Photo courtesy of FOX

If you haven’t seen or heard of “Glee,” then you are behind the times. Fox’s new musical comedy series has yet to have its official season premiere, but the show has already garnered many fans. The pilot episode of the new series premiered last May after an episode of “American Idol,” drawing 10 million viewers and sending one of its musical numbers (a “Glee” cast rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”) to No. 1 on iTunes. In other words, you should have heard.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. In case you haven’t heard of it, “Glee” focuses on a high school glee club that has fallen into a slump, but Spanish teacher and ex-glee member Will Scheuster (Matthew Morrison) wants to restore it to its former glory. Helping Scheuster with his restoration is Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays of “Heroes” fame), the school’s germophobic guidance counselor, who has a major crush on Will. His attempt to rebuild the club doesn’t go unchallenged, though—Scheuster comes against opposition in cheerleading (the “Cheerios”) coach Sue Sylvester (the hilarious Jane Lynch), who believes that the social order of the school should not be disrupted by having “popular” kids in glee.

Starring in the club are Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) and Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith). Rachel is a slightly uptight, aspiring singer who never misses one of her daily MySpace videos and who puts a gold star after her name whenever she signs it (as she explains, “My gold stars are a metaphor for me being a star”). Finn’s character is much more stereotypical—he is a jock who joins the glee club even in the face of ridicule from his football teammates, growing in the process. Also in the club by the end of the pilot episode are the wheelchair-bound Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale), the flamboyant Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz) and my personal favorite: busty Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley).

While all of these actors and characters are entertaining in their own right, it is the musical performances that really stand out. The students’ auditions at the beginning of the episode demonstrate the enormous talent that the show has in its arsenal. Throughout the episode, the performances of “You’re the One That I Want” (from “Grease”) and Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” continue to amaze upon rewatching. The finale performance of “Don’t Stop Believing” at the end, though, is by far the most outstanding of all of the performances in the pilot.

I hate to say this, but while the storyline is entertaining, it is not the main point of the show. “Glee” is chock full of great actors and singers, a cappella as transitions, and hilarious one-liners (Mercedes: “I’m Beyonce; I ain’t no Kelly Rowland”). Let’s face it, though. The fantastic musical performances take center stage in this show. They make it what it is: the best new show on TV this season!

Gleek out at 8 p.m. tonight to see the first new episode of “Glee.”