Glee!

The earliest silent comedies were five minutes long. The longer these comedies got, the more filmmakers could develop stories and characters. In the last few years, television comedy has broken out of the restraints of the half-hour sitcom format. This year, my favorite television comedies have been Chuck and Reaper, two hour-long comedy series with continuing storylines. Fox recently aired the pilot to Glee, a promising hour-long comedy series due to debut on their Fall schedule. The series' most interesting character is Finn Hudson, a tense and sensitive football jock blackmailed by a teacher to join a glee club. Cory Monteith, in the role of Finn, is funny and sympathetic. In general, the pilot was sweet and charming without being cloying. I look forward to the series.