.
Caption from LIFE. Dressed in white evening gowns, The Smith Singers get a tremendous ovation following a concert in weapons room of Dutch castle at Breukelen, namesake of New York's Brooklyn.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesSingers inspect a sign advertising their performance.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Relaxing exercises prior to a rehearsal are led by Miss Hiatt (standing next to microphone) in the bar of a Swiss hotel. Girls were told to yawn, shake their shoulders, lift arms in the air. Rehearsal was for a 45-minute program, including both liturgical and popular songs, to be broadcast over Radio Lausanne.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Girls rehearse in Amsterdam hotel room.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGlee Club singers onstage.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGlee Club members do some European sightseeing.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesStudent peers out a window at the landscape.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Bodies sprawled, girls sleep away the trip from Brussels to Lucerne. Martha Stewart wears turban because she had set her hair with bobby pins.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. 'Cindy' Bliss bids a Dutch friend goodbye.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesPassing time on the train.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesSmith College Glee Club in Europe, 1952.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesTaking in some European sculpture.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesSingers spend time looking at art.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesSmith College Glee Club in Europe, 1952.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesStudents celebrate alongside many empty Coca-Cola bottles.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesDowntime between performances.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesSmith College Glee Club in Europe, 1952.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGlee Club singers wear white dresses for a performance.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesSmith College Glee Club in Europe, 1952.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesSmith College Glee Club in Europe, 1952.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesSmith College Glee Club in Europe, 1952.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Girls walk away from a Dutch windmill after photographing it.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
