Glee
- Thread starter Wavy_Blue
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Messages
- 43,746
- Reaction score
- 8,654
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Website
- www.amazon.com
Normally I hate cliches and stereotypes, but I think they work for this show. We end up loving these characters even though they ARE cliched and stereotypes...
I admit that after the first episode I saw I was secretly hoping Kurt would turn out to be straight and Finn would be the gay guy.
Surprisingly, I loved the last episode even though there was NO SUE. I fall steadily more in love with Glee.
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2008
- Messages
- 705
- Reaction score
- 166
- Location
- 2nd Star To the Right
- Website
- inkstaind-stars.livejournal.com
See, I think they've started with all of these stereotypes and then, episode by episode, they've chipped away at them and, in some cases, turned them on their heads.
The boy who loves showtunes and fashion is gay...and a kicker (well, ex-kicker) for the football team who leads them to their first and possibly only victory. The main female is a social outcast who is pretty, but not really conventionally so. I can see how she might not be appreciated in high school. I'd also say it's her personality that makes her an outcast, not her looks. Finn and Puck have both spent time thinking about how hot she is. The cheerleaders are snobs and ditzes...but not. Quinn's motivations are gradually being revealed.
One of my favorite parts of the show is that it doesn't really let anyone be "bad"--even Puck and Sue.
I always thought the thing they did with stereotypes was that it would take your High School Musical and put it in the real world, or some closer version of it.
You know...on the week they announced the 'premiere' of Glee...they had already shown a 'sneak peek' episode the week before. Did you catch that one? I saw the very first one...the 'sneak peek'. The next week they were announcing the 'premiere'. My wife and I almost missed it...having thought we already saw the premiere. But I caught a bit of a trailer and realized it wasn't the one we saw the week before. And I've heard of a couple of friends who fell into that confusion too.
I was only thinking about examples where the song was performed in its entirety as a showpiece, as many of the musical numbers are. None of those songs were showpieces (though I don't remember I Could Have Danced All Night, that must have been in one of the episodes I missed). Not sure if this makes any sense, but there is a definite difference between the way those songs were presented and the full-fledged musical numbers.
Actually, yes, I knew about the 'sneak peek' and the 'premiere.' The sneak peek had Don't Stop Believing performed at the end, right? Maybe I just missed the beginning.
It might just be me, but I thought the whole rendition of ICHDAN was incredibly creeping. Sometimes close-ups are really awkward.
A few friends had the same thing happen. Me...I was sitting in front of the TV for weeks after hearing about the show. If my TV had a refresh button on it, I would have been hitting it. I COULD NOT WAIT FOR IT TO BEGIN. Sometimes you find movies and shows that are just made for you. This was one of those times for me.
Yeah! There were randomly two different first episodes. I dunno which one was properly supposed to come first. The one with "Mr Cellophane" was the ep titled "Pilot".
"I Could Have Danced All Night" was in the one with one of the characters trying on wedding dresses. True that they didn't do them as full-on staged shows, but I still like them. I enjoy all the small solos a lot (and they are often less silly than some of the big numbers).
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Messages
- 43,746
- Reaction score
- 8,654
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Website
- www.amazon.com
They showed the pilot long before the series premiere. It was also available on iTune and Hulu for free. And then they worked on the word of mouth with lots of public appearances before the show "officially" started. The producer wanted the promotion and anticipation to be VIRAL and I think they succeeded.
I knew while I was watching the "premiere" episode that I'd somehow missed the "pilot" episode and I was really disappointed. Whatever they did, it didn't succeed for me and all the other avid pre-Gleeks who were waiting to begin watching.
They aired the actual pilot way back in the spring, so it had an American Idol lead-in, then when that had decent ratings they hyped it up over the summer until the 'premiere.' Actually a pretty smart way to market it, the American Idol thing being the smartest move.
But I really thought I'd seen the pilot, and now I'm not so sure.
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Messages
- 43,746
- Reaction score
- 8,654
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Website
- www.amazon.com
I think you did see the pilot, probably just can't remember the scenes. I remember this obviously gay kid was singing Mr. Cellophane at his audition and my thought was: "That's a funny choice." A) it was a show tune, B) it was about being invisible, but at the same time C) it was a "macho" song.
The pilot aired in the spring, but it also re-aired in a director's cut version the week before the 'premiere' (in september?) with very little hype. Then there was a huge ad campaign over the 'premiere' episode. Which I thought was odd, but I guess they figured most people had already watched the pilot?
So, in order: Pilot, Director's Cut of Pilot, Premiere Episode...
Pilot ep: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_(Glee)
Premiere ep: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showmance
This isn't true. She's a social outcast, but both Finn and Puck talk about how hot she is. The only thing the Vocal Adrenaline coach told her to change, IIRC, was her nose. At least one non-Glee member thinks she's hot (the guy who outted Quinn's pregnancy). I could be totally wrong, but I don't remember anyone saying she's not pretty, and if it was, it was probably the cheerleaders, who seemed to enjoy saying mean things about her no matter whether they were true or not.
Maybe it depended on where you were, because I remember the commercials being for the second airing of the pilot when all the "premiere" stuff was going on. The second showing of the pilot had a twitter feed over it, which was ridiculous.
the whole ugly betty thing is the stupidest thing to me. take a beautiful girl, put dumb glasses and braces on her and she's supposed to be an ugly social outcast? please. that show premise was just too insulting for me to even click on it.
I saw the director's cut, not the version that aired in spring. So maybe it was missing Kurt's performance. I wouldn't have forgotten Mr. Cellophane.
On a side note, I was just at dinner and the table next to us had four people, late 50s, discussing Glee. They were all just as annoyed with the fake baby storyline as we are.
I know a lot of people who watch it, and I do not know even one person who actually likes that sub-plot. If the rumor that it'll be revealed in the sectionals episode (ep 13?) is true, then at least we only have to put up with a few more episodes of fake baby cringe.
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Messages
- 43,746
- Reaction score
- 8,654
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Website
- www.amazon.com
Here's a character description for the episode entitled "Sectionals":
[EMCEE] 30’s-40’s Asian Male teacher; he is the emcee at a Glee Club Competition sptv050769 1 LINE CO-STAR
AWWWW... if only I lived in L.A....
[EMCEE] 30’s-40’s Asian Male teacher; he is the emcee at a Glee Club Competition sptv050769 1 LINE CO-STAR
AWWWW... if only I lived in L.A....