As the show about song-belting misfits goes mainstream, global and corporate, one L.A. Times reviewer finds that Vegas is the perfect spiritual home for the live production of Glee! -- outsized, overdone and ever-hungry.

As the franchise grew to Vegas-sized proportions, as episodes brought Fleetwood Mac onto the iPods of the young and uninitiated, the show itself has grown ever more "Mamma Mia!"-esque, and not just in its use of exclamation points. Increasingly inconsistent and/or repetitive stories appeared constructed simply to accommodate the music. Criss and Chord Overstreet were brought in not just to fuel rumors about which would be Kurt's (Chris Colfer) love interest but because the show needed stronger male vocal stars. This just added to an already unwieldy cast stretched further by A-list guest stars including Gwyneth Paltrow, Carol Burnett and Kristin Chenoweth.

It all makes sense, of course. Having succeeded so enormously, "Glee's" creators, naturally, want to give their audience even more of what they want. But when your creation burns so fast and so bright, guarding the other end of the candle is part of that process too.