FOX has a history of meddling with my heart, making it violently shake as if I've followed up a jug of red wine with a pot of the blackest Turkish coffee. First they gave me that snappy show with the chick who talks to plastic animals. That lasted a prolific three episodes before it was pulled. Then they paired Parker Posey with Lauren Ambrose, but not before dooming them to a Friday night racked by a merciless laugh track. They even brought Shirley Manson to primetime only to axe The Sarah Connor Chronicles. And lately, the network looks a little starved for quality scripted programming -- which is why Glee may be a boon. Thanks for not fucking it up, FOX.

Glee is like Ryan Murphy's way of reaffirming that inside his chest beats a heart. Which, given the rampant scandal on Nip/Tuck, was beginning to look doubtful. The premise is simple. A well-meaning teacher wants to shepherd a motley crew of outcasts and get them to realize their full potential through song and dance. The group of misfits includes a sassy fat black girl, an effete gay boy, the obligatory wheelchair-bound nerd with a secret rock instinct, an overachieving iCarly lookalike, and of course, the football hero-turned-choirboy. And in this magical world of Glee, people are able to dance vigorously, while simultaneously singing without running short of breath, and eventually come to a well-timed epiphany.

But before you roll your eyes and proclaim this a politically correct serialization of High School Musical that'll probably suck, consider the flourishes. High school performances of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab", Jane Lynch's off-color banter, and a teacher who's not above framing a student in order to extort him into joining the glee club, are all bursts of moral relativism that enthrall. They're also what makes Glee better than actually recalling memories of when you were in high school, pock-marked and socially inept, trying to hit on that exchange student from Hokkaido while watching Princess Mononoke in The Animé Club.

So, unless you have an Adam Lambert vigil to attend Tuesday, you'd be wise to re-live your glory days by way of tuning in.