FLASH FRIDAY: GLEE Graduates! A Look Back At All The Highlights & Preview Of Final Season

By: Pat Cerasaro Jan. 09, 2015

Today we are holding back tears and bringing out the tissues in honor of the final season of GLEE, premiering tonight.

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Let It Go
The highs. The lows. The controversies. The successes. All the life it gave us - and the sad death of one of its stars. GLEE has traversed the highest heights of pop culture heat and has also been ridiculed in a manner few TV series have ever been, as well, yet the indomitable heart that beats within not only the musical dramedy series itself, but inside its characters and the fans who continue to support it - aka gleeks - is simply undeniable. After all, GLEE set out from the start to be a series about underdogs from its very first moments on the small screen, so it should seem all too befitting that the FOX series now heads into its final season as just that - the underdog. Will Season Six somehow manage to capture lighting in a bottle the same way that the first few seasons managed to so effortlessly, effervescently do? Will it go down in flames? Will it merely elicit a shrug and a "So what?" Whatever the recipe, the final season of GLEE is destined to be a full meal worth savoring for gleerks given that it signals the end of an era and the conclusion of a watershed cultural moment in time - if it wasn't for GLEE, the bustle and boom of glee clubs in schools across the country right now, today, would have seemed almost impossible. And, it was precisely that when the series premiered back in 2009 for many glee clubs, at home and abroad.

While it may be inaccurate or unfair to give GLEE all the credit for raising awareness of the paramount importance of music in schools and the necessity of glee clubs in middle schools and high schools in America - and, more outwardly, the world - it would be neglectful to deny GLEE credit for having had a major hand in bringing more attention to music programs than any other TV series since FAME. Furthermore, GLEE also introduced an entire generation to not only classic pop and rock songs from the last several decades, but also presented numerous Great American Songbook classics by the greatest songwriters in our country's history - often in tantalizing, contemporary and unique new ways. To add to all that, and most important to our discussion, GLEE brought Broadway both new and old to the mainstream in a way that no other TV series has before or since. For instance, where else but on GLEE would you be likely to hear a mash-up of "Turkey Lurkey Time" from PROMISES, PROMISES along with the recent Scissor Sisters club hit "Let's Have A Kiki", with guest star Sarah Jessica Parker leading the tuneful frolic, no less? Nowhere. For those reasons alone, GLEE should be ceremoniously saluted. But, what it also did was bring this music not only to the ears and eyes of attentive viewers, but right inside their very hearts, as well. No small feat.

Before GLEE, the chance to hear a LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS song and a FROZEN song both in the same hour or two along with a kitschy 80s curiosity (A-ha's "Take On Me"), an R&B/soul classic (Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally") and a recent chart-topping smash by a rising pop megastar who actually got her start on the Great White Way (Ariana Grande's "Problem") would be utterly foolhardy to seek out, particularly in the TV landscape of the time (or now, for that matter) - yet, in just the premiere episode of the new season, GLEE provides just that. The wide swath of music covered in the series - more than 100 songs each season for 5 seasons up until now - has allowed for more exposure to current hits, chart chestnuts, musical theatre classics and Great American Songbook standards than all of the reality singing competitions on air combined. Plus, GLEE fit all the songs into a dramatic storyline with colorful, compelling characters and a overall progressive theme of tolerance, acceptance and love, too. Although the unexpected death of show star Cory Monteith proved to be irrevocably damaging to the series dramatically, the respect and honor with which his passing was expressed on the series is yet another touchstone of the series - addressing a tragic real-life issue with grace and taste while still managing to express the immovable and intrinsic glee of performing while doing so. The human rights victories alone make it worthy of praise - bullying, LGBT awareness and the perseverance of the underdog being the vital issues continually debated, discussed and addressed on the series throughout its run above all others. For being a mere TV series, GLEE has done a heck of a lot of good and spread an astounding amount of, well, glee.

What have we learned so far? A lot. What can we look forward to in the final 13 episodes? That's for us to discover over the next few months as GLEE prepares to finally graduate. For good.
For Good
So, now, let's revisit some of the highpoints of GLEE thus far as we look ahead to the final season.
First up, one of GLEE's most iconic moments, "Don't Stop Believin'".
Next, Lea Michele and Idina Menzel make GLEE history via Lady Gaga's "Poker Face".
Jonathan Groff, Cory Monteith and Lea Michele have a heartbreaking "Total Eclipse Of The Heart".
The glee club finally wins nationals with two more Jim Steinman rock chestnuts.
Darren Criss soars with a WEST SIDE STORY showstopper.
Lea Michele and Chris Colfer tribute WICKED.
Kristin Chenoweth and Lea Michele croon a CABARET tune.
FUNNY GIRL is eyeing Broadway with Lea Michele based largely on this spectacular performance.

Sue Sylvester channels Madonna for an epic "Vogue" tribute.
GLEE gamely took on the catalog of Britney Spears, as well.
Matthew Morrison and Jayma Mays got steamy for THE ROCKY HORROR GLEE SHOW.
Chris Colfer sings an iconic Broadway staple from GYPSY.
Frank Loesser's "Baby, It's Cold Outside" gets a 21st century gender-bended update.
Don't miss GLEE pay tribute to the King Of Pop, Michael Jackson.

Sarah Jessica Parker joins the fun for a masterful mash-up.

Kate Hudson adds some pizzazz to CHICAGO's "All That Jazz".

GLEE honors Whitney Houston.

Carol Burnett lends her comic prowess to GLEE with a WONDERFUL TOWN gem.

Who could forget when GLEE took on GREASE?

Plus, GLEE offers Queen a major homage with "Bohemian Rhapsody".
Lastly, Bastille's "Pompeii" closed the fifth season.
As a special bonus, look ahead to this week's S6 premiere.
Another bonus, Lea Michele hits FROZEN's "Let It Go" out of the park.

Also, the cast recounts 13 classic musical numbers as voted on by fans.

What has been your absolute favorite musical moment on the series thus far? What song do you anticipate the most in the final season? Furthermore, what important message has been the most valuable to you that GLEE has tackled during its 100+ episodes so far? With the curtain coming down in only a matter of months, now is the time to remember all the good, all the bad, all the performances, all the characters, all the stories, all the memories - and, most of all, all the glee.

Photo Credits: FOX

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