Where Glee could have gone wrong

The success of Glee puzzles me to some extent. I feel that it's become almost too popular for its own good, but I still greatly enjoy the show. I think however that it would have been very easy for a show like this to go wrong, here are 3 ways it could have happened:

1. Bad Singers
I recently commented that if Lea Michele sang the phone booth, I would pay to hear that. The creators of Glee really found some great singers. I'm most recently reminded of Michele's renditions of Defying Gravity and Like a Prayer as testament to her singing abilities. And it's not just her, Cory Monteith is definitely holding his own and Matthew Morrison may be the only white singer we should allow to do black raps. I'll air a small gripe over the autotuning that gets used occasionally, especially for Monteith (also, he needs to stop stamping his foot when he sings) but for the most part these singers can truly deliver a song, not just sing it. I think it would have been very easy for this to crumble, but instead it's become a pillar.

2. Song Choice
Now no one's ever called me a Broadway buff (though I don't know why not) but I think Glee has done a pretty stellar job of mixing broadway and common choir songs with contemporary hits. I think the only real competitor in terms of style is the High School Musical series. It's interesting of course to note Glee's choice in using other people's music rather than their own. I feel though that songs in musicals feel very specific to the character and to the moment. I don't think they have the same mass appeal as contemporary songs do. Glee finds a way to tap into the song, into the emotion and the meaning behind it, rather than create their own songs to explicitly state the character's emotion. Of course part of what makes this important is picking good songs that reflect what's going on and as I would say Glee's done pretty well in that regard. If I take issue with one thing in their music selection, it feels like there are some episodes where the songs they choose aren't ones that fit my preference and it's easy as the viewer to lose appeal for that particular episode. I can understand if it's just one song, even if it's an important song in terms of the episode as long as I can understand the choice of song and the reason behind it. However when there are other songs in the episode that I'm not feeling it's easy for me to become totally disenchanted.

3. Sue Sylvestor

I remember the first time I watched House. I realized how exceptionally great this character was, and how original he was. I feel the same way about Sue. Jane Lynch plays Sue perfectly. Think of any other actress playing Sue Sylvestor. You can't can you? She just so fully inhabits the role. Whoever conceived of Sue in the writer's room was a smart cookie, but Lynch just takes the performance to a whole 'nother level. Even if an episode is going badly I can always count on at least a few good Sue Sylvestor jokes. She is a great foil to Morrison's character, it's actually a little sad that he can't keep up with her. Rather than witty repartee we are left with a vicious mauling. I'm sure over time the writer's will be able to balance that out, but nonetheless, without Sue, Glee would be half the show it currently is.