The TV Chick

Last night’s episode of Glee titled “I Kissed A Girl” centered around Santana and the campaign video that was about to out her. There’s also the matter of the elections — both for Class President and a Congressional seat. It was a decent episode with a few catchy musical numbers, but overall it felt like a filler episode. Don’t get me wrong, I thought the Santana scenes were moving and fantastic (even if in a slightly emotionally manipulative way). I even liked Finn in this episode for trying to raise Santana’s spirits and make her realize she has a ton of support from those who love her. It just felt like there was a ton of music and very little plot. But I won’t give up Glee. I know a lot of people who have, but I have always said that the music makes me happy and this season has really been pretty great in the plot department.

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I want to believe Glee is back to its old season one self, but I’m not all the way convinced yet. “Mash Off” was a pretty decent episode, but it was decent because some of the musical numbers (mainly one) gave me chills. And that knocked it up in the rankings. But was it anywhere near “Asian F” or “The First Time”? Not really, sadly. The episode focuses on a Glee assignment (and one of my favorites) — mash-ups. But because the groups are split (The Troubletones are great and all but can we please just all get along?!), they are going to have a Mash Off, a mash-up competition.

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The season premiere of Glee was very solid. I wasn’t crazy about the song choices but I like what was set up for the season. Tonight’s episode, “I Am Unicorn” is amazing — brought me to tears, must watch numerous times amazing. The musical numbers were fantastic, although all were from the Broadway realm. I was blown away. The episode centers around Kurt running for Senior Class President and Brittany’s hilarious and grandiose campaign ideas. She wants to run his campaign based on the fact that he is a unicorn, which means he’s special. But it’s not exactly what Kurt had in mind. Also, Shelby (Idina Menzel) comes back into town as a part time Show Choir director. Don’t worry, she’s not going to try to take down New Directions (there’s been plenty of that already). She was hired by Sugar’s (played by the amazing Vanessa Lengies) wealthy father to make her the star of a show choir. Shelby’s presence obviously has a huge impact on Rachel, Quinn and Puck. There’s a big part with Quinn and Puck wanting to see their baby, Beth. I don’t want to spoil too much, but it sets up a very interesting arc.

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The day has finally arrived! Glee is returning to TV and all is right on my DVR again. The first 13 episodes have brought an incredible amount of success from a SAG award to a Golden Globe to accolades for the show’s fashion. It is rare for a show with only 13 episodes to garner so much recognition so quickly. It has also built up one of the most devoted fan bases in the world. I am so filled with glee (yeah I said it) at the fact that people have fallen in love with this show. Back in May, when it was just a little pilot that could, I realized that there was something very special about it. And Ryan Murphy and his creative team have kept the momentum going since then. There is not a single episode of the entire show that I haven’t adored. Some I like more than others, which is only natural, but any show that is able to bring tears to my eyes simply from a song is at the top of my list.

Hell-O is the triumphant return we have all been waiting for. By now, you have probably read multiple recaps and reviews because it was screened at the Paley Center a couple of months ago. But I want to give you some highlights and tidbits that maybe you haven’t read, without of course spoiling the episode in any major way. When we last left our Glee kids, they had just won sectionals. The episode ended with one of the most amazing song and dance numbers (My Life Would Suck Without You) and Will and Emma finally kissing after weeks and weeks of waiting.

The episode picks up with that scene we’ve all seen in the promos: Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes walking down the hallway thinking they are going to rule the school and then getting slusheed in the face. As much as I don’t like to see anyone get slusheed in the face, this kept their characters grounded. Of course Glee won’t make them popular, why would it? We then learn a lot about Finn’s angst — he is now dating Rachel and she’s a little too, well, Rachel for him (as if you couldn’t tell from the Team Finn shirt she was wearing in the promos). But he’s clearly still very unsure of himself. Now onto another couple — Will and Emma, who really do care for each other but there are obstacles getting in the way. Some obstacles might have names, others take the form of crazy quirks. For those Wemma fans out there, the happy ending doesn’t come so immediately. And then there’s Jesse St. James (played by the lovely looking and super talented Jonathan Groff), the lead of Vocal Adrenaline (New Directions’ competition) who woos Rachel, which doesn’t please the Glee club in the least.

The theme of the episode is obviously Hello. Mr. Schuester gives the Glee Club the assignment to come up with a song with hello in the title. Finn chooses The Doors “Hello, I Love You,” Rachel and Jesse St. James sing a duet of Lionel Richie’s “Hello” upon their meeting (only they would break out into glorious song in the middle of a library), the Glee club sings “Hello, Goodbye” by the Beatles and Rachel sings one of the best musical numbers I think I have ever heard her do–and it’s not a Broadway show-stopper. It is “Gives You Hell” by the All American Rejects. I love this move into new genres of song — especially ones that challenge their Broadway belter to get out of her comfort zone. I have frequently said that I would listen to Lea Michele sing the phone book, and she turns this alternative song that I never really liked into one I will most likely listen to on repeat on my iPod. Well done, Glee!

There is also an amazing showdown between Emma and Terri. The best part about it is that it’s not any sort of yelling or screaming match but more of a subtle takedown where Terri gets into Emma’s head and makes her doubt herself. Ryan Murphy’s brilliance shines here yet again. Even if you hate Terri (which really, you shouldn’t), she still shares this history with Will that we barely know anything about. She is still a part of him even if they aren’t together anymore. From speaking with Jessalyn, I know this storyline/love triangle is really going to heat up and I think they are setting it up for greatness.

The episode ends with “Hello, Goodbye” which is relevant to all the Glee clubbers lives in different ways. And I have gone this entire time without talking about Santana and Brittany. Brittany has definitely become one of my favorite comedic voices on the show, with witty one liners and the ability to play stupid in a very smart way. She and Santana are both out to get Finn (under the master plan of Sue Sylvester), and it is quite hilarious. The best Brittany one liner of the episode is: “You know that dolphins are just gay sharks.” I think I may have made a lot of people turn around and look at me when I laughed so hard. I am really glad that Brittany is getting more face time (and more time for one liners) because she is so hilarious and adds such a great element to the show.

Hell-O is definitely a wonderful way to kick off the season. I have very high hopes for Groff’s character, and I enjoy Idina Menzel as well (she guest stars in this episode as the coach of Vocal Adrenaline). There is comedy, show stopping numbers and the Glee Club drama that we have all come to know and love. However, the 2nd episode (Power of Madonna) is epic. It is probably the best, most innovative 45 minutes of television I have ever seen. So if you are happy that Glee is returning (seriously who isn’t??), your mind will be blown next week.

Glee is back tonight at a special time of 9:28 pm on FOX.

And here are a couple of video previews to tide you over:

Rachel sings “Give You Hell:”

Will and Emma moment:

Glee returns next week and I am beyond excited. There are some amazing things coming up in the back 9. I recently had the chance to participate in a conference call/Q&A with Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, two of the Executive Producers of the show. They talked about the extreme popularity of the show, the many relationships (and relationship possibilities) and the super talented guest stars.

It’s more than just a successful TV show, I mean with the CDs, the iTunes, and the tour. Are you ever surprised at how quickly it became so popular?

B. Falchuk: This is Brad Falchuk. I think we’re all very surprised. I mean we shot the first 13 episodes without any of them airing, except we did the special sneak screening of the pilot, so we had no idea what we had. We thought we had something very entertaining and good, but we didn’t know it was going to be quite so epically popular quite so quickly. We’re very pleasantly surprised, obviously. And we knew we were working hard to achieve that, but we didn’t know it was going to become the kind of phenomenon that it has become. We certainly couldn’t have expected that. It would have been inappropriate to expect that; it would have been hubris.

I. Brennan: This is Ian. Yes, on a daily basis it surprises me. We believe in the show and we knew it was good, but I had no idea. I thought that it would kind of be like a niche hit that was good and people liked, but somehow it just struck a cord with people, and that is a real, real pleasant surprise.

So the back nine episodes seem to sort of focus on how Finn will try to win Rachel back. What will we see from that?

B. Falchuk: Well the Finn/Rachel relationship is obviously a core to the show. It’s something that’s really sort of important because it’s the bridge of the two worlds that really in the pilot we were trying to put together, which was this sort of popular jock boy with this unique Glee girl. She represents Glee and he represents the rest of the world. And so we always are going to explore that relationship in many different ways, and it’s going to be a push and a pull in that sometimes it’s going to be him going after her and sometimes it’s going to be her going after him, and they’re always going to sort of be watching each other from afar. No matter what’s going on in their lives they’ll always have one eye on the other one. So we’ll see a bunch of that, and then by the end, I think by episode 22 of the back 9, so episode 9 of the last 9, we’ll reach a really temporary conclusion to that.

Well everyone’s favorite couple seems to be Puck and Rachel. What can you tell us of the developments between them that we’ll see in the back nine?

B. Falchuk: Well every good girl likes a bad boy, and there’s nobody more good than Rachel and nobody no more bad than Puck. So we had no idea it was going to be quite so popular, those two. We did it, sort of again like I said, we shot all those episodes in a bubble, and so we didn’t know that putting them in a relationship was really going to make people so excited. So we go back and explore that a little bit in the back nine, and like I said, we’ll continue to explore it. It’s high school, and everybody is always bouncing around to everybody else in high school, so that won’t stop.

I am curious is there has been maybe any pressure felt on a lot of the cast. It kind of seemed to just skyrocket, and it’s everywhere. You can’t escape; even when it’s been off for four months there’s always something going on, White House, record deals, anything like that. Has there been any pressure felt amongst you guys?

I. Brennan: This is Ian speaking. Speaking for everyone I mean we just got back from Chicago where we filmed Oprah and then went on to the White House; we just got back last night. I was shocked at how poised and professional everyone has been. And like Brad said earlier, this has been a journey of about a year for them. And so you can see how some of these kids, like Chris Colfer who is 19 years old, how poised and how awesome he is in interviews and on camera, and how much the kids like one another, and like us, at least for now. I think it’s an interesting time for them, but they all seem to be handling it really well, kind of the publicity and the fame and all of it. I could not have been more proud of them this weekend.

This question is specifically for Ian. I know you based the initial premise on your experiences singing in show choir at Mt. Prospect High School. I’m wondering what feedback you’ve heard from teachers and students involved in show choir?

I. Brennan: I mean I think it’s amazing. I’ve heard kind of rhetorically a lot of schools, I think, are going through, I mean we’re in California, which is having such an incredible budget crisis right now, and I think that’s happening in states everywhere, and I actually heard from a guy who worked I think in the public school system somewhere in Washington state and he was like yes, we’re having a ton of problems, programs are getting cut. The one thing he said, he was like the one thing no one is touching now is Glee Club, which is such a fascinating blow back from this show. Like if you said a year ago that we were going to kind of be a nationwide commercial for show choirs I would have never guessed it. So it’s a weird kind of snake eating its tail aspect for me to have kind of come full circle from when I was in mixed company. I was a cherub; I had the worst haircut and real bad t-zone issues, like just greasy forehead, super skinny in an ill-fitting tuxedo and a sequined tie. And 15 years later this would be happening. It’s all very, very strange and wonderful.

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