RISE

I found it earnest but predictable. A lot of fine talent. I am interested but not entirely hooked. The fact that it is being shown in the same time slot as THIS IS US will probably mean I'll be watching it for a while in any case.

Updated On: 3/13/18 at 11:24 PM

I DVR’d it. The voices sounded good in the preview. I’ll watch tomorrow

I also DVRed it, but the reviews haven't made me very optimistic. Certainly I don't know if I can get all the way to episode 9! Maybe I'll go re-read the book.

The show is based on DRAMA HIGH The Incredible True Story of a Brilliant Teacher, a Struggling Town, and the Magic of Theater by Michael Sokolove. The teacher is Lou Volpe who came out as gay. The school is Henry S Truman High School in Levittown, PA. Sir Cameron Mackintosh makes an appearance in the book when he comes to see the school's production of Les Miz.

The book is very good. I give it two thumbs way way up!

Auli'i's "Mama the weeping" killed me and then gave me life!

The plotlines were so plodding and predictable that it grew tiresome quickly. Katims, the creator, is one of the folks behind Friday Night Lights, and that shows in its bid for a more down-to-earth look with handheld cameras. There's talent in the cast, but the show actually made me miss the over-the-top weirdness of the early Glee episodes. Because it's basically the same show, only made in an FNL style.

I'm not as familar with Spring Awakening as most of you, so hearing some of those songs was interesting.

I honestly watched about 10 minutes and gave up. The plot is honestly nothing special and has the same elements verbatim as other shows.

- Optimistic savior teacher
- Opposition from school board/forces that be
- Outcast high school students
- The otherwise maligned jock/golden boy,

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Makes sense that it’s the same creator of FNL. The camera work felt identical. This is not a good thing.

If it wasn’t for the Spring Awakening aspect I wouldn’t bother with this tv show.

I agree with all of the comments above. This is such a "by the numbers" show. The specific formula used to create it seems very transparent.

In addition to the elements RE: rights and the "magical" characterizations that dramamama mentions, there are WAY too many elements that are insultingly false.

The coach's salary fluctuates depending on whether/not the football team wins? I wonder how/why his teachers' union condones that...? (Oh, and the show runners neglected to give the actor a mustache to curl. MWAH, haw, haw, HAW)

There's a kid living in the lighting booth? In a public school? And no one know he's there, or hasn't already reported his circumstance to DCFS? By law, at least in my state, the school/teachers are obligated to do so, with stiff repercussions if they don't.

It seems that even NBC doesn't have faith that this show will catch on with viewers. Obviously, I could be unaware, but I don't recall a network using their promotional commercials to encourage viewers to "set your DVR, now" rather than to watch the show live. Could it be that they already know viewers will be more interested in watching something else in that time slot?

The one aspect I do like about the show is that the students' vocals do not sound like they've been professionally mixed, and ready for download. Their performance of "I Believe" isn't even close to the talent and quality of the OBC, and its recording. That's a plus (for my tastes) because that aspect is much more grounded in reality for a high school production.

The show runners dropped the ball on that element however, because the writers neglected to show enough examples of the "heart" or spirit within those kids that would allow an audience to overcompensate, and find even the most mediocre performances to be thrilling. I don't know if dramamama would agree, but as a retired teacher, I've been lucky enough to be in exactly that situation, many times. A situation where if you didn't know those kids, and you hadn't worked with, and seen their struggles and processes, you would probably think, "meh..." - but instead, you're thrilled.

That's a big negative for me. There's been no evidence of establishing a connection with the kids or adult characters' real lives (as FNL did ). ...and nine episodes before it hits its stride? How many episodes are there in season 1? Even if there were 20 in season 1 (which I kind of doubt), that would still mean that nearly half of the first season is expected to be wasted.

I was willing to give it a chance being that I’m a sucker for the nostalgia of high school shows and loved Glee (well, the first few seasons at least).
I thought the performers had incredible voices but everything else fell flat. I know its supposed to be based on the true story of Drama High but it’s a carbon copy of Glee, just more bleak. Lou and his whole situation with the his wife not wanting him to run the Theatre Club and even down to the way he dresses eminates Mr. Schue. Even his feud with the football coach, a poor stand in for Sue and lacking the biting wit and hair gel jokes. He even fells the need to blackmail the football star into joining the production (ahem, Finn). I could go on and on and on about the similarities.
There’s nothing new or exciting about the show. Giving the theatre kids worse home lives than the Glee kids doesn’t exactly produce fresh content.
If Lou’s character wasn’t straight-washed, I’d probably more interested in his character being that he’d likely be more dimensional and it’d be interesting to see how that fits into a small, Pennsylvania town. It’d also be interesting to see that angle influence other LGBTQ students in the theatre department. But alas, another white, straight savior as most of you have already brought up.
I’ll probably keep watching for the sake of making Glee comparisons at this point and assessing the vocal talent of the theatre kids. I don’t give this show past its 10 episode pick-up.

Call_me_jorge said: "Did anyone else find Stephanie j blocks hatred of spring awakening unbelievable?"

No. I thought that was actually one of the most realistic storylines in the pilot. She's playing a religious conservative who doesn't want her son performing a gay role in an explicit musical. What's unbelievable about that?

I watched. Certainly not a favorite of mine from the 1st episode, but I am willing to see if it gets better.

Did anyone else find the lighting in most scenes to be too dark? I don't think it was my tv. But, it was kind of hard to make out details and that I find bad. Like the scene with the religious family eating dinner. I thought they looked like creepy plastic people because I couldn't see the features of their eyes very well. I think if that stays the style, it could be very off putting.

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