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.

Everything's Coming Up Kurt

Things are still busy and I'm trying to make time to catch up with most of my shows (I haven't been able to get to last week's LuRe episodes of As the World Turns just yet, for instance), but there is one series that I never fail to watch the night it airs. It should surprise no one that the show I'm talking about is Glee.

I really have to say that Mike O'Malley and Chris Colfer knocked it out of the park yet again in their final scene together on tonight's show. I can never get through one of their father/son moments without tears in my eyes! Don't bother voting, just send the Emmys to them now.

Kurt's insecurity over losing his dad because of his sexuality was very genuine, and I thought the show found the perfect balance between the humor of Kurt attempting to 'straighten up' and the very real emotions that were behind him feeling the need to do so. That's where Chris Colfer really shines, I think. I love his voice and he's incredibly funny, but he really kills me in the emotional scenes.

And how amazing was his rendition of 'Rose's Turn'?! One of my favorite Glee performances to date, I have to say. His butch attempt at doing Mellencamp's 'Pink Houses' in a deeper than normal voice wasn't bad at all, but it just wasn't Kurt. The minute the music for 'Rose's Turn' started, though, I gasped and clapped my hands in anticipatory glee (do you think moments like this could have something to do with why I'm still single?!).

I'm glad that Santana got to sing again in the episode, I really like her voice. I also really enjoyed there being more Puck tonight, too. Mark Salling pretty much rocks my world. The man just personifies hotness.

I did miss seeing Jonathan Groff's adorable mug as Jesse, though! (And by the way, how blind was I that I didn't see Finn's rendition of 'Jesse's Girl' coming from a mile away?)

Speaking of Jonathan, both Cheyenne Jackson and Michael Urie have joined Kristin Chenoweth in responding to Ramin Setoodeh's ridiculously homophobic Newsweek piece on gay actors being unable to successfully portray straight characters.

Michael Urie:

Look, I'm not from f*cking Vienna [He's playing a Viennese character currently on stage]. We're all actors, and the audiences get it. When I saw Sean Hayes in Promises, Promises, it was a full house and everyone was completely in love with him. And I saw it at a Wednesday matinee full of tourists. They've all seen Sean in Will & Grace, and they loved him and believed in his relationship with Kristin. It worked.

And to attack, to quote Ugly Betty, someone [like Groff] recently 'hatched from the gay egg' is unconscionable and he should strung be [up]. [Groff] made everyone want him in Spring Awakening. And Cheyenne was f*cking Elvis in All Shook Up. He was sexy and hot. He's always playing straight. And people buy tickets to see him. No straight critics accuse Sean Penn of not being able to play Harvey Milk or [criticize] Tom Hanks in Philadelphia.

Cheyenne responded with this:

''That's because when straight actors play gay, they're so 'brave.' Why is it so f*cking 'brave'? It's a part and he's a good actor. I hope we can get to the day where the best actor gets the part. End of story.''

I love that both guys are so quick to come to Jonathan Groff's defense in particular, since he is newly out and Setoodah seemed to take a special delight in ripping apart his ability to portray a straight character post-coming out (though apparently he was just fine at playing one successfully in Spring Awakening before he came out, which as Chenoweth pointed out is a pretty contradictory statement).

I think it's interesting that no one has really pointed out that if anything, it's the writing for Jesse that is making the character come across as something other than the stereotypical straight character. Jesse loves Sondheim, he refers to himself as a drama queen, he's in show choir and ballet, and he praises Olivia Newton John's 'Physical' for its groundbreaking depiction of sexual fluidity. None of that is about Jonathan Groff's personal life, that's the writer's take on the character!

Did it ever occur to Setoodah that the way Jonathan is playing the part likely has nothing to do with his own sexuality and everything to do with how he's being directed? I honestly think it would be surprising if the character of Jesse wasn't bisexual and I suspect Groff has been asked to portray him with that in mind.

What Setoodah is really saying is that no one would buy Groff as being attracted to women, and that's just ridiculous since there's plenty of chemistry between him and Lea Michele.

Anyway, next week is another Glee episode I've been waiting for with great anticipation. Three words: Neil. Patrick. Harris. Yes!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to watch Kurt's version of 'Rose's Turn' at least once more before bed.

Great Scenes on Glee

I just finished watching this week's episode of Glee and I had to write about how impressed I was by Chris Colfer's performance as Kurt.

First of all, it was another great episode with enjoyable musical performances and laugh out loud moments. The incredible Victor Garber made his debut in the role of Will's father and their scenes together were perfect and surprisingly sweet.

Even the guest appearance by Josh Groban as himself (which I wasn't thrilled about beforehand, since I don't want to see this show become all about This Week's Special Musical Guest) turned out to be surprisingly funny, specifically in his second scene where he tried to pick up Will's alcoholic mother while speaking of himself in the third person.

I know that some are bothered by the character of Sandy (and I am, too), the closeted former Glee club teacher who was fired in the pilot for coming on to a male student, and who made a return appearance this week. I think the negative stereotype he represents is at least balanced out by Kurt and by Rachel having gay fathers, though, so it doesn't bother me as much as it would otherwise.

Besides, most of the characters on the show are comedic stereotypes to a certain degree, but there's a lot more to them, as we're finding out. Maybe Sandy will turn out the same way, though I'd also be more than fine if we just never saw him again since I don't think his particular stereotype is all that comedic.

Now, on to what I really loved about the episode.

Last week, I noted that I'd like to see the Glee kids, aside from Finn & Rachel, get some character development. I never really doubted it was coming, of course, since this was only the third episode of the series. I was just hoping it would be sooner rather than later. My wish was granted this week with Mercedes and Kurt's subplot, which lead to an unexpectedly moving scene.

The cheerleaders, or Cheerios as they're called, have infiltrated the Glee club on Sue Sylvester's orders, with the mission of bringing it down from within so that the cheer team can have its full budget restored. Sue, who was on the strike team that helped bring down Noriega in Panama (!), advised her girls to target the members of the club individually.

Mercedes and her friendship with Kurt was their first striking point, as they encouraged the lonely young woman to believe that there was a chance that Kurt could become more than just a friend.

Now, Kurt is written as someone that is pretty obviously gay: he's into fashion, he's in Glee club, he plans to take Mercedes to a Sound of Music sing along. It would be easy to assume that he's already out, but this is high school, the place where no one wants to stand out as different in any sense.

So, Mercedes quickly became enamored of Kurt, who thought they were just hanging out. Rachel and Tina tried to warn Mercedes, staging a 'gaytervention' to let her know that Kurt wasn't capable of returning her feelings, but Mercedes didn't want to hear it.

At a fundraising car wash, Mercedes pointed out that she and Kurt had been out three times already and asked if they should just make it official that they were dating. Kurt, looking like a deer caught in the headlights, admitted that he was in love with someone else. He was staring over her shoulder at Finn as he said this, but Mercedes thought he meant Rachel and Kurt quickly agreed that he'd loved Rachel for years.

This lead to Mercedes smashing his car window and performing a rousing fantasy rendition of Bust Your Windows before telling Kurt that he'd busted her heart.

Later in the episode, Mercedes apologized to Kurt for breaking the window and told him that he and Rachel would have cute, if loud, babies together. Kurt, clearly struggling with his feelings, admitted that he'd lied to her. He didn't like Rachel, he was gay.

Mercedes asked why he hadn't just told her, and he admitted that he'd never told anyone before. She told him not to be ashamed of who he was and that he should tell the kids in glee, at least, since the whole point of the club was to express what was inside of you.

Kurt told her that he couldn't do that, that he just wasn't that confident.

It's important to remember than even those whom the world pegs as gay from the start have to experience coming out and that it can be just as difficult for them as for anyone else. I thought these scenes were beautifully done (and clearly, Kurt's coming out process is far from over, so we'll be seeing more in future episodes) and Chris Colfer actually moved me to tears in the final scene between Kurt and Mercedes.

The way he played the scene was perfect, from Kurt's nervousness and fear, to the obvious catch in his voice as he said the word gay, and the pain in his eyes as he said that he couldn't tell anyone.

I've come to think of Glee as being fun and hilarious, but this was the first time that I saw how capable they are of delivering truly powerful moments on an emotional level as well. Each week, I love this show more and more.

Ed Westwick's Hollywood Screen Kiss

I think I've made it pretty clear in the past that I think Ed Westwick is incredibly sexy (especially when he's utilizing his real life British accent!) and that I'd be tuned in to Gossip Girl on a weekly basis if the show was even remotely watchable.

I've never read the books which are the source material, but when the show was first coming out I heard all about how some of the main male characters were gay or bi in the books, so I thought I'd give the show a chance. It certainly brought the pretty in the form of Chace Crawford and I instantly fell for Ed, but the show just seemed completely devoid of personality to me. It was like paint by numbers, teen drama style.

So, I gave it up, figuring that it was a combination of the show not being that interesting and me finally being past the stage of watching teen dramas. We all have to get there eventually, right?

While I'm still waiting impatiently to see Ed in something else, I've been completely content with the decision not to watch Gossip Girl... until today, that is, when I read that Ed's character, Chuck Bass, will be kissing another guy this coming season. Now, even though the scenario sounds ridiculous and like a one time thing that won't be explored further (though Chuck is apparently written as a bisexual character in the books), how can I not tune in to see Ed Westwick kissing another man?

The lucky guy, by the way, is one Neal Bledsoe, an actor who has had small roles on both Guiding Light and As the World Turns in the last few years.

So, for at least one episode this coming TV season, I'll be watching Gossip Girl. Or, more likely than not, recording it and fast forwarding through everything but Chuck's scenes. What can I say? Give me a little guy on guy action and I'll give you a second chance to win me over!

In all seriousness, though, I think this is actually an interesting step forward. Chuck Bass is written (on the show, at least) as a straight leading character on a teen drama and he's going to be kissing another man. It wasn't all that long ago that shows were shying away from letting their openly gay characters kiss on screen (and some still are), and now we've come to the point where it's okay to show an otherwise straight male character experimenting with a gay character.

That's pretty impressive, even if it is Gossip Girl and a one time ratings stunt. Most shows seem to shy away from bisexuality altogether, so it would be even more interesting if they decided to have Ed's character come out as bi, though I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for that. The show already has one gay character who, from what I've read, is barely ever given anything to do.

I have to wonder if Bledsoe's role is the one that Van Hansis tried out for on Gossip Girl. If it is, and I missed my chance to see Van and Ed making out with each other, I think I might cry!

The World Can't Keep Turning Like This

Things are continuing to move at warp speed on As The World Turns, which somehow makes the fact that this is a poorly written story all the more obvious. I guess the consolation is that it also means it will be over that much sooner.

Today, Luke & Noah ran into Elwood at Al's, the local diner, and Elwood got in Luke's face for a change, wondering what gave him the right to break into his dorm room. Luke countered with the old standby that Elwood killed Reg and that Luke found the evidence he needed to prove it in his room and gave it to the cops.

Why then, Elwood wondered, was Casey in jail instead of him? (FYI, the drugs that Casey planted in Elwood's backpack ended up in Casey's own bag somehow, so Margo had to arrest her own son for like the forty second time)

Luke has been written as impulsive, stubborn, and self destructive at times, but he's usually also written as an intelligent person, which is why I had a problem with Luke informing Elwood that the cops are holding Casey as a ploy to catch the real drug dealers. If that were true, Luke would be giving the game away, so clearly he'd either be stupid for revealing this or stupid for thinking that Elwood would buy it.

At any rate, Luke's parting shot, that the police knew who M was, apparently struck a chord with Elwood. Noah and Luke then proceeded to have the same conversation they've been having for the last few weeks, Noah wanting Luke to drop this and stay safe and Luke needing justice for the loss of his dearest offscreen friend Reg.

I did like that in the midst of this, the boys exchanged "I love yous" more than once, as in "I love you and I don't want you to get hurt", "I love you, too, and I won't", etc. It's still really nice to hear them talking like that.

Anyway, Kevin showed up to ask about Casey's arrest and Luke informed him that Elwood and Matt were the real culprits. Just then, Elwood called Luke's cell and told him that he was right, and that they needed to meet. Elwood wanted to confess but couldn't go to the police and risk going back to prison. Luke assured him that he'd go to the police on his behalf and that they'd probably give him a deal for turning in 'M'.

They arranged to meet on a bridge and Luke called up Alison to tell her the good news. Alison, who has been seeing Matt, told Casey the news and promised Luke that she wouldn't tell anyone else. Which, of course, lead into the scene where Matt called her and she told him everything about the meeting, since she thought Elwood would be able to clear him and Casey both by revealing who 'M' really is.

Noah went along with Luke and as soon as Elwood started walking towards them on the bridge an SUV came out of nowhere and headed straight for Elwood. It missed, but only because Elwood jumped off the bridge to get out of the way.

Luke & Noah got down to the rocks under the bridge where Elwood landed and attempted to revive him, but it was no use. The poor plot point was dead.

Meanwhile, back at the diner, Alison was surprised to see Kevin's campaign manager Mark suddenly reappear. How subtle of the show to abruptly introduce another shady character with an M name just now! Mark, in addition to being a homophobe who put up nasty videos about Luke online over Kevin's objection, also nearly raped Alison when she was spying on the campaign for Luke.

He's apparently just been released from the Psych Ward and wants to make amends with Alison. After Kevin showed up and apologized to Alison for not bothering to see how she was doing after his friends nearly raped her a few months back, Mark made it clear to him that he's interested in Alison, in spite of that whole silly attempted rape thing.

Matt soon arrived out of breath and informed Ali that his car was stolen. Margo, meanwhile, took Luke & Noah to the station as her only witnesses in Elwood's murder and they gave her a description of the SUV and Noah managed to recall the last three numbers on the license plate. The guys broke the bad news to Casey and to Ali after she showed up with Matt to report his car as stolen.

It was then, of course, that Margo returned to announce that the car that killed Elwood is registered to Matt, who of course has vanished from the station. How, they wonder, did Matt even know about the meeting? Ali confessed her part in that and realized that Casey was right all along and Matt is a bad guy.

Which, of course, he's not. There's no mystery here at all, since the otherwise pointless reintroduction of Mark means that he's going to be the killer. No doubt Kevin, who was there when Elwood called Luke, mentioned the meeting to Mark, innocently or otherwise, and probably also mentioned Luke's suspicions of Matt as well, giving him someone to frame.

So, in the end, this whole story will come down to four or five minor characters who hadn't been seen or mentioned in months being brought back to be killed off, suspected of foul play, or found guilty of it, and all of it will have been more or less pointless.

The writing for Luke & Noah has never been all that great, of course, but it was easier to take when the stories were about them as a couple. This is the first story that they're in where it doesn't really revolve around their relationship, the first story that's more like all the rest of the stories on this show, which I generally fast forward through.

The acting talent that is wasted on all this bad writing is what makes this even more of a travesty. There are more than a few actors and actresses in daytime who aren't exactly great thespians, but the cast of As the World Turns actually has enormous talent being squandered.

It's way past time for some flesh blood in the writing department on this show. If the recent rumors that the Executive Producer has been rewriting a lot of the stories himself are true, then it's obviously time for a change there as well.

Honestly, with how bad the show has become in general over these past few years and how low the ratings are dropping, I'm shocked there hasn't been a change already. Soaps don't have the luxury of being badly written for long periods of time when they're all more or less fighting for their lives.

Coming Soon: A Gay Superhero

I heard some news awhile back that I've been meaning to write about for a long time now. Showtime is turning Perry Moore's novel, Hero, into a series. This reason this is big news is that the novel happens to be about a gay teen superhero named Thom Creed.

I've long hoped that Heroes would add a gay hero to their roster of characters, though the debacle with the character of Zach (Claire's friend from season one, intended to be gay but made into a straight character after the fact) dimmed any serious expectations I may have had there.

This, though, is far better. Not only will the series have a gay hero, he'll actually be the lead. Perry Moore is writing the script for the show, which legendary comic book writer Stan Lee is developing. In fact, the media has started trumpeting the fact that the creator of Spider Man is bringing us a gay superhero.

I read the book last fall after hearing a lot of very good things about it. It was an engaging story and I think it will work really well onscreen, especially from the cable network that brought us Queer as Folk and clearly isn't afraid to showcase gay characters.

Not to give too much away, but if the series does stay true to the book, there will eventually be two gay superhero characters on the show, and that would be even more amazing.

I just wish it was starting soon and not still just in the development phase!