I have always been a fan of Fox’s hit show “Glee,” and yes, I will go so far as to call myself a ‘Gleek.’ Even after last season’s incredibly rocky start and an overall shaky season, I still looked forward to Tuesdays at eight o’clock.

This season, however leaves me unsure as to whether I even like the show anymore – let alone as to whether I want to take the time to watch it.

Over the summer, Fox and the “Glee” creators made it sound as if this season would be the one to watch, but I’ve been utterly disappointed.

My favorite characters, Mercedes Jones and the adorable couple of Mike and Tina, were promised more screen time this season. While they did indeed get plenty of onscreen action, it was definitely not the type I would want to watch.

To start off, we were able to hear more about Mike and Tina’s relationship and family life. That was great, but Mike’s parents, unfortunately, had the stereotypical Asian family dynamic to a ‘T.’

In a show that strives, amongst many other things, to eliminate and teach against stereotypes, I found it absolutely ridiculous that they would portray such a blatant and offensive stereotype.

The second thing I found absolutely preposterous was the fact that once they finally gave Mercedes more screen time and more of a back-story, her character became an absolute shrew. She went from confident, driven, and sweet to mean, nasty, and spiteful.

While I love character change, development, and maturity, there is nothing mature about how Mercedes is acting. She even left the glee club when she felt that she wasn’t getting as many solos as she deserved. What could be more childish than that?

And it’s not just Mercedes – about half of the main characters are behaving in an absolutely deplorable manner. It seems as if every vile and mean thing someone could think of is being done on “Glee.”

Of course, a show targeted at teenage girls is always going to have some level of drama and angst, but last time I checked, this wasn’t “Degrassi.”

I find the drama as cliché as it is annoying.

The melodrama and the character underdevelopment comes off as a cheap and easy way to stir the audience into coming back to see the fate of their favorite character. What makes the whole thing worse is that by the end of the season, everyone will be best friends again – all the drama is totally unnecessary.

Besides maintaining the regular characters, “Glee” has turned into a completely different show. The die-hard “Glee” fans will stick around, watch the show, and buy the music, simply because it is “Glee.”

It seems like since the amazing, climatic ending of the first season, “Glee” has been on a slow and painful downward spiral; almost all of the things that I truly loved about “Glee” – lovable characters, the sense of family, and kick-butt songs – are gone.

It hasn’t gotten to the point where I want to completely abandon the show all together, but I’m putting “Glee” on probation, so to speak.

I had such high hopes for this season but am sadly disappointed the with the mediocrity and the travesty that tries to come off as a copy of the once great “Glee.”