Glee...

[Alf]

I did a search and couldn't find anything.



A phenomenon in the US, Glee follows an optimistic secondary school teacher as he attempts to inspire an oddball group of students to realise their star potential and restore the school's show choir - the glee club - to its former glory. In the pilot episode, teacher Will Schuester - or Mr Schu - begs the headteacher - Principal Figgins - to let him take on the Herculean task of transforming this group of underdogs into a world-class vocal ensemble.

The pupils who join the club are; Mercedes, who believes she is the new Aretha Franklin; Kurt, the fashion-conscious falsetto; Tina, a punk-rocker; Artie who plays guitar and is bullied for being geeky; and the diva-in-the-making Rachel. Glee Club rehearsals get off to a rocky start; Rachel feels that without a formidable male lead to match her talent, they will never be taken seriously. Principal Figgins then threatens to cancel the club in favour of renting the auditorium out. He and Schu strike a bargain: if the club earns a spot in regionals, the club can stay. And then Schu comes across Finn, the school's popular quarterback with a Motown voice.

So yeah, I just watched the pilot and it looks interesting... I'm not sure how they'll drag this out into a full series but it is funny, entertaining and a bit weird. I like it.

Plus, it smashed out Don't Stop Believeing...and that is nothing but good.

Anyone else seen it?

[son_of_foley]

Yeah really not convinced by it but I like the ginger blurt who was in ugly betty and 1 episode of heroes

[BBF]

Yeah watched the first two eps on Sunday. Seems to be alright, not sure how much potential its got though. Could go bad quite quickly...

[Marlon Dingle]

I've seen the first 2 episodes. Pretty good.

In the first episode I thought it had a swear word "bunch of cunts" it wasn't until I was getting ready to complain to channel 4 for showing it at 6PM on a Sunday. My mum said he said "Budget Cuts." :\

[son_of_foley]

The cheerleader is pretty good looking to but not a patch on the ginge

[Hero!]

It's quite an enteraining little show. The plot in season one was pretty great.

[Simmo Fortyone]

Glee is a guilty pleasure of mine :yes:

[Matty C]

My wife loves this show. I couldn’t take all the singing. I’m just not a fan of musicals in general. Evil Dead – The Musical being a huge exception to that rule.

[Hulkamaniac]

I'll be honest, I wasnt planning on watching it, but happened to be working while the first couple of episodes were on and I rather loved it.

[Pablo Diablo]

Yeah. I'll admit it. I fucking love this show. Definitely a guilty pleasure. But it's ok I watch it with my girlfriend...that makes it ok right?

Actually fuck it, even if I didn't I'd still watch it. I'm confident enough with myself. Plus Jane Lynch is hilarious.

[Hulkamaniac]

Hah. I watch it by myself. I want the hard-fuck the jew-nose glee geek in it.

[LOCONUT]

I keep hearing that this show is greatness. May have to give it a shot even though it seems sort of girlish.

[Aussie_Outlaw]

It's a solid enough show. The episode where the gay kid tries out for the football team is by far my favourite. Though I do wish the show would be more consistent. Sometimes it's brilliant, but some episodes just fall flat.

And I do wish the singing voices weren't so processed.

[RabidWookie]

I keep hearing that I should be watching this, but I couldn't even get through the first three minutes of the pilot when it was on here ages ago.

[Fro]

I was pretty surprised when this won the Golden Globe for best comedy. Might have to check it out.

[VanillaJello]

Robbed Modern Family.

[grimshaw]

It's "musical or comedy" isn't it?

This show is pro. Whoever said the voices were overproduced is dead right, though.

[Tempest]

Not usually my sort of thing, but I absolutely love it. It gets better as the episodes go on aswell.

Plus, any show that can hammer out a Queen song without me vomiting is always a good thing.

[Guy]

Now that is because you hate covers of Queen and not Queen itself right?

Because if it is, then I couldn't agree more.

If it's simply because you hate Queen....well just get out

[son_of_foley]

So he's a queen fan hmmm

[Tempest]

Now that is because you hate covers of Queen and not Queen itself right?

Because if it is, then I couldn't agree more.

If it's simply because you hate Queen....well just get out


Yeah, I don't like people covering Queen songs as a general rule, but was quite pleased with Glee's.

[Fro]

Robbed Modern Family.

Agreed.


It's "musical or comedy" isn't it?

Yea. There aren't really any musical tv shows, though.

[Bits]

I watched all the eps that have aired in the US a few weeks ago and absolutely loved them. The mid-season finale is amazing, it raps up everything that had happened up til that point in a really satisfying way.

My only real gripe with the show is the sometimes overproduced vocals in the songs, especially with Finn which by the sounds of it can't sing at all which makes his casting really confusing as pretty much everyone else can sing. He's not even a good enough actor that you'd think they just got him for that and figured they'd sort his singing later.

Really looking forward to when it starts airing again in the US, been listening to the soundtrack loads to tide me over, tiny bit obessed.

It's also worth noting that Joss Whedon is directing an ep this season and it's just been announced Neil Patrick Harris will be guest starring in that same ep, so basically it's going to be amazing.

[Tha Kyd]

I downloaded the entire season. Apparantly everyone can sing, oddly enough, so I've read their audition pieces in the first episode was their audition pieces for the show. I love it, and can't wait for the second half of the season. The canned music can be a bit much, but hey, Hollywood goes full out I suppose.

[Hobbit]

I saw the first episode and thought meh. The Don't Stop Believing cover was the best thing about it but I wasn't left with any great surge to watch the rest.

Rachel is amazing though and a genuinely good singer. Good to see the lad that Michael kidnapped in the Office (pizza ep) in it as well.

Oh I tell a lie, the Gold Digga cover was pretty good too.

[PMBR]

I don't watch Glee. Never really interested me. I just happened to catch American Idol on a brief delay and my TV was still on Fox when the recording was over.

Does anyone have the software to download the last episode and make a clip of the scene with Kurt's dad's speech? It's not on Hulu and youtube has awful versions of it where people have filmed their TV playing the episode. I would love to download just that scene.

For anyone who didn't see this episode, it is honestly one of the most powerful pieces of acting that I have ever had the pleasure to see. I have a gay sister and I have no problem admitting that tears filled my eyes as Mike O'Malley unloaded.

Anyone that knows anyone who is gay needs to watch that scene. Anyone who has children who are teenagers needs to make their kids watch that scene.

[The_Mike]

Wish I could help, I really liked that scene as well. I love this show. I thought it would be saccharine, stomach-churning nonsense like the BBC's horrendous attempts at copying High School Musical (or High School Musical itself with a TV budget) but a couple of people I know who generally has a similar taste in TV to me insisted I give it a try, so I did. Rachel is absolutely amazing and Kurt is the man. It's a lovely program and I'm glad to see seasons two and three have already been confirmed. It's a really positive show, even if it is a bit ridiculous that they claim Rachel is ugly.

[Mr_Nobody]

That scene was a very good scene. They didn't sugar coat the topic or the language at all with that confrontation.

It's a very light show, but at the same time some of the topics they deal with are really good, and separates it from most shows that are "for kids." The scene in "Mattress" where Will confronts his wife is amazing and really changed what I thought of this show, because that scene it went from a good show to a great show.

[Hobbit]

Just out of interest, what happened in this scene you guys are on about? Whack it in spoiler tags if you like.

[The_Mike]

Not sure where everyone else with their airings is so I'll spoiler it:

Finn is angry at sharing a room with Kurt and feels a bit threatened having him around all the time, even when changing, knowing Kurt is attracted to him. This manifests in him freaking out over the room being decorated, and in his outburst he complains about some "faggy throws" or pillows or something. Kurt's dad hears and though Finn tries to wriggle out of it by saying he didn't mean it 'in that way', Burt says he knows exactly what he meant, because he meant it too when he was young, but it wasn't right then and it isn't right now, and just tears into Finn for it. A very powerful scene.

EDIT: Something I really like about Glee is, in spite of very strong messages like that, it seems to somehow be quite non-threatening and is very mainstream. My parents love it, and they're Daily Mail readers.

[RabidWookie]

I almost want to watch this this week just because they're doing Safety Dance on it. I really can't bring myself to do it though

[Tempest]

Joss Whedon directed it

Left me let down realy

[The_Mike]

I enjoyed the episode, but I didn't really see any Whedon hallmarks, didn't even realise he directed it until today.

[grimshaw]

I gotta say I was pretty annoyed with Kurt's dad's speech. I really felt like Kurt was using his homosexuality as a shield to avoid the consequences of his horrible behaviour, and it worked well.

I mean, Finn was basically as justified as a person can be in yelling at Kurt - not that slurs like 'fag' are justifiable, but Kurt basically propositioned him and went to the length of manipulating their parents so that they could share a room? Jeez louise. And as soon as Finn calls him out on it, he says 'you cant be mean to me life's hard im gay' and hides behind his dad.

In shourt, Kurt's dad didn't actually know what finn meant. he meant 'its fine to be gay, just please allow me to be straight'.

GRRRRRRR

Also I hate how finn always looks like he's concentrating when he sings and his hands are always in the same place the guy has no stage presence

[The_Mike]

I mean, Finn was basically as justified as a person can be in yelling at Kurt - not that slurs like 'fag' are justifiable, but Kurt basically propositioned him and went to the length of manipulating their parents so that they could share a room?

Kurt already knew that nothing could happen and had accepted that, he just wanted to be friends with what would amount to his brother. Finn just couldn't handle having a homosexual so near him (would he have been nearly as freaked out if it was a girl he had no interest in who was staring at him?) all the time and lashed out, and it was really the language that he used that was the problem Burt had, and the fact Finn tried to blow it off as no big deal. The issue was not "don't be mean to Kurt" it was "don't even think you can get away with calling people that any more".

Kurt certainly didn't proposition him from what I remember.

[Mik]

Kurt has absolutely propositioned him in the past, even positioning their parents together just so that he can be closer to Finn and then taking major tantrums because his father and Finn were developing a relationship and that is incredibly out of character for Finn who has demonstrated great tolerance and sensitivity to Kurt's sexuality in the past. Seems like they were just using Finn to try and make a point, not good writing in my opinion. Particularly because Kurt invariably comes across as incredibly self-absorbed and not at all sympathetic in my opinion. I dont know why anyone especially likes his character.

[The_Mike]

Again, I didn't read this scene as being a defence of Kurt or his actions (and not particularly related to past actions that weren't even part of the scene), it was criticising Finn for the language he used and his attempt to blow it off as not a big deal. It is a big deal, even if the homo you're bitching about was being a prick. Finn seemed to take it that way as well. It seems like good writing that was about more than one character being right and one character being wrong.

[Tempest]

Kurt is often horrifically self involved and a pain in the arse, but he covers pretty much every 16 year old gay guy i've ever known there.

[grimshaw]

I'm not trying to say that Fin was justified in using a slur like that, only that the impact of the scene was diminished by the fact that Kurt was far less sensitive to Finn's right to be straight than Finn was to Kurt's right to be gay.

Finn had been unbelievably tolerant up to that point.

[Tempest]

Pretty crap this week to be honest, between the butchering of Queen and Finn trying to rap. I think the shine is wearing off the show a bit for me.

[MikeHunt]

i watched this for the first time ever last night.

what a load of poppy cock it is!

(maybe more put off by the horrific amount of Lady GaGa in it.)

[virms]

So you're done watching then right? You aren't going to continue to watch and come in here and bitch about how much you hate it, right? You know, like how most people are with the new Star Wars trilogy?

[MikeHunt]

nah i doubt i'll watch again.

I just wanted to see what the hype was about.

[The_Mike]

I'm not trying to say that Fin was justified in using a slur like that, only that the impact of the scene was diminished by the fact that Kurt was far less sensitive to Finn's right to be straight than Finn was to Kurt's right to be gay.

Finn had been unbelievably tolerant up to that point.

I see your point. For me it didn't hurt the impact of the scene, since from my perspective the emphasis was on how such slurs cannot be tolerated under any circumstances, so I didn't see Kurt's behaviour as having really diluted it, but I can see why you'd feel differently.

Haven't seen it this week, but I have been looking forward to Glee doing some Gaga for a while now.

[Tempest]

I wouldn't get your hopes up too much

[grimshaw]

Poker Face is good but the Bad Romance cover is too faithful, and comes off crappy like a band at a small bar covering Sweet Child o' Mine.


I see your point. For me it didn't hurt the impact of the scene, since from my perspective the emphasis was on how such slurs cannot be tolerated under any circumstances, so I didn't see Kurt's behaviour as having really diluted it, but I can see why you'd feel differently.

Yeah I think it worked ok in that context but Kurt's dad didn't have the context, so it came across as him just blasting Finn without having all the facts.

[Aussie_Outlaw]

That's typical of Kurt's dad.

[grimshaw]

meh, I don't think he's really behaved that way before?

[Tempest]

Poker Face is good but the Bad Romance cover is too faithful, and comes off crappy like a band at a small bar covering Sweet Child o' Mine.



Yeah I think it worked ok in that context but Kurt's dad didn't have the context, so it came across as him just blasting Finn without having all the facts.


In fairness, Poker Face is identical to the version they covered aswell. Bad Romance was really just horrific. It was all very Disney.

[RockOverBoston]

I heard their version of "Bad Romance", and it really never should have existed...and I think that I "get" this show, too.

Overexposure will kill "Glee". Bank on it. No need for 5 soundtrack albums in the 1st year, most of which are filler (a/k/a "Bad Romance".)

[Mik]

I'm starting to get a bit bored of it already to be honest, its still good but not compelling. I'm largely still watching it for Quinn Fabray.

[Alf]

She is so fucking fit. I'd fuck you if it meant I got to fuck her.

[Fanny]

did anyone see the wee Asian bird all dressed up in a black lace one-piece for one of the Gaga numbers last night? JESUS CHRIST

[Glen]

horrendous programme. And I, of all people, really should love it.

[grimshaw]

nothing wee about the asian bird

FAT FAT AFAT

[Tempest]

I've heard the finale episode songs and it has cemented my change from loving the show to kinda hating it

[grimshaw]

The Poker Face cover was faithful but duet-ising it was well done, and played to the original strengths of the show.

The all-time highlight was usher-bon jovi and I don't expect that to change.

[Tempest]

Absolutely. The Bon Jovi-Usher mashup is by far my favourite thing they've done. I did enjoy Dream On too

[Alf]

The Poker Face cover was faithful but duet-ising it was well done, and played to the original strengths of the show.

The all-time highlight was usher-bon jovi and I don't expect that to change.

The pokerface thing was odd. IMagine singing to yoru mum about bluffing with your muffin. Very odd.

[Fanny]

nothing wee about the asian bird

FAT FAT AFAT

nah mate, not when she was in that black lacey one-piece, her chassis was revealed to be tremendous in that scene, the chubby-faced little chopstick

[The_Mike]

Holy crap, how talented is Sunshine?

[grimshaw]

Pretty good though she overdid the scratchy-voice and her hand movements were ridiculous.

A lot of the premiere's music was really obviously and badly lip-synched which disappointed me.

[Kdestiny]

Finally getting a shot to watch the first episode, and woah... this is great stuff.

[Simon]

Mik didn't you slag me off the other day for referencing Skins? And you watch this gay shit? :lol:

[Mik]

They are completely different kinds of shows with different kinds of audiences. What dont you get?

[Kdestiny]

Brittany episode was absolutely stunning, although I am starting to get very annoyed with Morrison. Stamos looked pretty good where he was.

[Aussie_Outlaw]

Annoyed with Morrison or his character? Matthew Morrison himself is fine and playing the stuffy teacher perfectly. If anything the idea of a teacher dancing suggestively with his kids to Britney Spears to impress a taken women is bizarre... though the entire show is bizarre.

And the funny thing is that Heather Morris is basically correct when she says she's better than everyone else and should sing lead. She was fantastic.

[The_Mike]

Schuster hasn't normally seen very stuffy at all to me. He seems relaxed and open minded about the group and their music, so this week it seemed rather bizarre to have him randomly decide Britney Spears was a terrible role model and ban them from singing her songs. Good episode though, and while everyone getting their teeth done was a bit random, it provided a good excuse for lots of Britney covers which were fun.

[Aussie_Outlaw]

You tie it slightly in that Schuster is still reeling a little from the opening segment of Episode 1 which said their range is limited to 80's, Pop and Showtunes. So he's now against continually dipping into that well.

Plus I was of the impression having the Schu against Britney was due to Morrison actually voicing publically that Britney wouldn't be on the show. So they were going for a meta thing like the Ep1 opener.

[Kdestiny]

If anything the idea of a teacher dancing suggestively with his kids to Britney Spears to impress a taken women is bizarre...

Yes to this. I found that really annoying. Other than that, I thought it was a very good episode.

[Kdestiny]

This week's episode might be my favorite Glee episode out of the first two seasons so far.

[Ochoa]

The Parents Television Council are upset about the Britney Spears episode.

They say it promoted narcotics abuse, public masturbation and school-sanctioned burlesque.

http://dimewars.com/Blog/Britney-Spears-Attacked-By-Parents-Television-Council-Over--Glee--Appearance-.aspx?BlogID=a734b846-be45-4b96-9d0b-79d323e4eeaf

[Aussie_Outlaw]

But it made kids want to go to the dentist so all is forgiven?

[Ochoa]

Sure, I think so.

[I steal cable]

here you go lads

http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201011/glee-photos-rachel-quinn-finn#slide=1

[The_Mike]

Apparently Dianna Argon has 'apologised' for those photos. :rolleyes: How awful of you, you woman in your 20s, to have made a personal decision about posing for photographs. We, the public who apparently own your body, are very disappointed in you...

[Kdestiny]

:yes:

I am fine with them

[grimshaw]

She also has the right to apologise for them if she wants. And people have the right to complain about them. And she has the right to take them. And do porn....PLEASE

[The_Mike]

So how far in advance are Glee episodes shot? I ask because Sue's wedding dress this week look suspiciously like the dress some woman wore when announcing she was engaged to some prince guy (I don't think it was the singer...).

[Aussie_Outlaw]

Probably a bit but not as much as you'd get on a scifi show due to the lack of VFX. Most of the time would be needed to record the songs before the episodes get filmed. And considering the Christmas album and Glee v4 hit the streets a few weeks ago, you could possible go with a month or so. It probably varies depending on which part of the season we're in.

It is just me or is Mercedes being removed further and further out of the show, she's barely around (especially in songs) which is odd considering how much they pushed her at the start of the first season.

[The_Mike]

Thanks. It was probably just a coincidence, or my imagination.

Yeah they seem to be kind of forgetting about her, and the non-Quinn cheerleaders have become pretty clear secondary characters. I think the cast is maybe a little big, it is hard to keep focus on anyone without completely forgetting about a couple of people for a good while. Emma isn't around much, and I never notice Tina doing anything these days.

[Pablo Diablo]

Well I think a lot of that has to do with how this season it's virtually All Kurt all the time.

And when it's not Kurt they have to focus on the 3 mains that were built up from the first season (Rachel, Finn and Will). Brittany is probably my favourite character though for the moments she does get to shine.

[The_Mike]

Yeah, I love Kurt and all, but I wish the writers would remember that there are other shitty situations to be in in a high school other than being gay (as important and topical as that may be at this moment). Spreading the spotlight around a little wouldn't hurt.

[Aussie_Outlaw]

There is too many characters, especially when you start wasting entire episodes on Britney or Rocky Horror or guest star of the week (Paltrow) rather than putting emotion and investment in your core cast. Half the episodes this season have either revolved around a guest star or concept and the other half have been around Kurt.

Now I like Kurt, I do wish he'd man the fuck up and reveal his secret but he's enjoyable. I just wonder about the balance of the show as it's a mess, which won't hurt the show for a while but will most likely cause problems later.

[jboi]

The one criticism I offer up of Glee is that episodes and storylines simply jump around from topic to topic. There's not exactly fluidity to storylines and relationship and that sells the show short.

[jboi]

Well I think a lot of that has to do with how this season it's virtually All Kurt all the time.

And when it's not Kurt they have to focus on the 3 mains that were built up from the first season (Rachel, Finn and Will). Brittany is probably my favourite character though for the moments she does get to shine.

I can't in good conscience agree with this.

[The_Mike]

I'm not sure I follow. Most TV series jump around from topic to topic, covering a wide variety of issues through episodes of independent plot and varying focus on the different characters. Glee... doesn't, at least not lately. It has been exploring Kurt, Rachel and Schuster pretty much all year and giving very little of the spotlight to anyone else. It feels like a soap where they sing at times, rather than a comedy-drama built from stand-alone episodes.

[grimshaw]

It really disturbed me the way they took the kurt-bullying storyline in the most unrealistic and ham-fisted of directions. The bully's secretly gay? Way to miss the point, chumps.

[The_Mike]

Yeah that annoyed me as well. While homophobic bullying can stem from that, it's a far wider problem than the cliché of bullies just projecting.

[Cewsh]

Well sure, but this is just one story, not some far reaching allegory representing EVERY problems that gay teenagers face.

[Aussie_Outlaw]

Unfortunately it's been reduced as before it was a bullying for being different, now it's a homosexual thing. Before it's relatable to everyone who's been bullied, but now... less so. It's somehow turned into the kind of 8yr old nonsense where boys pick on the girls they like in the schoolyard and unfortunately these characters are twice that age.

[The_Mike]

Well sure, but this is just one story, not some far reaching allegory representing EVERY problems that gay teenagers face.

Yeah, like Aussie said, it used to have much wider significance. And I can tell by some of the speeches people make in the show that the writers want it to be an allegory representing the struggles of anyone who's different, and more power to them for trying to highlight this sort of thing, but unfortunately it just comes off a bit flat when they go down the route of "yeah bullies just hate in others what they see in themselves". That's a nice platitude but it's bullshit.

[grimshaw]

It's an interesting story to explore the repressed homosexuality in the sporty guy. It shouws the two 'types' of gay out there, the flamboyant camp and the 'nontraditional'. It's arguably even tougher for the bully in that situation because he's likely to have a much harder time coming out of the closet.

But the problem of bullying and bullying of gays in particular is so very widespread and usually has nothing at all to do with repressed gayness. It's two issues crammed into one storyline and the serious issue of bullying is being painted as a byproduct of his secret homosexuality rather than a problem in its own right.

[blackening]

I don't mind this show, although sometimes it is really lame. I just don't like the, at times terrible, lip synching.

[Aussie_Outlaw]

You expect them to do multiple takes of all the songs live in a non-acoustic studio?


It's a lot better than the dubbing a lot of shows end up doing, an episode of Burn Notice from last year where ALL the dialogue from a character was redubbed poorly brings back memories, or the awful editing some shows do. (When you cut to an angle shot from the back of someone's head and it's easy to make out the side of their mouth, make sure the dialogue from the other take syncs with the jaw movement)

[The_Mike]

The lip-synching probably would not be so obvious if the transition was not so jerky. Considering they do several songs a show and about 22 episodes a year, expecting multiple live takes would be way too much. But the audio has a very different quality to it as soon as the songs start, and that makes it clear the voice is no longer coming out of the character's mouth. It needs tweaking, but it's not driving me nuts at least.

[Aussie_Outlaw]

Well that's the audio engineers problem. It's like he's mixing for albums rather than television. At least this year he's not going nuts with the autotune like he did previously. I'm actually surprised they autotune it so much rather than trying to aim for a more "real" sound.

[blackening]

I'm actually surprised they autotune it so much rather than trying to aim for a more "real" sound.
This then. I could deal with the lip synching if it didn't sound so much like it was sung in a studio.

[The_Mike]

Exactly. Their voices go from sounding like they are in the room to sounding like they're coming off a studio CD. It totally takes away any spontaneity.

[Hero!]

Meh, last night's episode was pretty boring. I'm not into fleetwood mac so I wasn't feeling the songs, this whole "Sam is homeless" storyline just came out of no-fucking-where, AND they broke up Artitney like nothing. I have no idea what the writers were thinking when they put that episode together.

Did Puck even get a single line?!

[Aussie_Outlaw]

I have no idea what the writers were thinking when they put that episode together.

The writing on Glee has always been this way, it's kinda what happens when you get three writers who all seem to pull the show in a different direction and take turns at writing each episode.

It's how we jump between moral episodes, to stupid silly contrived plot episodes to fill it full of song episodes.

[Derek]

Yes, Puck got in a line or two. And hopefully the girlfight next week will make up for this episode.

[Hero!]

Yeah, but last night's episode really felt like it was 3 or 4 different episodes just pasted together around Fleetwood Mac songs.

And all these bastard "themed" episodes in season 2 are annoying. Did we really need a Britney themed episode? Bieber? GOD? Fucking hell, Glee, sort yourself out.

[Derek]

It's like "Glee" has turned into an Afternoon Special at 8PM. Not every damn episode has to have a "message" about gay people. Or fat people. Or crippled people. Or poor people. Or gay fat crippled poor people.

[Mazer]

when the "messages" were organiz to the story, it was fine, now they are completely ham-handed. characters seem to change just to fit whatever the hell they want to have happen.

Emma was always fine with admitting she had a problem, except for last week for about 40 minutes, because they needed her not to be.

I enjoyed this show as something unique, when there was music and at least mildly interesting characters. At this point, they only have 2 or 3 actual characters left.

Its actually kind of challenge to even identify the most "out of character", let's teach everyone a lesson moment. many to choose from

[Derek]

It just seems that in this day and age of "awareness" with anti-bullying, anti-homophobia and everything else Fox is seemingly jumping on the bandwagon and using "Glee" as a chance to say, "Look at us! We're socially aware!" It's one of their most popular shows with the demographic to which they're supposed to be delivering said message (teens) but it just seems so...forced. It kind of breaks immersion and the only things that are really keeping it above water, storyline-wise is the music and the little bits that are really funny and/or entertaining (Sue, Brittany, Puck).

[Mazer]

Agreed. the message was better put across in the beginning. As an example, Kurt was an actual character who had strengths (and weaknesses) that came up organic to the storyline. I thought that the Kurt/Finn storyline was something that they handled well for a while.

Even in their promos, You see glee takes a stand on Bullying, Glee shows their God side, Glee addresses the oppression of the proletariat, etc. If you want to come make an actual impact, show situations that make sense and are true to the characters.

[The_Mike]

I haven't seen the latest episode but it sounds like it highlights something I've been feeling for a while now. Glee seems to be like two shows. Sometimes it's a thoughtful and entertaining dramedy with truly memorable characters, and sometimes it suddenly jumps to being a hokey after-school special with a laboured message and a cookie-cutter cast. I'm not sure how much of this is due to different writers or running low on ideas and how much is due to pressure to be seen to be taking a stand pretty much constantly. Glee has become the rallying point for people who are literally killing themselves because their peers treat them like shit. If I suddenly found myself in the position of speaking for such people and with great influence over society's attitude toward them, I might start labouring the point as well. And Glee has done an amazing job in a short amount of time - most people in the US no longer have a problem with gay marriage now and even my own parents love the show and are relaxing on 'the gays'. It's amazing what they've achieved (not that they have done this on their own by any means) but at the same time it is a shame that it appears sometimes the show cannot just be a show and tell its own story with its own characters.

[Derek]

It seems like if you were a fat, gay, poor Jewish kid who could sing and dance you would be both the most reviled and the most popular kid at McKinley high school.

[Tempest]

I quite liked the show when it was a bit of fun and had a few nice takes on songs. Now it's so preachy it's unbearable most of the time, between religion and the gay agenda it's just horrid. I think the only episode I can recall recently that I enjoyed was the one where Sue joined the Glee club.

That said, I enjoyed the songs this week if nothing else

[The_Mike]

It seems like if you were a fat, gay, poor Jewish kid who could sing and dance you would be both the most reviled and the most popular kid at McKinley high school.

Popular is right, the Glee club seems to be quite a support network despite pretending to be made up of people who hate each other. This is something that bugs me - these kids aren't outcasts, they're just part of a different crowd. The idea is that the club is supposed to encourage them to accept people for who they are, but it's easy to 'accept someone for who they are' when they are hugely talented, confident and look anything like this:

http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/users16/mariejoestoryteller/default/rachel-berry--large-msg-125885084965.jpg

The Glee club is full of football players and cheerleaders anyway. The closest they have to someone who doesn't really fit near the top of the high school heap is the least gothic goth ever and a guy in a wheelchair. And I guess Kurt, now that he's back, but he seems to be the only character who ever experienced serious issues at the school and he still found a community there that loved and accepted him, which is why he wanted to return so much.

[Bert]

They have that fat ugly ogre bitch too. I cannot stand her. Her main issue seems to be no friends though, which is quite understandable.

[The_Mike]

Oh I had forgot about her, she's quite new, but it took her about two episodes to find her niche and become accepted to the point of dating a high-up football player. Everyone seems to be getting their acceptance and happy endings pretty easily at this school, considering their supposed social handicaps. Maybe I'm just jaded by messages of "you're not alone, someone will accept you!" to people who are, traditionally speaking, quite likely to be alone and socially unacceptable.

[Derek]

This last episode was just strange. I didn't catch the first season so I don't know who this Jesse guy is but he seemed like a proper douche. I didn't really find it too plausible that A) the entire school would vote Kurt Prom Queen just to be dicks and B) that the faculty in general and the principal in particular would allow it to happen, although the principal seems pretty incompitant as it is.

The bitch-slap between Quinn and Rachel turned out to be a whole lot of nothing. Kinda anti-climactic from what the previews made it out to be. I was expecting a whole girl fight thing to happen but instead she just apologizes. I was kinda expecting this to be the "Empire Strikes Back" episode with the Glee club fracturing and being pissed off at each other but instead apparently all it takes is a little ABBA and everything is okay again! Smacking someone, a douche named Jesse, saying you're going to transfer to another school, being humiliated in front of the entire school, almost having Sue rip out your teeth, getting into a fight at the prom...all healed with a little "Dancing Queen".

[Tempest]

The principal allowing it was the most far fetched part of it. I could totally have seen my class at school having done something that dickish as a joke.

[Bert]

Season 2 Kurt is such a bitch. Season 1 Kurt would have been fine with being voted Prom Queen and would have embraced it right away. This needless drama is starting to get on my nerves.

As is the Gay Bully storyline.

The bully breaking down and crying and apologizing just wasn't believable at all.

[Mazer]

I basically felt that the slap was there, just so they could have a commercail with Quinn slapping Rachel.

Jesse was a douche. He led his team in ambushing her and cracked an egg on her face. I thought Finn and Puck should have kicked his ass last season, and again when he showed up last night. Its ubelievable to me that mr. Schuster would have him as a consultant.

[The_Mike]

I basically felt that the slap was there, just so they could have a commercail with Quinn slapping Rachel.

Jesse was a douche. He led his team in ambushing her and cracked an egg on her face. I thought Finn and Puck should have kicked his ass last season, and again when he showed up last night. Its ubelievable to me that mr. Schuster would have him as a consultant.

Yeah, I just don't understand how he could be tolerated by anyone in the Glee club. It's like he's just there because the actor had a few more episodes on his contract or something. Maybe I missed something, but it really seems to make no sense to have him around now.


Season 2 Kurt is such a bitch. Season 1 Kurt would have been fine with being voted Prom Queen and would have embraced it right away. This needless drama is starting to get on my nerves.

As is the Gay Bully storyline.

The bully breaking down and crying and apologizing just wasn't believable at all.

Agree with all of that. Kurt in Season One would have given the proverbial finger to the school and not let them make him feel bad. Running away is not what he does. Even leaving the school after a death threat was something he was very much against. Then suddenly he runs and cries... then rallies himself and walks back in. It just seemed totally inconsistent, not only with his general character but with the character they were trying to saddle him with at that moment.

And the bully randomly crying, apologising, then being fine again with one word from Kurt just made no sense. I don't know what that was in aid of. It seemed totally out of the blue, inexplicable and certainly not realistic. Bullies don't apologise, they double down. Causing someone else pain is something they enjoy and feel entitled to do, sometimes because it helps them deal with their own pain, sometimes because they are just dicks. But to spontaneously break down and cry with guilt is just not part of the bully m.o. And the principal and staff letting the Kurt thing happen in the first place is just completely unrealistic. I've had some pretty nasty, homophobic and/or incompetent teachers in my time, and I cannot imagine any of them being stupid enough to read out Kurt's name. That idea, like the bully crying and Kurt freaking out and Quinn slapping Rachel all just seemed shoe-horned in for the sake of drama.

This has been a few weird episodes in a row, I've felt. The overall plot seems very unfocused. Other than vaguely moving toward sectionals/regionals/nationals, it seems like no one has much direction. I doubt the show will disappear any time soon, it's a money making machine, but I worry that any core story is getting lost in shilling songs and pushing overbearing 'themes'. That last sentence sounds a bit more negative than I actually feel, but it's a direction I am concerned things might be sliding.

[Derek]

You're saying they turned Karovski face too quickly? Haha.

[Mazer]

the mike and Derek are right. If he stayed heel, he would have been in line for a monster push next season. He would have been main-eventing in a program vs. Kurt.

[Moxie]

Season 2 Kurt is such a bitch. Season 1 Kurt would have been fine with being voted Prom Queen and would have embraced it right away. This needless drama is starting to get on my nerves.

I thought they did a good job showing how Kurt has let his guard down. Several times in the episode Kurt talked about how no one cares that he's gay and that its not a big deal anymore, and then to get punched in the stomach with the sad reality that, why yes, people do still mock him for being gay.

Made perfect sense for him to be upset. He needed a moment to mourn the loss of that ideal he had and put his guard back up.

[Aussie_Outlaw]

Except they weren't mocking him for being gay at all. That's the problem.

People like to do stupid votes, especially on something which doesn't really matter. They'd have just thought it funny to vote the effeminate boy as Queen, no mocking at all.

He walks around acting like a Queen all the time and gets upset when point it out to him through a joke vote.

It's like voting the class clown as class president as it'd annoy the teachers.

There was absolutely no anti-gay-ness in that vote at all. Just teens having a laugh with the vote. The idea about it being an attack on gays is just mental.

[Moxie]

Well, that's the homophobic way of looking at it, I guess.

[Bert]

:hahano:

[The_Mike]

I thought they did a good job showing how Kurt has let his guard down. Several times in the episode Kurt talked about how no one cares that he's gay and that its not a big deal anymore, and then to get punched in the stomach with the sad reality that, why yes, people do still mock him for being gay.

Made perfect sense for him to be upset. He needed a moment to mourn the loss of that ideal he had and put his guard back up.

I think that's a fair point, he had talked himself into a false sense of security a bit, and that's built somewhat within that one episode. I can see it being a blow when he finds out that actually people at the school still think it's funny to target him. However, I think he still reacted far more strongly than the character normally would have. He was utterly crushed by something that should have made him go ":blah: typical..." and then embrace it anyway to show he doesn't care what they think. This guy was wearing ridiculous ensembles from day one, knowing he'd be wearing a target on his back, because he does not care enough about what people think to be driven away. He only allowed himself to be pushed out of the school because he was threatened with death. This incident really shouldn't faze him that much.

And then he talked himself around in about 10 seconds and went back in, making the little freak out seem even more forced for the sake of drama.


Except they weren't mocking him for being gay at all. That's the problem.

People like to do stupid votes, especially on something which doesn't really matter. They'd have just thought it funny to vote the effeminate boy as Queen, no mocking at all.

He walks around acting like a Queen all the time and gets upset when point it out to him through a joke vote.

It's like voting the class clown as class president as it'd annoy the teachers.

There was absolutely no anti-gay-ness in that vote at all. Just teens having a laugh with the vote. The idea about it being an attack on gays is just mental.

:wtf: I really don't see how this was not mocking him for being gay. The school collectively voted for him to be their 'queen', a word that is both a slang term for a homosexual and a suggestion that he's a woman. How could it not be about him being gay? They aimed to humiliate him specifically because of his sexuality.


Well, that's the homophobic way of looking at it, I guess.

I definitely wouldn't go that far, but I do find the idea that this was just 'having a laugh' bizarre. There was certainly a barb in the joke.

[Aussie_Outlaw]

I also don't see the barb as homophobic. If it's a knock against Kurt it's not for him being gay but being an effeminate boy (as I do see the slur 'queen' the same way). I know some gays who aren't effeminate and some straight people who are.

When the Kurt was announced Queen there was no laughing or mocking by the voting public. It was shock. Surely if it was mocking they wouldn't be shocked but would actually be mocking him. They ended up clapping him, not really the actions of a group who want to make him feel awful.

I believe if there was a straight metro with as much fashion as Kurt has and they would vote him Queen as well. So it'd have less to do with gayness than the way Kurt conducts himself.

It's like Phillip on Survivor a month ago, he gets called crazy because he's acting crazy but he claims it's a racist slur against black people. When really he's called crazy because he's acting crazy. Kurt is called a Queen because he's running about like a girl, has his own personal security, turns up in a skirt & is pretty much a major drama queen. None of those relate to his sexuality but rather to how he conducts himself in public.

[Derek]

Something has to happen in the next episode. It's weird that they would tuen Sue 'face all of a sudden. And what the fuck is Finn doing just randomly walking into the auditorium?

[Hero!]

Wtf, Glee, wtf? That episode served no purpose. You could have done anything and still broken up Finn and Quinn and, yes, we get it, Sue has a heart, we've only seen it 4-5 times since the show's inception. Fucking hell, Puck, Artie, Lauren, Mike, and Tina had no lines this episode.

[Mazer]

Also, now randomy Mr. Schu is a complete idiot. As evidenced by going along with jessie and having him involved.

[Mazer]

Did like the funeral itself though. i thought that was well done.

[Derek]

Yes, the funeral was well done. One of the lone bright spots from last night's episode, along with Finn finally growing a set of balls.

[Hero!]

Considering how much time they wasted dicking around in New York and the fact that we need a set-up for season 3 it was obvious how this would end, but still, the lovey-dovey cuteness of it all left me with those warm fuzzies.

Even though season 2 was ridiculously weak compared to season 1 they did end it nicely and had a few good episodes throughout. Bring on season 3!

[ImperialStingmon]

The second original song they did tonight was great, but yeah it seemed really flat otherwise.

[Bert]

… Ashley Finke has reportedly been all but written out of Glee's third season. She’ll appear in a brief flashback in the premiere to explain why she left New Directions and broke up with Puck.

Thank god. I couldn't stand Lauren.

[grimshaw]

Yeah piss off. She existed only as a token fat kid.

I suppose the black one decided she wasn't 'the fat one' anymore. I haven't decided will I keep watching this when it comes back. It's been a bit shit for a long time.

[Mazer]

Glad Lauren is gone. She basically neutered Puck.

[Hero!]

Really enjoyed tonight's episode. We got a triple focus episode and tons of songs which were good. After killing itself in season 2 by focusing more on song than story, Glee seems to have found itself again.

[Dream-Evil]

Chang is the man.

[Derek]

What's happening with Mercedes is the way to do a slow-burn heel turn right.

[The_Mike]

Agreed. And I'm glad; she was always kind of mean-spirited in her criticisms of Rachel, even if she was usually correct. Mercedes has long been about as confident and outspoken as Rachel and the two tended to clash, but I always felt Mercedes was just being plain aggressive while Rachel was usually too self-centred to even notice how she was acting. Might as well let Mercedes go down this road for a while.

[Mik]

Much better than last week.

[Derek]

Why does this show assume that everyone "different" is automatically vilified and hated by the entire school? If my high school had a foreign exchange student from Ireland show up (halfway though the school year?) unless he's a complete dick, chances are he'd be pretty popular and would hang out with a lot of people. Maybe everyone from Lima, Ohio is a complete douche. I don't know. Just seems really unrealistic to me.

[Tempest]

The show got very preachy. I haven't really liked it since the half season break in the first year, but watch it as one of those things that's there when i'm bored.

[grimshaw]

I do not miss this show at all. I must say though, that a white exchange student with a funny accent would surely be the most popular kid in school :/ although they might still feel a bit of an outcast.

[The_Mike]

We had an English guy come up to our school and aside from light teasing over how he'd pronounce one or two words, everybody got on fine with him and he slotted right in. And we fucking hate those English bastards.

Seriously, I appreciate and understand what the show is trying to do, but I think they're trying a little too hard. It's difficult to be an outcast in a school where everybody is, somehow, an outcast. Half the Glee club are cheerleaders and football players and just about every single one of them is very attractive, talented, confident and surrounded by friends. Yet the stories still try to sell them all as isolated and vulnerable. It's not going to help the people they're trying to reach if you tell them someone in Rachel's position is an ugly, lonely outcast.

Also why is it that according to TV you're only allowed to be confident in yourself while being heavy if you're black?

[Cewsh]

Lauren was pretty confident.

[InsertItHere]

Lauren was pretty confident.

Confident in her donut eating abilities...

[The_Mike]

Sorry, I was referring to being confident in yourself in a positive sense, not just obnoxious. Basically to be a proper 'face' and fat, I've not really seen it work with white kids.

[Bert]

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun works surprisingly well as a ballad.

I've heard "I'm the Only One" before but I didn't recognize it when Puck sang it. I liked it though.

[Bert]

Until the last 10mins or so that episode was kind of a downer.

Next episode in 2 weeks which is the MJ episode. I'm looking forward to hearing Smooth Criminal.

[fightme]

Until the last 10mins or so that episode was kind of a downer.

Next episode in 2 weeks which is the MJ episode. I'm looking forward to hearing Smooth Criminal.

I am also looking forward to it.

[Bert]

Oh shit they had the cello guys for Smooth Criminal! That was awesome.

[Simon]

150 posts in a topic about Glee :lol: come off it lads.

[Bert]

150 posts in a topic about Glee :lol: come off it lads.

115,000 posts on a Wrestling forum, you first.

[Simon]

Yeah but GLEE?

[Derek]

Glee. Just ignore the plot holes and watch the girls kiss each other.

[Guy]

I can do that on the internet.

[Derek]

I'm watching the Michael episode off of the DVR and I, too thought the cellists during "Smooth Criminal" were awesome.

[Bert]

It's awesome because they're not just extras.
2CELLOS (Sulic & Hauser) - Smooth Criminal - YouTube

[Bert]

Lesbian Sex Tape between Santana and Brittany? Do want.

[Bert]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/14/showbiz/glee-star-dead/index.html

Crazy shit.

[Fanny]

How so?

[Mills]

One of the main characters on a TV sitcom died at the age of 31, its fairly crazy

[Fanny]

Not really. A bloke down the road from me hung himself in his shed the other week.

[MikeHunt]

Sitcom?

[Fanny]

Admittedly no, he worked in Sainsburys

[MikeHunt]

How the piss is this still on the telly and how was he playing someone in high school at 31?

Sitcom?

[MikeHunt]

Young actor with fuck buckets of money has addiction!!!!!!! Mental stuff!!!!!!

[Bert]

http://i.imgur.com/qHKRGdx.gif

[MikeHunt]

Is that for the amount of people who think this is crazy and give a single fuck.

[mr sabu]

tghtfhtfh

[Mik]

I worry about us lot some times. A young, talented actor who always came across as a really nice guy has died in quite tragic circumstances as clearly he's a bit messed up. Do we really need to piss all over this and wonder why he's playing the role he became famous for or why anyone watches his show? If its not your kind of thing, then fine you dont NEED to talk about it, but a guy has still died.

[Fanny]

I just don't think it's that crazy or shocking, given his circumstances and the fact that this is a quite common occurrence in the industry, so I trust your knickers aren't in a knot about me questioning that side of things.

[Mik]

I think anyone dying young when they seem to have everything most of us would want from life is shocking and surprising. I know what you are getting at, but I guess we shouldnt really start becoming desensitised to people dying young.

[Hero!]

Well, this is upsetting.

[Fanny]

It's sad a young man died, I won't lie and say I'm not desensitized to it in some way though. I think anyone saying they weren't wouldn't be being completely honest.

And I still argue that it's not shocking or surprising any more, not because of said desensitization but because of a slew of similar incidents over the years. I think ignoring such a pattern and acting shocked by the next contributor to it is frankly more dangerous than not being surprised by it.

[Hero!]

I'm pretty desensitized to celebrity death, unless it happens in some crazy way like Benoit offing his family or half-sack from SOA killing an old lady and then falling off a roof.

Im just upset because I liked Glee and Finn was a good character.

[Mik]

It's sad a young man died, I won't lie and say I'm not desensitized to it in some way though. I think anyone saying they weren't wouldn't be being completely honest.

And I still argue that it's not shocking or surprising any more, not because of said desensitization but because of a slew of similar incidents over the years. I think ignoring such a pattern and acting shocked by the next contributor to it is frankly more dangerous than not being surprised by it.

I think I'd say that I was shocked but not surprised.

[Fanny]

Im just upset because I liked Glee and Finn was a good character.

Wow

[kangus]

He should have asked for a wakeup call.

[Bert]

Wow

Fanny, stop being a dick.

Unless it's to Simon.

[virms]

I think kangus' statement was a bit more out of line.

[Bert]

I think kangus' statement was a bit more out of line.

But, I expect it from kangus. Fanny is supposed to the nice guy.

:nono:

[wardy]

I didn't realise any straight men watched Glee.

[Atty]

They don't.

[kangus]

I think kangus' statement was a bit more out of line.

Sorry, usually I'd make hilarious show related puns but I don't watch Glee so I have to stick with hotel jokes.

I wonder if he paid extra for an early check-out.

[Bert]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-57594035/cory-monteith-died-from-mixture-of-heroin-and-alcohol-coroner/

"Glee" star Cory Monteith died of a "mixed drug toxicity" involving heroin and alcohol, the British Columbia coroner's office said Tuesday.