Are you watching Glee?

So I've been watching (and mostly enjoying) Glee since it started. I don't think it's the best thing since sliced bread, but I like a lot of the musical numbers, and perhaps more importantly, it's a show my daughter is willing to watch with me.

That said, I've been underwhelmed by the two episodes so far aired since they came back from hiatus. I just don't think the musical numbers have been as strong. Part of the problem this week (the Madonna episode) is that Madonna's songs are really not much of a challenge for the best of the singers on the show. They did them OK, and some of the choreography was fine, but I didn't LOVE it...It probably was a great move for Madonna, though, as it has inserted some of her catalog into the consciousness of those too young to otherwise care. (I was happier to hear my daughter singing "Hello I Love You" this week! )

This week, the producers have announced they're considering an all Britney Spears episode. I sure hope not...Talk about unchallenging...

 

I'm watching it, too, and like you, I haven't liked the new episodes as much as the old. Emma's problem is kind of creepy, and inserting new guy Jesse in between Finn and Rachel kind of pisses me off. I know the Moonlighting factor is in play in both storylines, but I'd like it if Finn and Rachel could have had half a chance at starting a relationship. I liked Jesse and Rachel's duet a whole lot in "Hell-O," which was "Hello," by Lionel Richie, so maybe the two of them will make me forget about her and Finn.

Musically, I liked "Like a Prayer," in the Madonna ep, but that's the only Madonna song I've ever liked. Glee's version was a great improvement over the original.

It's hard to fathom Sue Sylvester's being such a Madge fan. And I'll bet even she is sick of her jokes about Will's lesbian hairdon't.

 

No, but that Lea Michele is absolutely gorgeous!

 

Haven't gotten to the new eps yet, but I thought it's gotten way out of hand since the pilot. I get the idea all the characters know they're in a show now, and they're just setting-up musical numbers. The shoehorning of artists who have made a deal with the show for exposure is probably the straw that breaks it, for me.

 

I don't think they could ever make me not like the show so much I don't watch it, but there is a bit of meta-osity and Real World-style self-awareness. It's inevitable, I suppose. A year ago, these kids were just auditioning for a show that might or might not make it past the third episode, and now they're part of the latest mass-cultural phenomenon. The Madonna CD apparently is quite the hit. I don't know if it's a Beatles-level hit, but it could open at number one next week.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63K67P20100421

 

I agree with you pretty much all the way. The duet on Lionel Richie's Hello was the only song that I really liked in the last two episodes. I was hoping someone on the show would sing Neil Diamond's Hello Again, but we just got the original playing in the background.

I agree that Like a Prayer was pretty good (and the video that accompanied it was very funny, with various characters dressed in different iconic garb from Madonna videos). The rest...not so much. Vogue was kind of funny--ONCE--but the song is not much fun to listen to.

 

Also, it's kind of turned into the Finn and Rachael show, even more so than it was already. Seeing Quinn and Puck shoved to the background for the last two episodes is a sad reminder that consistency and ensemble style of the first run might be lacking in the future.

 

God, not to me. She looks like an obnoxious, self-absorbed 24-year-old chick with a giant honker to me. In fact, practically all of the teenagers in this show look like they're about 30. It's worse than the movie Grease.

The funniest thing to me is that the guy who plays "Will," the teacher, is only five years older than the guy who plays "Finn," the singing football player. The teacher is supposed to be about 35, and the kid is supposed to be about 17 or 18 (and he's almost 28).

It's a really, really bizarre show, but I gotta say, the technical elements are handled very well, and the sound, editing, lighting and camerawork are absolutely terrific. I just wish they'd stop it already with the excessive Auto-Tuned vocals, which make my back molars ache. Just let the kids sing for real, for once.

It's amazing to me that somebody didn't grab the idea of High School Musical and just make it a TV show five years ago. But I gotta say, Ryan Murphy and the other producers have a huge hit on their hands, and it's a thoroughly-enjoyable show. And Jane Lynch as the bitchy "Sue" is an absolute knockout.

 

The Madonna episode was my first and I kept saying to myself "it sounds like these people can really sing, turn off the damn Auto-Tune already!"

 

A friend of ours who doesn't have cable came over last season to watch GLEE. The premise did not sound like anything my wife or I would be interested in; needless to say, we've been sucked into the show! Not everything works, and the teachers don't look much older than the students, but there's enough over-the-top campiness to keep the show fun and interesting, and yes, Jane Lynch is a scream (she was brilliant in BEST IN SHOW and 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN)!

 

Ehhh, what do you know? For some of us, the honker is a selling point. She looks like an Iranian or mediterranean babe.

Anyway, because it gets so heavily hyped, I am sick of Glee and I've never even seen an episode.

Side thought: I wonder who the oldest person to play a teenager was? It'd be hard to beat Stockard Channing in Grease, who was playing 18 at 33.

 

I think it's great fun and have been hooked since the beginning. And the Rachel girl has a great set of pipes.

 

She's a funny lady. I also liked her in her recurring role as the shrink in Two and A Half Men.

 

And, no, not watching it and have no interest. I would think that the audience for this show would predominantly be teenage girls and gay men.

 

Just say no to honkers.

 

he says, as if there is something wrong with that.

 

He is saying he isn't a teenage girl or a gay man.

 

I've been outed on the Steve Hoffman forum!!

Is this a first?

 

I got Vidiot's back here - the Auto-Tune abuses are legion! Sounds like a singer can't get through a single line without being digitally-shifted.

 

Re: Auto-tune: Many of the actors on the show clearly have modest singing abilities, and are heavily auto-tuned. This is especially true of Finn, who gets a lot of the male singing leads and isn't much of a singer.

On the other hand, Lea (Rachael) has a terrific voice, and although on some songs they auto-tune her for effect (e.g. the cover of No Air), she doesn't need it.

As for gay fans: I think this is probably the most gay-centric show on network TV: The heart of the show, Kurt, is an openly gay character (both on the show and in real life), Rachael has two dads in the show, and there are an abundance of showtunes, Madonna tracks, empowerment issues, etc. The creator of the show is openly gay, as is the woman who plays Sue, and the guy who plays Rachael's new boyfriend. Kurt will also be getting a boyfriend later this year or early next year as a major plot development. So far I think they've balanced the gay issues well: It's not a "gay" show (as in: that's part of the subtext, but it's not the main point), but it shows gays in a very positive light within the context of a mainstream "family" show (well, PG-13 "family" show, anyway).

In terms of drama, the best scenes in the entire show have so far been the interactions between the gay Kurt and his (heterosexual, traditional) father.

 

As if we hadn't noticed.

Don't miss this week's episode (4/27/10) then.

 

No.

 

I am and love it. The Borderline/Open Your Heart mash-up was so good, it went on my ipod.

 

How many of you are going to see the GLEE Tour?

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/EW_Reveals_Scoops_on_GLEE_Tour_Sets_Songs_Story_20100425

http://www.gleetour2010.com/