If there’s one show that seems to be the pop culture zeitgeist hit of the new television season, it’s Glee, and with good reason: the show is entertaining, engrossing, funny, and it’s got killer music. It’s also one of the most frustrating shows on television right now.
I think what’s so infuriating about the show is that it hasn’t decided with any consistency what it wants to be. High school satire? Full-on musical TV show that’s super campy? Pitch-black comedy? A showcase for some great natural singing? The show’s biggest problem is the style of music jarring with the style of the program. Nearly all of the songs arise in a natural manner (like they’re singing in rehearsal or are supposed to exist in a real-world environment). They’ve hired talented singers to fill the roles, but they can’t make the music feel organic at all (it’s all an Auto-Tuned hell, and they’ve picked good songs that usually do a really great job from a narrative standpoint, but they have so much gloss and production on them that it’s distracting). It’s what made “Ride With Me” such a treat, ’cause it sounded like they were all in a classroom joyously singing together. These people have the chops, for the most part – let ‘em sing.
Then, of course, there’s the dreaded fake-pregnancy storyline, which doesn’t work at all. God bless Jessalyn Gelsig, though, as the crazy “mom” to be – as she so loonily proved on Nip/Tuck, she does crazy about as well as anyone working in the industry. The Will/Emma/Ken triangle is working pretty well (now that they’re acting like adults about it and everyone seems to acknowledge that there’s chemistry between Will and Emma). Most importantly, the acting is consistently impressive, primarily from Jayma Mays (can we get her and Anna Faris playing sisters in something soon?), Jane Lynch, Gelsig, and Dianna Agron as pregnant cheerleader Quinn. Agron is the one who constantly blows me away. There are so many moments where you can just feel her getting it and bringing depth to what is probably the most stereotypical role on the show.
Though Glee has been all over the map and back again, there’s some quality that I can’t quite pinpoint that makes it work, even in its current flawed state. But I suppose I will take this as improvement, as a handful of episodes ago, I was tweeting that there was something nagging at me that was a gaping problem in the show. The show has only improved as it’s unfurled more episodes, which bodes well for the rest of this season. It’s a good sign that there seems to be so many fans and critics alike talking about the show’s flaws and pulling for the show to overcome them and become something great. It definitely has the potential.
What’s more, there’s nothing quite like a show that can make you feel an emotional reaction to a formerly deeply stereotypical pregnant Christian cheerleader by using a song written by Avril Lavigne for a movie about a dragon.
…is that if Kris Allen wins, the media will latch onto some false notion that Adam lost because he’s (supposedly) gay.
I’m gay. I voted for Kris. Theory debunked. :-)
Seriously, though, the finale was just alright. Everyone’s already fired up about how terrible the Kara-penned “No Boundaries” song was and while I’m not about to defend it, I will say that it came across as a really difficult song to sing, chord-wise and word-wise. So many words to get in and a lot of weird chord modulation stuff going on, so they basically stacked the cards against Adam and Kris (though I thought Kris did marginally better on the song than Adam).
Anyway, that’s about all I want to say about the show. It probably speaks to Glee’s strength that most people are buzzing about that than about Idol. I can’t wait to catch up with it on TiVo.
Big band night is ALWAYS the best night on Idol, ever since Season One, and tonight didn’t disappoint at all. Let’s go through the performances, shall we? (And this is basically my one in-depth-ish Idol post for the season and an excuse to talk about my favorites.)
Kris Allen: “The Way You Look Tonight”
It doesn’t hurt that Kris is totally attractive, but I find him to be one of two singers left where I a) look forward to hearing their album and b) look forward to checking out their full-length songs on iTunes. I appreciate his consistency in sound – it seems to be important to the judges that we get a sense of “who they are as an artist,” and you can totally tell what kind of album this guy is gonna put out when all is said and done, and he manages to use the all-important “artistry” each week to mold the theme week to his sound. Tonight was no exception. It was a solid performance, and it sounded very Kris. I hope he’s one of the two in the finals.
Allison Iraheta: “Someone To Watch Over Me”
Allison’s my other favorite. She’s a great singer, she’s got loads of sass and personality, and she’s another who’s consistently shown what kind of album she’d put out. And it’s an album I’d buy. I don’t understand all this business Simon keeps bringing up about her not feeling like she’s in it to win it. If she didn’t want to win it, she wouldn’t have auditioned in the first place, I say. It seems like a lame criticism and the only one they can level against the otherwise solid Allison in an attempt to knock her off the show to get to the preordained Adam/Danny finale. Her performance tonight was damn good – I don’t get why the judges can’t get behind her more resolutely. If she and/or Kris made it to the finals, I’d be pleased.
Matt Giraud: “My Funny Valentine”
At this point in the show we got to the “good, but past Idols have done it better” portion. With this song, Melinda Doolittle’s rendition was a hell of a lot better – whole other league:
And Matt’s always been a good-not-great performer. He’s a good singer, yes, but he’s in a competition with better people, in my opinion. My problem with him is that we already have Justin Timberlake and we already have a JT backup in Robin Thicke. If both of them go away, I suppose we could call on Matt, but for now, I think two are enough. Also working against him? I have an irrational issue with men who wear fedoras, vests with t-shirts, and scarves indoors. He’s done all of this and insists on continuing to do this.
Danny Gokey: “Come Rain Or Come Shine”
Here’s my beef with Gokey: guy sings really great karaoke. Really really great karaoke. But he’s got the Lil Rounds problem where he doesn’t do ANYTHING to a song, and I find that kinda flat. If he made an album of covers, the covers would all sound like the originals and they’d be competently sung, yes, but the whole thing would be kinda rote. Tonight he finally put a spin on a song and surprise surprise, he was about as good as he’s ever been on the show. For once he wasn’t singing a mildly uptempo song in the exact same style as the original, which is all the guy has done all season. Still wasn’t quite as good as Katharine McPhee’s version, though:
Adam Lambert: “Feelin’ Good”
Adam Adam Adam Adam Adam… Um, let’s break it down. He’s obviously talented. He’s obviously born to be on a stage performing. And that’s where I think my biggest problem with Glambert is. This is a singing competition to find a recording artist, and I just don’t think an album from him would be all that great. He’ll probably make a killing on Broadway when all of this is finished, but just listen to any of his performances with your eyes closed; while his voice is good, it’s not suited to being an album. Even his better performances like “Tracks Of My Tears” were just alright when you take away the emotion that he projects through his stage presence. And that’s why I think he’s a little bit in the wrong competition here. He’ll probably get to the finals, but I think he’d be better served by coming in third or fourth like Daughtry so he isn’t so tied to the Idol marketing juggernaut that the winner (and usually runner-up) gets cordoned off into.
And while we’re on a major Idol write-up, let’s address the judges:
–Randy is increasingly useless, though he generally tends to have coherent thoughts. He needs to stop saying “For me for you, dawg… [insert criticism here],” though. And most of his criticisms tend to either be “this is the best you’ve been, you’re in it to win it” or “wasn’t your best; pitchy.”
–Kara DioGuardi is actually doing just fine, I think, regardless of her being maligned by most. She’s generally on point and she usually has constructive things to say. I hope she’s around to hopefully improve next season and win people over.
–Paula is noticeably less loopy than she’s been in past seasons, but it still takes girlfriend forever to get out a sentence. I find her on the whole to be charming, though. We can’t have all the judges up there being professional and coherent and eloquent all the time, can we?
–Simon clearly wants out of his obligation to the show. He’s most likely to be gone next season, I think. I won’t be crying over it.
Basically, the show is clearly waning in its relevance and its success rate. This season definitely needs to produce a Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood level star to remain successful. It’s the kind of show that I keep watching because it’s remained part of the zeitgeist and it’s still mildly entertaining, but as the show gets closer to its tenth cycle, it all becomes a little tiring and rote. Next year will hopefully feature a more exciting group of singers in the top 12. For now, we just have to wade out the season and hope the better singers continue on. Unfortunately, it’s looking like Allison’s days are numbered and Adam’s win is all but certain.
Lastly, can someone explain to me how the hell Alexis Grace isn’t on this show anymore? Or how Ricky Braddy didn’t make the Top 13? Voting public: you all suck.
is like they stretched the tone and comedy of this video:
into a whole show.
Funny this episode, but I can’t see the whole show going much of anywhere. Best of luck, though. I thought tonight’s ep was pretty hilarious, but there are only so many times that Selma Blair can glare and look frustrated as she turns her head before the writers are going to have to give her more to do. ::shrugs::
Moving in means a lot of time around the house needing something playing in the background. Having grown up with Friends, watching seasons of the show on DVD is naturally the go-to filler. When I packed up in Santa Cruz, I went through Season Four and half of Season Five and now I’m nearly done with Disc Three of Season Two.
Firstly, it’s weird that I’m rapidly approaching being the age that these characters were when the show started. I was 7 when the show premiered, so these characters have forever been my (and my generation’s) view of what adult life is like, so to know that I’m a few years away from being these people myself is… surreal.
Secondly, while I think the show is utterly timeless, it’s still interesting to watch Season Two, which aired from 1995-1996, and see how dated it already is at times. There’s an episode where a running gag is Chandler’s new computer, and he boasts of its 12MB of RAM, 500MB hard drive, built-in spreadsheet capabilities, and a built-in modem that transmits at over 28,000 bps!
Then there’s the whole episode about Carol and Susan’s wedding, and the idea of gay marriage in general is played as a novelty, when twelve years later, I don’t think it would be as funny on the surface that Two Women Are Getting Married (OMG!!!!). Then there was a gag about plastic spoons being environmentally unfriendly and it’s played as funny that Joey would even think about that, but in light of the current pop culture and political climate, it’d be… a legitimate concern.
It’s also funny to watch these earlier seasons and remember that my mom for a while didn’t let me watch the show because it was “too adult.” And I don’t disagree, but what I find amusing is that through maybe Season Four, there were a handful of jokes that were indeed “too adult,” but were so adult that I just didn’t get them. Watching through these episodes now it’s funny to see what stuff went over my head and get the jokes this time around. Stuff like Rachel rolling over the juice box when she and Ross are making out in the planetarium or an interviewer asking Monica to make a salad and getting off on the lettuce being “dirty” and the tomatoes being “firm.”
But while the show may show its age more than I’d expected, it definitely holds up, and I think it’s a testament to the writing and acting. All the actors created distinctly iconic characters while managing to balance and compliment one another quite nicely (though Jennifer Aniston has a much defter hand at comedy than I remembered). The show was as successful as it was because they all focused on character instead of wacky shenanigans. There were wacky shenanigans, yes, but the creators seemed much more concerned with creating interesting characters, and that focus shows.
