History Series / Rise2018

* DumbJock: Robbie, supposedly -- flunking a test is how he's blackmailed by Mr. Mazzu.

* {{Gayngst}}: Both for [[spoiler: Simon, who is conflicted because of his conservative religious beliefs]], and, it is implied, [[spoiler: his father.]]

* ParentalSexualitySquick: Lilette's mom and the football coach, who's also Gwen's dad, have an affair.

* TheQuarterback: Robbie. In the pilot he gets blackmailed to audition for drama club and then has to make a choice between football and the musical. After talking to his mom and doing some soul-searching, he picks drama.
* RomanceOnTheSet: In-universe, Robbie and Lilette have one and so do [[spoiler: Jeremy and Simon.]]
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Glee''.

* {{Expy}}: Though the plot has its roots in a true story, the characters are straight from ''Series/{{Glee}}'':
** Mr. Mazzu (Lou Mazzuchelli) is Mr. Schu (Will Schuester)
** Lilette is Rachel -- she's even played by a [[WesternAnimation/{{Moana}} Disney princess]], like [[Creator/IdinaMenzel Rachel's]] [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 mom]] was, and takes the role of Wendla, which was originated by [[Creator/LeaMichele Rachel's actress]]
** Robbie and Gordy are Finn -- Robbie in being the quarterback who gets blackmailed into doing the musical, Gordy in being the son figure to Lou
** Coach Strickland is Coach Sylvester and Coach Tanaka -- the pseudo-antagonist to Lou and the football coach
** Simon and Gwen are Quinn -- devout Christian, daddy issues, doesn't like the main couple, adored by the coach. And Gwen really sounds like Quinn.
** Tracey is Sandy and Emma -- alternative drama/glee club director, faces attraction from another teacher, helps drama/glee club director return to the position and supports him
** Gail is Terri

* RealityEnsues: Unfortunately, [[spoiler: the kids putting on the best show in the world does not change the town's ingrained conservatism, make up for the fact they blatantly and very publicly ignored direct instructions, ''or'' fix the mire of school politics and budget issues--so the drama club gets cut as punishment.]]

* JustForFun/XMeetsY: ''Series/{{Glee}}'' meets ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'', because apparently there were elements of the other these two didn't already entirely cover.

The show was mired by controversies as the show opted to portray the main character as straight (in real life, the director was gay). The series also drew criticism from conservatives, ranging from the show's repeated attacks on Christianity/conservative Catholic values, not to mention a subplot where one of the characters is bullied mercilessly for not wanting to play an overtly gay character in the play.

* {{Expy}}: Though it's based on a true story, that mostly just extends to Lou and the storyline. Otherwise, the main characters can all be aligned with the main ''Glee'' characters:

''Rise'' is a 2018 TV show from Creator/{{NBC}}, based on the novel ''Drama High'' (itself based on a real high school in Pennsylvania), starring Creator/JoshRadnor as Lou Mazzuchelli (affectionately known by his students as "Mr. Mazzu"), an exceptionally average high school English teacher with ''Film/DeadPoetsSociety''-style aspirations who takes over the DramaClub in the pilot episode.

The show was mired by controversies as the show opted to portray the Lou Mazzuchelli stand-in as straight (in real life, the director was gay. The series also drew criticism from conservatives, ranging from the show's repeated attacks on Christianity/conservative Catholic values and a controversial subplot where one of the characters is bullied mercilessly for not wanting to play an overtly gay character in the play.

The series was ultimately canceled after a single season, with the ending featuring a DownerEnding (one that was most likely set up as a set-up for season two) where [[spoiler: Mr Mazzu manages to get Spring Awakening performed in full, but at the cost of having the drama club shut down for good because of his antics]].

* BasedOnATrueStory: The show is loosely (and how!) on the career of high school drama teacher Lou Volpe. Employed by the Harry S Truman High School in Levittown, Pennsylvania, Volpe gained media attention for putting on edgy play material such as Rent and Spring Awakening. However, the show's counterpart for Volpe is straight whereas Volpe is gay in real life. Furthermore, Volpe was fully aware that putting on such risque material in a small town would create controversy and backlash, so he carefully and masterfully handled the PR aspect of presenting such material to a conservative audience and not bullying/pressuring students into doing things on stage they felt uncomfortable with. On the other hand, Mr Muzzo is a liberal strawman of the highest degree who alienates everyone, routinely bullies and intimidates his students, to the point that his "experiment" in presenting edgier high school theater is a total failure that ends with his firing and the closing of the entire theater department.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Everything Mr Mazzu did ultimately backfires on him as the superintendent privately informs several parents who Mr Mazzu has spent the entire show pissing off that the drama department will be shut down, with the guise of "budget cuts", after the students defy him and perform the play uncensored.]]

* RealityEnsues: Mr Mazzu's arrogance [[spoiler: basically killed the drama club, as far as the superintendent proclaiming to the parents Mr Mazzu has spent the entire season pissing off, that the school will be cutting the entire drama department as a result of Mazzu's insolence. ]]

* RootingForTheEmpire: Due to the obnoxious nature of Mr Mazzu and the students, it's easy to find oneself rooting for the people trying to shut down the play [[spoiler: and cheer that Mazzu's actions ultimately cost him and the school the drama department, which will be shut down as a result of their spending the entire season pissing everyone off]]

** Lilette is Rachel -- she's even played by a [[Disney/{{Moana}} Disney princess]], like [[Creator/IdinaMenzel Rachel's]] [[Disney/{{Frozen}} mom]] was, and takes the role of Wendla, which was originated by [[Creator/LeaMichele Rachel's actress]]

* BasedOnATrueStory: The show is loosely (and how!) on the career of high school drama teacher Lou Volpe. Employed by the Harry S Truman High School in Levittown, Pennsylvania, Volpe gained media attention for putting on edgy play material such as Rent and Spring Awakening. However, the show's counterpart for Volpe is straight whereas Volpe is gay in real life. Furthermore, Volpe was fully aware that putting on such risque material in a small town would create controversy and backlash, so he carefully and masterfully handled the PR aspect of presenting such material to a conservative audience and not bullying/pressuring students into doing things on stage they felt uncomfortable with. On the other hand, Mr Muzzo is a liberal strawman of the highest degree who alienates everyone and treats his to the point that his "experiment" in presenting edgier high school theater is a total failure that ends with his firing and the closing of the entire theater department.

* BasedOnATrueStory: The success of Lou Volpe and his amazing development of the arts at Harry S Truman High School in Levittown, Pennsylvania. But it's not only about his effective reinvention of high school arts programs, Truman was the first high school to ever put on ''Spring Awakening'' (and also ''RENT'').

''Rise'' is a 2018 TV show from Creator/{{NBC}}, based on the novel ''Drama High'' (itself based on a real high school in Pennsylvania), starring Creator/JoshRadnor as Lou Mazzuchelli (affectionately known by his students as "Mr. Mazzu"), an exceptionally average high school English teacher with ''Film/DeadPoetsSociety''-style aspirations who takes over the DramaClub in the pilot episode. It also features his ambitious blonde wife, Gail (Marley Shelton), and the former-now-assistant drama club director, Tracey (Rosie Perez).

For the students, we have the drama club nerd, Lilette (Auliʻi Cravalho), who has some mommy issues explored in season one, and the star quarterback, Robbie (Damon J. Gillespie), who is blackmailed into trying out for drama club in the pilot by Mr. Mazzu. The pair get cast as Wendla and Melchior in the school production of ''Theatre/SpringAwakening'': a musical ''super inappropriate'' for teenagers, which is the reason that Lou briefly resigns from drama club in the pilot before making a triumphant return. The principal isn't the only one displeased, either, as there's also Coach Sam Strickland (Joe Tippett), who wants his quarterback, and Simon and Gwen, the drama club lead stars who always take the main roles for themselves. Simon (Ted Sutherland) is also a devout Christian foil to Robbie, and Gwen (Amy Forsyth) is the football coach's daughter and foil to Lilette. The rest of the drama club are a RagtagBunchOfMisfits with issues ranging from homelessness to sexuality and gender, all being named except the band. There's also Lou's kids Gordy (Casey Johnson) and Kaitlin (Taylor Richardson), and Lou deals with his son's drink and drug problems.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Everything Mr Mazzu did ultimately backfires on him as the superintendent privately informs several parents who Mr Mazzu has spent the entire show pissing off that the drama department will be shut down, with the guise of "budget cuts".]]

* BittersweetEnding: While [[spoiler: the club puts on an amazing, uncensored show and gets a standing ovation]], because of the way they did it, [[spoiler: the superintendent decides to sacrifice the drama program during upcoming budget cuts to pacify the angry conservative groups.]]