By Blair Thill, Contributing Blogger -

B.B. King’s most popular song of his career is entitled “The Thrill is Gone.” But I bet if B.B. whipped Lucille out and wrote the same song in the coming months, it would be called “The Glee is Gone,” of course referring to the four month-long depression America is bound to fall into now that Glee has gone on hiatus. Four months without the most original new show on TV. Four months without Rachel and Mercedes’ show-stopping numbers, Kurt’s heinously fabulous wardrobe, Finn’s abdorable stupidity, and Sue’s brilliantly biting one-liners. Not even Percocet could relieve that anguish.

Fall of 2009 has brought television viewers a slew of great new shows. I, for one, have been overwhelmed by the amount of new series I’m hooked on. CBS has proven that a premise “ripped from the headlines” can actually be thoughtfully constructed with The Good Wife (no offense Law and Order). NBC gave my favorite pop culture critic, Joel McHale, yet another platform on which to spread his snark in Community. ABC charmed me two fold with the impossibly funny Modern Family and confounding mind tricks of Flash Forward. Even The CW found its way into my viewing schedule with The Vampire Diaries with the delectably devilish Ian Somerhalder. As you can tell, I have quite a full viewing schedule – and I haven’t even listed my returning favorites.

But none of these young series – NONE – compares to the utter joy that Glee has aptly brought into my life. I had an inkling that I’d love it as the first 55 minutes of the pilot progressed, but they really sealed the deal with the last five when they sprang into a rousing rendition of Journey’s seminal classic “Don’t Stop Believing.” What a smart choice on creator/writer/music director Ryan Murphy’s part. “Don’t Stop Believing” had previously been associated with key moments in The Sopranos, Laguna Beach, and karaoke night. Murphy made the intelligent decision to ride off of those successes in his pilot. Thus began the summer of Glee, with iTunes releases getting millions of hits before the show’s September premiere.

Every week the series runs, the talented cast cranks out more and more hits in the iTunes top hundred. Lea Michele’s version of “Take a Bow” popped on the chart, taking Rihanna’s original version with it. This very moment, there are eleven Glee songs on the iTunes top hundred. Spinal Tap and their amps would be proud.

The success of this musical dramedy seems unlikely. After all, Cop Rock and Viva Laughlin are some of the most laughable fails in television history with their corny musical repertoires. So what makes Glee different? It’s certainly working with a wittier script, which can also be attributed to Murphy, creator of FX’s Nip/Tuck. But it’s also different because of the way the music is incorporated. This isn’t some From Justin to Kelly random break out into song. Every song is started and ended on the school stage, making it look like a rehearsal more than some inane moment of insanity for the character. The music is coming from a show choir, so dance and vocals are expected. Murphy has created a foolproof showcase for a television musical.

And why shouldn’t it work? After all, think about the success that movies have found with the integration of the perfect song. This year, (500) Days of Summer enjoyed immense buzz with its post-coital music number in which the adorable Joseph Gordon-Levitt bops through Hall and Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True.” Almost Famous sent chills down my spine with its “Tiny Dancer” sing-a-long. The late John Hughes was a pop genius with his sampling of 80s movie music moments, including Duckie’s gyration to Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness” in Pretty in Pink. The way I see it, Murphy is simply bringing this grand tradition to television, where it should have been all along.

Yes, it’s going to be a grim four months without experiencing any of the beauty I’ve just exalted in this post. NBC is trying to fill the Glee void with its a cappella showdown show, The Sing-Off. Unless one of these groups has a hilariously horrifying cheerleading coach trying to take it down, I doubt they’ll be successful in pulling the type of ratings Fox gets.

Photo courtesy of midt.com.