If you've been watching This Is Us on NBC this season, it's been impossible for you to miss the endless commercials for its newest show Rise . And if you watched the premiere episode last Tuesday night, you know that this show might be worth your time.
The network is smart, to say the least, to begin Rise at the exact moment that your Tuesday night void needs to be filled. The minute This Is Us' s finale ended, a new addiction arrived on TV. And it sang.
It follows the lives of 7 teenagers in a small town in Pennsylvania and their high school drama program. From the creator of shows like Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, the pilot feels familiar but also original, which is tough to say for a musical. Yes, you want it to echo Glee but it also holds a less corny and more serious tone. Oh yeah, and the star athlete joining the musical and falling for the shy girl is just a liiiiitle bit High School Musical -esque.
But it's tolerable because it moderates these classic tropes with originality and the incorporation of modern references to Hamilton and the sort. Though the pilot only gave audiences a little taste of what is to come this season, it's clear that the main characters hold depth and complexity that will keep us attached to them for months to come.
The scripted series draws influence from the 2013 nonfiction bestseller Drama High by Michael Sokolove, in which he chronicled a year at his alma mater Harry S. Truman High School in Levittown, Pennsylvania, and the life of legendary high school drama director Lou Volpe.
Though the details of Drama High are different than those in the scripted series, the general content remains the same, and it focuses on the school's production of Spring Awakening, the 2007 controversial rock musical.
You can watch the next episode of Rise on NBC this Tuesday, March 20th.