Not so Gleeful for Glee

I have definitely blogged about my love for Glee in the past, see here.  I loved every second of the show when it first started; it was something I looked forward to week to week.  Since getting a DVR rarely is there a show that I schedule in my life as an appointment.  (One that I watch while it's on because I don't want be delayed or miss out on any of the conversation happening the next day.) But last fall I sat down (with bated breath) and watched every episode as it aired.  Usually I would jump on my iTouch during the show and buy one of the songs they just performed because it was that good.  I constantly recommended the show to people and even had Glee viewing parties at my house.

So, what has changed?  Why am I not so Gleeful for Glee?

• The show has become one giant music video. 

What happened to the story lines and the characters that we cared so much about?  When the Madonna episode aired they worked songs like "Like a Virgin" and "Open Your Heart to Me" into the story lines so well.  In the Britney Spears episode they had each character go to the dentist, be put under, and 'dream' up a Britney fantasy.  The only song that was even a bit interesting or tied to a story line was "Toxic."  In the musical film genre several songs are sung by characters that are interwoven into the narrative.  Glee once was that, now I fear it's becoming a place to showcase an artist and their song book.

• Will Schuster needs to be reined in. 

I don't know if it's the story line they've been giving him lately or just that he's over acting but I cringe almost every time he's on screen.  I mean why is he singing/jamming to Christopher Cross' "Sailing" in a Corvette?  Am I supposed to be laughing at him, because I was.

• The show is crossing the line from funny to inappropriate or maybe just plain weird. 

Either I getting old or becoming a prude (which I refuse to think it's the latter) but I was just plain confused by last weeks 'butt sweat' scene with Jacob Ben Israel  and Sue Sylvester.  I still don't know what was going on.

I could keep going but I have hope that they're going to turn the show around.  That they'll go back to the love triangle of Emma - Will - Terry, that Sue Sylvester and Will will continue to have their disdain for each other (because that's when we get some of the best Sue lines), and that the Glee Club will go back to doing performances like "Somebody to Love" and "Don't Stop Believing." 

After all that's what we (or at least I) fell in love with.  I will not stop believing... for now... but I am treading lightly.

Jimmy Fallon recently had Justin Timberlake on his show and they had their own musical moment, show casing a song that Glee has also done.  Who do you think did it better?  I'm partial to the Jimmy Fallon - Justin Timberlake performance.

Glee - performing "Empire State of Mind"

Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake performing a "History of Rap" skip to min 2:40 if you don't want to watch the whole thing... although I highly recommend the whole video.  It could be that I'm a huge fan of Jimmy Fallon or that versions of him remind of Ben; whatever the case they take the cake in this video contest if you ask me.

'The History of Rap' by Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake.

Uploaded by le_geek_cest_chic. - Watch more music videos, in HD!