Glee got a healthy dose of awesome this week, via guest star Kristin Chenoweth – right on the heels of her well-deserved Emmy win for Pushing Daisies.
Chenoweth was terrific as April, a former classmate of Will who he decides to recruit to replace Rachel based on a technicality – April never graduated, and thus he brings her back to high school to bring her considerable singing skills to Glee.
Problem is she also brings alcoholism and a healthy sense of promiscuity along with her – which she is first able to use to make friends with all of the Glee members, but soon causes plenty of problems. As always, Glee pushed things to the humorous extreme, as she not only gets Kurt drunk, but offers him "vintage muscle magazines" to better get him on her side. The use of Hall & Oates' "You Make My Dreams Come True" behind the "April makes friends" montage was fun, although that song was just used to brilliantly in (500) Days of Summer, that it feels a bit early for another TV show or movie to use it.
The rest of the episode soared musically, however. Chenoweth and Lea Michele got to duet (albeit not onscreen) on "Maybe This Time" from Cabaret. Hearing these two Broadway veterans go toe to toe – in a vocal sense – was great. And it was very fun hearing Will and April sing Heart's "Alone" together, with the show continuing to cull from many different genres and styles. I even enjoyed Carrie Underwood's "Last Name", and I'm not a country fan of all – though it helped having Chenoweth giving such a great performance of the song, complete with all the Glee members dressed like cowboys.
April was an hysterical creation, and it was clear Chenoweth was having a great time with the role. Her opening scene was perhaps her funniest, as Will goes to find her and discovers a drunken mess of a woman, who makes comical allusions to being a prostitute. I loved her line about having just "cracked open a box of wine." This show definitely can get a bit edgy, which it sometimes tempers by simply not confirming what seems to be going on – After all, it sure seemed like April slept with Puck to befriend him, didn't it?
Meanwhile, we got to see a bit of a darker side to Finn, as he blatantly manipulated Rachel, by using her crush on him to try to lure her back to Glee – it's good to see this, because up until now, Finn's been a bit too straight-laced to totally invest in -- his kick ass car crash into a mailman flashback aside.
On the downside, this episode had too little Jane Lynch – although Stephen Tobolowsky again was extremely funny playing the extremely extreme Sandy. And the resolution to the episode felt rushed, as Will suddenly decided to pull April from a show, after already letting her perform half of it. Not to mention, April's, "I'll get my life back on track" bit also felt a bit forced. Glee still hasn't quite found the right balance between its very fun musical scenes, it's very funny comedic scenes and its more dramatic moments – with the latter often feeling out of place and too earnest in comparison to the rest of the show.
Still though, this was another terrifically entertaining hour of television. And yes, the kids—joined by the returning Rachel -- killed it on Queen's "Somebody to Love" in the finale. There is enough emotion in those moments that the show can afford to tone down some of the more blatant heart to hearts I think.
SOURCE: http://tv.ign.com/articles/103/1030649p1.html
WATCH ONLINE: http://watch-glee-show.blogspot.com/2011/04/glee-season-1-episode-5-rhodes-not.html
The networks sometimes make an interesting decision when sending out screeners of new series by purposely providing what they think are the strongest of the early episodes, even if it means jumping over episodes in-between. This was the case with Glee - the advance screener we received had last week's second episode and next week's fourth episode, but skipped over this week's installment. Sometimes that can raise a red flag – does this mean that one episode is lacking somehow? But I was very relieved to find out that wasn't the case at all, as we got another thoroughly entertaining hour of television.
The focus of the episode involved Will, feeling slighted after Rachel wanted to bring in a choreographer, forming a boy band, the Acafellas. This group, consisting of Will, Ken and two other staff members, was extremely funny – giving their all to 1990s hits like "This is How We Do It" and "Poison", despite most of them lacking the looks or moves one would associate with guys daring to perform such songs.
The always-great Stephen Tobolowsky (Groundhog Day, Heroes and a million other projects) returned here as the increasingly off-putting yet funny Sandy – who casually noted he's "Not allowed within 50 feet of children" and that his only creative outlet was "writing Desperate Housewives fan fiction." Though his best line is the one I referenced in the sub-headline of this review, as he angrily yelled at someone who dared not know who Josh Groban was. I loved Will turning down Sandy's requests to join Acafellas by explaining, "We voted. When you're in the group, it's creepy."
We met Will's parents here, including his dad, played by the wonderful Victor Garber (Alias). Garber brought his usual warmth and talent to the role, but what was up with him never singing? Garber's skills as a song and dance man (his ass kicking days as Jack Bristow aside) are well known, so it was quite surprising to never see him get a number on this show of all places – but there's always future episodes I suppose. Will helping convince his dad to pursue his long-ignored dream of becoming a lawyer was sweet, but felt a little undercooked and like it was missing a scene or two.
A subplot had Mercedes – cruelly goaded on by Quinn – romantically pursue Kurt, which was, to say the least, barking up the wrong tree. This led to Mercedes great mid-episode number, as she sang her heart out, backed by cheerleaders in the midst of a bikini carwash (well done, Glee). Amber Riley performed the song terrifically, and the show reinforced that we will sometimes get musical numbers of this sort – that are big, more traditional musical type numbers, which are imaginary sequences within the show's reality.
This wasn't a big episode for Jane Lynch, but I do have to note her awesome "Yeah, I'd hit that" expression watching Puck sing "I Want to Sex You Up" – after Finn, Puck and yes, Sandy, joined Acafellas. Though the best inappropriate sexual moment came from a surprising source – Josh Groban himself, who had a cameo, as he arrived to give Sandy a much-needed restraining order. Seeing Groban come on to Will's hard drinking, heavy set mother was hysterical, and Ryan Murphy gave Groban one hell of a gloriously-speaking-in-the-third-person quote: "You might be thinking, why would a pop star like me come over here and talk to you? But let me tell you something. Throngs of screaming teenagers don't do it for Josh Groban. No, Josh Groban loves a blousy alcoholic. "
Glee's energy is so strong when it comes to humor and music, that sometimes the more earnest, sentimental moments bring the show to a halt and don't fit in as well. That was the case near the end with Kurt and Mercedes, as he came out to her in a scene that seemed a bit too straight-laced (no pun intended!) for the overall tone of the series. Still, that's a minor quibble, as Glee continues to be an extremely fun series.
SOURCE: http://tv.ign.com/articles/102/1025716p1.html
WATCH ONLINE: http://watch-glee-show.blogspot.com/2011/04/glee-season-1-episode-3-acafellas.html
This is either a show you go with or you don't, that's for sure. There's no doubt Glee has plenty of corny, sentimental moments – but it's also incredibly fun and filled with a lot of very clever humor, much of which is filled with self-deprecation.
It's obvious that Ryan Murphy and his collaborators are well aware of all those who would dismiss this show on sight and call it "gay" – and Murphy basically beats everyone to the punch, by using the term himself more than once, most amusingly when the incredibly effeminate Kurt (Chris Colfer) snarks "It's really gay" without a hint of irony, when Will (Matthew Morrison) makes the Glee club perform a disco song.
Second best use of the word? Will's wife Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig) showing him an ultra-femme child's bedroom, while announcing, "This is where our daughter or gay son will sleep." This is funny stuff.
So far, Terri is a fairly hateable character – it's never been so easy to want a TV character to want to dump his wife when you have her being so awful, while the sweet Emma (Jayma Mays) pines for him.
I really appreciated how fast the story moved in this second episode – letting storylines evolve much faster than expected for TV. So much so that when Rachel (Lea Michele) and Finn (Cory Monteith) kissed, I half expected it to be a dream. But not only was it not a dream, but the scene involved a call back to another great joke in the episode – Finn's premature ejaculation issue (cue "Jizz in My Pants") and the hysterical reveal of how he tries to stop it, by thinking about the traumatic experience of once smashing his car into a guy while his mom was giving him a driving lesson.
My fellow IGN TV editor Matt Fowler can't get into Glee, saying he "doesn't care about people who have music in their heart." But what I appreciate about the show so far is how it's able to have its cake and eat it too by clearly sympathizing with the Glee club members, yet giving those who mock them some of the best lines and moments in the show. Clearly that's the case for the ever-great Jane Lynch, who kills both with her character Sue's insults and also her bizarre tangents, whether it be saying she finds it "offensive" when Will says she's used to being the "cock of the walk" or responding to Will saying "hold on" by going into a diatribe about not being treated like a second class citizen due to her gender. Lynch's funniest bit in this episode though was a simple reaction shot, as Sue squirmed uncomfortably after the principal warned that there would be zero tolerance for anyone soiling the school grounds while the bathrooms were out of order.
As for the songs, the highlight was definitely "Gold Digger." Sure, it's funny and cheesy seeing these dorky kids and their white teacher perform this song, but it's also kind of great and given a very fun rendition here – even if you can definitely tell it was pre-recorded and produced, rather than being sung live as it shown to be. "Push It" meanwhile was intentionally played for laughs, as the kids went over the top with the sexual moves, and garnered plenty of laughs. The one odd musical moment here was Rachel's big romantic song that ended the episode, simply because it somewhat broke the rules of the show so far – we actually see Rachel singing to Finn and Quinn (hey, rhyming names!) in the hall, and no one notices, making it more of a genuine musical rather than the songs justified by the Glee Club situations we've seen prior to this. It will be interesting to see how much this show bends these rules going forward.
SOURCE: http://tv.ign.com/articles/102/1023245p1.html
WATCH ONLINE: http://watch-glee-show.blogspot.com/2011/04/glee-season-1-episode-2-showmance.html
I find myself very glad I watched Glee several weeks ago, before FOX really began promoting it. What is, in and of itself, a charming and amusing hour of television now arrives with an unrelenting amount of hype behind it that I'm sure is going to turn away some potential viewers, which is understandable.
The funny thing is Glee isn't even debuting as a series until this fall – FOX is only showing the pilot this May, in an effort to use the giant audience of an American Idol lead-in to check out the show via this "preview" episode. So what will they find if they tune in?
Well, Glee tells the story of high school teacher Will (Matthew Morrison), who is most definitely a guy in a rut – uninspired by his job and feeling pressure from his wife (Jessalyn Gilsig, known to Heroes fans as Claire's biological, fire starting mother). But inspiration and excitement strikes Will when he takes over the high school's glee club, a pathetic group who have previously been mocked and/or ignored, and attempts to turn them into something triumphant.
Front and center in the group is a wanna-be diva, Rachel (Lea Michele), who has plenty of talent when it comes to singing, but is something of a social pariah with her off-putting, Tracy Flick type-A personality. Will also recruits school football hero Finn (Cory Monteith), having overheard the boy's previously undiscovered singing talent. Add in other assorted oddballs and outcast and you have the makings of a Glee Club version of The Bad News Bears. 
Best known for his FX hit Nip/Tuck, Glee creator Ryan Murphy sometimes recalls his previous high school set series Popular here, with a toned down version of the bigger-than-life world that WB series possessed. Morrison is a nicely cast lead, bringing a calm, relatable energy to this amped up, song-filled world. And yes, there is plenty of singing in Glee - no, the characters don't break into song at all times, but the Glee Club setting obviously gives them plenty of chances to sing some familiar songs.
When it comes to the songs, Michele is the true star of the show, bringing her Broadway-honed skills to the role and wowing in the big "Don't Stop Believing" number that ends the pilot (and which you might already be sick of thanks to all those damn ads – though the scene really does work in context). Monteith is a bit more problematic, considering we keep being told Finn is an excellent singer, while Monteith (who has never sung professionally before) actually sounds merely adequate and is clearly outmatched by Michele.
The cast are engaging and fun, including the always funny Jane Lynch as a gym teacher and another Heroes alum, Jayma Mays, as the sweet teacher nursing a crush on Will. The pilot is not perfect, but it sets the stage for a show that, if it can maintain the right tone, could certainly make for a charming series. Murphy seems well aware of those who would dismiss a show about a glee club as being all schmaltzy, cornball sentiment, and makes sure to put in plenty of moments of sarcasm along the way, allowing the glee club's own outcast status to let other characters make fun of them before the viewer can, while also making sure to not make them total buffoons either. As a pilot, Glee is a solid one, though it rides a fine line between cute and cutsey that it sometimes comes dangerously close to crossing. Will Glee work as a weekly series? We won't know until fall…
SOURCE: http://tv.ign.com/articles/983/983903p1.html
WATCH ONLINE: http://watch-glee-show.blogspot.com/2011/04/glee-season-1-episode-1-pilot.html
