Can 'Glee' find its voice again?

THE SHOW "Glee"

WHEN|WHERE Tuesday at 8 p.m. on Fox/5

REASON TO WATCH The third season begins.

WHAT IT'S ABOUT Tuesday's "The Purple Piano Project" finds everyone back at McKinley High after the devastating loss at Nationals in New York where New Directions finished in 12th place -- in part because of Rachel (Lea Michele) and Finn's (Cory Monteith) long, lingering liplock on stage. (The new episode was not available in advance for screening.)

Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) has decided to run for the 4th congressional district in western Ohio, and amps up her flagging campaign by declaring a war on arts funding. Meanwhile, Santana (Naya Rivera) and Brittany (Heather Morris) are back with the Cheerios. With a drop in the glee club's roster, and with graduation looming -- we'll find out who's a senior in reasonably quick order -- Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison) is on the hunt for new members; expect to see winners and runners-up from "The Glee Project" brought in this season.

MY SAY The criticism over last season was so intense that it's probably not a bad idea to start by saying exactly what "Glee" did right. As usual, at the top of that shrinking list is music, which is the good news. Under the direction of exec music producer Adam Anders, "Glee's" interpretations of pop and the occasional stage standards remained polished, smart and often rousing; the "New York" finale was a perfect example.

Then: Everything else. Twisted plot lines. Soapbox speechifying. Overblown drama -- some of it tragic (the death of Sue's sister, Jean). Then, there was all the stuff off-screen. Co-creator Ryan Murphy has promised a return to basics, which is probably code for a return to the choir room and possibly -- hopefully -- even the humor that made this show a plausible candidate for best comedy in its freshman year. If so, third year's a charm.