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Glee’s “Previously Unaired Christmas”
If you thought last week’s episode was at an all time low, Glee puts it all out there for their Christmas episode. Glee not only has sexy elves costumes, but the show has sexist and racist remarks as well. The show certainly wants to make a statement for the fall finale. However, those probably weren’t the things the writers wanted everyone talking about.
In this episode, Sue Syvlester holds a contest that has McKinley High students decorating a Christmas tree. The one rule is that it needs to be eco-friendly. The first place price is a plastic crystal angel “that a twelve year old Filipino made.” Tina and Sam are on the glee club’s decorating committee. Tina takes this contest very seriously because, as always, she wants it about her. Prom queen wasn’t enough.
While Tina continues to stress about the tree, Artie mentions that the nativity scene got defaced and vandalized. The nativity scene gets defaced with swastikas and the baby Jesus is even found in Figgins’ chimney. Figgins informs the glee club that he wants them to perform a live nativity scene. Coach Beiste wants Jake to play Joseph because “he is a tan Jew.” All of the girls want to be the Virgin Mary, except Kitty. While all of the girls audition, Kitty sits this one out. Not only is she angry about the girls’ performance, but she doesn’t think “a Chinese person should play the Virgin Mary.” Marley corrects her with “I’m pretty sure she’s Korean.” Even though Kitty puts on a hard shell, she showcases her vulnerability in this episode. She tells Marley that she feels Marley doesn’t deserve to play the Virgin Mary because of her promiscuous ways.
‘Glee’: “The Puppet Master”
Glee was one of the few shows that aired a new episode on Thanksgiving. If you thought the tryptophan was getting to you or you had too many glasses of wine at dinner, fear not. It was probably “The Puppet Master,” which is Glee‘s trippiest episode to date. “The Puppet Master” had fantasy sequences and puppets that looked liked the characters.
The episode mainly revolved around Blaine, who is considered to be the puppet master of the New Directions. He doesn’t realize how controlling he is, but the other glee club members can see it. The glee club feels they don’t get a say in any of the decision making process because it’s all about Blaine’s ideas. This is not a democracy in the rest of the clubs eyes. Tina goes as far as to compare the glee club to North Korea. However, Blane feels that no one is appreciating his leadership skills. After sitting in the back corner of the choir room, Blaine starts falling asleep and begins dreaming of the casts’ puppet counterparts. As if this was a Sesame Street episode, Blaine sings “You’re My Best Friend” with the puppets. Seriously, why can’t Glee just grow up? If anything, Glee should have used the puppets for Avenue Q songs. Avenue Q is meant to be a puppet show for adults.
It’s sad to say, but Blaine’s becoming the new Rachel Berry. Rachel was a very prominent character throughout the show, but has been kind of hidden in the background lately. Rachel and Blaine are the kind of characters you love to hate because everything revolves around them. It makes them sound even more selfish than they are. Quite frankly, the show shouldn’t be called Glee anymore cause Blaine has been taking over. It should be called now “The Blaine Anderson Show,” just like it used to feel like “The Rachel Berry Show.”
Glee’s Billy Joel Tribute
After last week’s twerking craze, Billy Joel is probably the best thing for getting back on track. The Billy Joel songs chosen throughout the episode complimented the story line and didn’t seem like a forced attempt to seem cool. Last night, the show was about the characters’ joys and fears of the future.
The episode starts with Sam and Blaine heading to New York to visit Rachel, Kurt and Santana in hopes for career advice. They believe that “New York is the city where dreams come true.” Blaine hopes to get into NYADA and Sam at Hunter University. Sam hopes that his impressions and his Channing Tatum Male Stripper Scholarship award will come in handy in the long run. Ever since, Sam was a young kid, his dream job was to become a male model because he was not a good student. Since Hunter University was a no go, Sam decides to pursue his modeling dream by meeting up with a tough talent agency named “Bichette.” Bichette, played by none other than Tyra Banks, gives Sam a harsh reality of what it takes to make it into the industry.
‘Glee’: “The End of Twerk”
Sadly, Glee‘s story lines are coming directly from the headlines. They are pandering to a younger, pop culture savvy media demographic. The episodes of Glee, I remember seeing in the early days are a lot different than what’s being produced today. Last night, Glee paid tribute to this year’s most talked about hot button issue: Miley Cyrus. The episode was all about rebelling, twerking, and the freedom to express yourself. When I first heard about the episode, I said “Oh god, this is going to be a train wreck.” I was right.
Everyone has those days when you feel like breaking out in dance when no one is looking, but nowadays its very easy to get caught. Blaine happens to get caught twerking because Tina recorded it and showed everyone in the glee club. He becomes embarrassed, but Mr. Schuester feels that this is what they need to get into nationals. Mr. Schuester feels that this dance craze is certainly “not traditional, but its envelope pushing.” Soon after, he begins to break out in song and dance to Robin Thicke’s hit song “Blurred Lines.” The students seemed to be enjoying themselves by sexing it up and making it look inappropriate.
‘Glee’: “The Quarterback”
A box of tissues and a pint of ice-cream were certainly needed for last night’s tribute to Glee’s Finn Hudson. What’s great about the episode is that the creators wanted to celebrate Finn’s life. Finn was a true leader in the glee club and a true quarterback hence the title. Millions of fans have idolized him since day one. No one will ever forget him singing in the shower to “Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore” or performing his first routine to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” Not only was his death so sudden, but Cory Monteith/Finn Hudson had so much potential. Having “Glee” been his big break, all his fans were hoping to see him pursue other adventures. We grew up with the character and felt like he could have easily been a friend to us all. By keeping Cory’s memory alive, all the proceeds of the songs played will go to Cory’s charities of choice.
Within the first five minutes, emotions rose quickly. The New Directions begin singing a beautiful rendition of “Seasons of Love.” What made the episode even more moving was seeing some of the original cast members come back and support their Glee family. Once they look behind the stage, they see a picture of Finn in his quarterback uniform. Soon after, the glee graphic automatically came up on the screen, the creators replaced the letter “L” with a black and white silhouette of Finn from episode one. He was performing “Don’t Stop Believing” in season one. If that didn’t start the waterworks, I don’t know what will.
‘Glee : Tina in the Sky With Diamonds’
If you enjoyed the Beatles songs last week, Glee is back with even more Beatles songs. Not only did Glee continue to pay homage to the legendary fab four, but they had their McKinley High Prom. It was pure entertainment and jammed packed for episode two. Last night’s episode focused on Tina, the type of character you want to love and hate right now. This once shy, timid, girl, who pretended to have a stutter, is now the biggest bitch you can ever meet. She doesn’t want to be in the shadows anymore and wants to gain attention by becoming prom queen. This is not easy to say, but the diva award truly goes to Miss Tina Cohen Chang.
Once Tina finds out she was nominated for prom queen, she is ecstatic, but her prom date, Sam, isn’t so happy. Not only is Sam hurt that he didn’t get nominated for prom king, but Tina drops him as a date. She thought by going single, she could get more of the single prom votes. Soon after, she starts singing “Revolution,” an anthem in its own way. She truly wants to change the world. Everyone knows that Tina wants to shine, but the glee club decides to leave while she continues to sing.
‘Glee’: Beatles Week
Glee’s season 5 got underway last night. The New Directions are back. For two weeks, the glee club will be paying homage to The Beatles. Their club advisor, Mr. Will Schuester, mentions that they need to bring their A+ games so that they when they win back to back championships, they can form their own New Directions dynasty. All my life, I grew up listening to the Beatles and I thank my dad for it. When watching Glee I had very high expectations as to how the show was going to go. I thought that the show had its moments, but it wasn’t something out there.
Rachel has a call back to do a reading of “Funny Girl” in front of the producer of the show, Peter Facinelli. She has the right look for the part, but Facinelli feels that she might be too young for the part. The first song Rachel sings is Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday.” The song was so somber and melancholy that you needed a box of tissues by your side. Rachel begins to sing in an empty auditorium and passes “Sardies,” a famous New York Restaurant that she and Finn went to on their work date in the season two finale. Then she walks to the well-known Bow Bridge and begins to reflect about her love for Finn. It’s very emotional to see because these were the locations she was with Finn during the season two season finale. She views a picture on her cell phone of the entire glee club.
Weekly TV Update: July 9
Each week we bring you stories from around the Internet that you might have missed.
Ernest Borgnine dies at 95. Before his death, The Hollywood Reporter interviewed Borgnine about his 32 day marriage and his recurring role on Spongebob.
CBS and the cast of Happy Days reach an out of court settlement. The cast, minus Ron Howard and Henry Winkler, were suing because CBS was using their images in merchandising without paying royalties.
Adam Lambert may become the newest judge on American Idol.
Demi Lovato will host the 2012 Teen Choice Awards.
Fox Announces New Fall Schedule
Today, Fox announced its new schedule. It will start with the season premiere of the X Factor, which marks the debut of Britney Spears and Demi Lovato as judges.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, this is the full Fox Fall Schedule with new shows in ALL CAPS.
Wednesday, Sept. 12
8-10 p.m. The X Factor (Season premiere, part one)
Thursday, Sept. 13
8-9 p.m. The X Factor (season premiere, part two)
9-10 p.m. Glee
The rest of Fox’s Fall 2012 schedule is after the jump.
Wait! What's A Dial? 