Thoughts on Glee

With everything that has been going on in my life, I have yet to comment on the second season of Glee other than to note my approval of the two hot guys who joined the cast last fall. I've been meaning to blog on the subject for months and there's no time like the present, right?

To start with, I should say that Chris Colfer has continued to impress the hell out of me. I was practically jumping up and down with joy when he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in January. I don't think anyone deserved it more than he did and his acceptance speech was the high point of the evening.

I've loved the bullying story arc that is still unresolved. It's an important story and Chris played it beautifully, especially during the scene where Kurt finally confronted his bully Karofsky in the locker room.

I think one of my favorite scenes not only of the year but from any TV show EVER has to be the scene where Kurt's Dad gives him The Talk about sex. This was such a groundbreaking moment, to see a straight father sit down with his gay teenage son and discuss not only safe sex, but the emotional aspects of becoming sexually involved with another person. I honestly never thought I'd see a scene like this on network television. If Glee had ceased to air immediately afterward, it would have earned its place in history just with that scene.

What made this all truly spectacular was Mike O'Malley and Chris Colfer as the father and son in question. They were both pitch perfect as they had the uncomfortable but important conversation, and if it were up to me they would both be showered with every award possible just for this alone.

One of the best things about the new season has been the addition of Blaine Anderson to the cast of characters. Yes, Blaine is played by the incredibly sexy Darren Criss (see above), but that's only one reason to love this character. A far better one is that Criss is a talented actor and singer who has made Blaine truly come alive onscreen.

I could cite many examples of this, but I think the best one actually comes from this past week's episode. The scene I'm talking about is the one in which Blaine is listening to Kurt perform 'Blackbird' and there's no doubt as you're watching that you're seeing him fall in love with his fellow Warbler right before your eyes. Blaine doesn't say a word, but the dawning realization is all right there on his face and in his body language.

I've loved the way in which Kurt & Blaine have become friends (although Kurt was in love from the moment Blaine sang Teenage Dream to him) and how Blaine has tried to be a mentor to Kurt, and I'm excited to see where things go from here, now that they've finally become a couple.
With that said, I'm so ready to see Kurt back at McKinley High! All of the Warbler's performances tend to start sounding the same after awhile, with so little diversity in the singing, and I just miss seeing Kurt interacting with his old friends. I've loved seeing him become closer with Rachel since his transfer to Dalton and I'd like to see how that holds up when they're in the same glee club again.

What about the rest of the show, outside of Kurt and Blaine? Well, I've got to say that I'm incredibly disappointed with the way things were written for Will & Emma. Throwing Carl into the mix and then having Emma marry him so suddenly was not only wildly out of character for her, it also sort of ruined Emma & Will for me.

I liked the addition of Holly Holliday and I have to confess that I've never liked Gwyneth Paltrow more, but I don't see her being a long term character. If she's just in the mix to get Emma and Will back together, as seems likely, I'm less than impressed.

One truly fantastic decision they made this year was the casting of Dot-Marie Jones as Coach Beiste. At first, I thought the new football coach was going to be little more than a stereotype and a joke, but I quickly lost that idea. The writing has given Dot-Marie Jones a chance to shine both as a comic actress and in some surprisingly emotional scenes.

I also very much enjoyed the addition of Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans, though for somewhat different reasons:

Yes, he's fantastic eye candy, but I also loved how secretly dorky Sam was underneath the hot jock exterior. When he spoke Na'vi and did his McConaughey impression, I melted. I was especially excited when I thought that he was coming on to be Kurt's new boyfriend. My disappointment on that front was quickly appeased by the real chemistry that existed between Sam & Quinn, though. I really enjoyed that pairing.

Since then, they haven't seemed to know what to do with Sam. They trashed his relationship with Quinn to do a Quinn & Finn retread (boring!) and then paired him up with Santana, only to have her confess her love for Brittany. There is some truly interesting story to be told with the character of Sam, his insecurity, and his overwhelming need to be popular, but will they tell it?

Don't get me wrong, though, I love the whole Brittany/Santana relationship. It will be interesting to see where that goes. I've also enjoyed the Brittany/Artie match.

I have mixed feelings on the Puck/Lauren pairing. I love Lauren's complete confidence in herself and in her sex appeal, in spite of not looking like what is accepted in our society today as 'sexy', but I just feel like the pairing with Puck is too forced to be believable. They don't quite carry it off, somehow.

Where is Mercedes? Yes, she's physically present and has had a few great songs (I loved the duet of 'Take Me or Leave Me' she did with Rachel!), but she's had no character development whatsoever this season, outside of the tater tot thing. Give her a story already!

I also think they need to be very careful with Sue. She's always been deliciously over the top and I love Jane Lynch, but some of the character's actions this season have been a tad too much, even for Sue. If they made her a complete cartoon, that would be one thing, but they continually ground her with scenes in which we see that she is indeed human. So, why would she not care if she killed Brittany to win a competition, to give one example?

Overall, the show has had some great episodes this season and a few that weren't quite all that they could have been. I hope they'll move away from doing too many more episodes that revolve around the music of just one artist. It worked beautifully in the Madonna episode last year, but... well, let's just say Britney Spears is no Madonna.

Still, at this point I'd take a less than perfect episode of Glee over almost anything else on offer. It continues to be groundbreaking and remains my favorite show.

The Men Who Made 2010

For the past two years, I've made year end lists of what I considered to be some of the hottest guys of the year. These weren't necessarily guys who were 'new' to the scene in the entertainment world, but rather guys that had caught my attention for the first time in the past twelve months.

Being the stickler for tradition that I am, I see no reason not to continue this particular one, even if I haven't had any time at all to blog during the holiday season (I've been at the book store for more Christmas seasons that I care to remember, but this was the first year in my new position and it was way more intense and exhausting than I expected it to be).

Anyway, without further ado, here are the men who made 2010 for me:

So far, I've always opened this list with a guy from One Life to Live. In 2008, it was Mark Lawson and last year it was Scott Evans. Now, I haven't followed the stories on One Life to Live since the shameful writing out of Kish back in March, so you'd think that this year would be different.

The truth is, though, that I still record the show on my Tivo every day, simply to ogle the hot guys, and there is one in particular who has caught my fancy this year. His name is Nicolas Robuck and he plays James, one of the very delicious trio known as the Ford brothers.
While all three of the Ford brothers (the other two are played by David Gregory and Lenny Platt) are incredibly sexy, as evidenced above, there is just something about the vulnerability that Nicolas brings to the role of James that makes my heart skip a beat.
Next up is a soap hottie from across the pond. I'm talking, of course, about Danny Miller, the actor who plays gay character Aaron Livesy on the British soap Emmerdale. I was aware of Danny somewhat at this time last year, since his gay storyline was just kicking off, but 2010 was the year in which he not only impressed the hell out of me with his acting talent (seriously, this man can break my heart; I dare you to watch a scene in which the tough, tightly wound Aaron breaks down and not sob right along with him!) but also had me completely falling for him.
The last three guys from my list all came to my attention this year while starring on the same show. You probably won't be at all surprised to hear that the show in question was Glee.

First up, Chord Overstreet. Once upon a time, when I was much younger, I had a major thing for blonds. Almost all of the guys that I had crushes on, both in real life and in the entertainment world, were blond. Nowadays, though, I tend to gravitate towards men with dark hair.

Still, once in awhile a hot blond like Chord comes along and I just can't help lusting after him like it was 1999 all over again! I mean, those lips, that body, that smile! I'll let the evidence speak for itself.
Next up is Mr. Teenage Dream himself, Darren Criss. At this point, I think even people who have never watched Glee know that Darren became an overnight sensation after he debuted on the show with an incredible performance of Katy Perry's song Teenage Dream. He certainly won my heart that night and his talent, his sexy grin, and his awesome attitude definitely made him one of my favorite guys this year. I just wish some shirtless pics existed! Maybe in 2011?

Finally, I think my biggest discovery this past year was Jonathan Groff. I can't even begin to tell you how much I crushed on him during his run as Jesse St. James on Glee last spring or how much I hope to see this talented, sexy, and out gay actor in something again soon! Shirtless pics of him aren't quite as scarce as those of Darren, but they're still pretty rare.

Well, there we are. The men who made 2010 for me. I can't wait to see what hotties 2011 will call to my attention!