‘Glee’ sings and dances to success in pilot episode

“Glee”

FOX

Creator: Ryan Murphy

Starring: Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison

Grade:… “Glee”

FOX

Creator: Ryan Murphy

Starring: Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison

Grade: A

Disney, take your “High School Musical” kids and try the community theater production of “Cats” — there is a new show in town full of uber-talented youth poised to take the primetime ratings crown.

No offense to Zac Efron, but Fox’s “Glee,” which premiered after “American Idol” last night, is the most exuberant display of energy, wit and flat-out joy to grace the airwaves in quite some time.

Frankly, there has never been a show like it, let alone one that succeeds so greatly.

Focusing on the high school social stigma that is glee club, the show molds its characters into stereotypes that never feel exaggerated or forced.

In fact, from the talented, fame-seeking outcast to the sassy diva to the teacher trying to lead the motley singing crew, the reality is that these are people the audience has encountered in reality, whether in high school or the “real world.”

Spanish teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison, Broadway’s “Hairspray”) finds his calling by attempting to resurrect the failing club of social misfits who not only love to burst out in song, but long to feel “part of something special,” because in their minds, that would make them special.

Ingenue Rachel (Lea Michele, “Spring Awakening”) is talented but shunned, and the jock with a voice of gold, Finn (Cory Monteith), finds himself going against the social herd and upsetting the clique balance at their suburban Ohio high school.

There are myriad other characters — mainly actors hailing directly from the stage, but “Ugly Betty’s” Jayma Mays and the always-delightful Jane Lynch prove familiar for the musical comedy uninitiated — who form the most, well, gleeful cast in recent television memory.

One of the obvious draws for the “High School Musical” and “American Idol” crowds are the musical numbers, and they don’t disappoint. The first episode featured five in-context performances, meaning each song appeared as a performance rather than an off-shoot of a thought a character has in a musical. A finale, which gives Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” a fresh coat of show-choir paint, is jaw-dropping to the point that it will have viewers on their feet applauding.

Plus, it might be the first time that song has been genuinely enjoyable for listeners.

The show’s comedy is biting without ever turning unappealing or distasteful, and nothing less could be expected from creator Ryan Murphy. With shows “Nip/Tuck” and “Popular” under his belt, no one does subversive and up-to-the-minute humor quite like him.

“You think that’s hard? Try living with hepatitis. That’s hard,” screams Lynch’s menacing cheerleader coach to her so-called “Cheerios.”

Given its lead-in, “Glee” should find an audience, because it would be a shame for a show this wonderful to slip under the national pop culture radar.

The most criminal decision on the part of Fox executives is making us wait for the rest of the season all summer — “Glee” won’t take its primetime slot until the fall.

Still, the pilot satiates enough hunger to leave its audience wanting more while simultaneously filling it up with more laughs, musical numbers and wit than most other shows can hope to muster in an entire season.

And that’s something to get gleeful about.