If I was to start watching Glee tonight having never seen a previous episode would I understand it?

I watched the first season of Glee, and totally lost interest after a while. I think you would have no trouble understanding who the characters are (because they’re not particularly complex), but by now there is probably a lot of backstory that you might not have the patience to catch up on. I know I wouldn’t.

dunno about the plot, but surely you would enjoy the song and dance portions. I mean, if you go for that kind of music.

I tried to watch it a couple times. Both times I did, their versions of the classic rock of my era just about ruined the songs for me.

I tried it once or twice and couldn’t understand what the fuss is about.

Depends on how fully you want to understand things. The dancing/music portions, easy. The love plots/triangles, the school admin politics? Maybe not so much, though I think it can be summed up like so: Sue Sylvester wants to destroy Glee club (because she’s evil or whatever), and everyone’s butt-hurt about everyone else in terms of Le Romance.

The glee club is comprised of a bunch of teenagers who are socially awkward and unpopular. Their club advisor is the good guy. The cheerleading coach is the bad guy. Kurt is gay, and his boyfriend recently transferred to his highschool to be with him. Santanna is closet lesbian, but has been outed. She’s in love with another girl, who is seriously one step (barely) above mentally challenged and shouldn’t be trusted to know if she’s gay, straight, or bi.

You are now caught up.

oh, and Quinn and Puck had a kid in the first season, but gave her up for adoption, to a woman who turned out to be Rachel’s biological mother, who in turn gave Rachel herself up for adoption as a baby. Drama.

dancy dancy competitions.
Practice, bitching, sub-plot, competition then glory.

Only if you’d just received a partial labotomy.

@MrItty told you all you need to know. I’d add every show is either thinking about, preparing for, performing at, or being sad about “the sectionals”- some mythical competition in a big city.
You watch it for the singing and dancing if you like that sort of thing.
Also it exposes your sensitive, caring side if you want to impress a female SO.

It’s very fluffy but all good fun. You should have no problems following the plot or picking up back story.

Did you try it then?

I don’t think you would have much trouble picking up the story lines of the characters. I watched it a couple times and couldn’t get into it.

It’s not very difficult to pick up on – the storylines are essentially much generic high school storylines. That being said, there are a lot of characters and each one has their distinct gimmick, so it might take an episode or two to figure out what they’re doing right now. Especially since there’s some kind of huge drama in every. single. episode, and they’re sure to refer to it.

I do like the show and respect it for certain qualities it has (and the music), but I am completely aware of how cheesy it is