I always say that I want to dig in my long long list of television to-be-watched pile, but I couldn’t resist vaulting all of that in favor of Netflix’s ‘The Politican,’ only because Ben Platt. I kind of like his work, even if at times I disagree with his artistic choices (a lot of his overwrought singing exhausts me)  And this was so heavily advertised on all the things that I am interested in that I feel like I am its target audience, for better or worse. Plu it has Bette Midler in it somewhere, so what’s the harm?

Well, the verdict is that I will keep watching. There’s a lot in the pilot that interested me – it’s glorious to watch, first of all, with beautiful people (David Corenswet, where have you been all my life?) and its slickness is addictive. But I wonder if I will hate watch it as well, as there are a lot of things that bothered me. First of all, I saw a lot of similarities with ‘Glee.’ Is  Payton Hobart just a variation of Rachel Berry, someone who manufactured all her life so she can achieve a certain goal? And the high school setting feels as familiar, albeit with actors who look like they are in their 30s. There is even an identical disabled character here, and musical numbers with songs that are so ‘obviously chosen’ they make me cringe. Yes, I thought Ben Plat singing ‘River’ was fine, but singing that song about a character named River? Well, even Stevie Wonder could have seen that a mile away. But for sure, it has already lured me enough to want to go back. Jessica Lange is always a treat to watch but Gwyneth Paltrow playing a caftan wearing Gwyneth-Paltrow like character alone is worth the monthly Netflix subscription. Most importantly, I think the show will inspire me to write more about what I think about it.