[TV] Glee Season 3

[rittchard]

...so the hype and novelty seem to have worn off, ratings are falling and their movie concert did poorly.  Will this be the last season of Glee?  Anyone still watching?

As a die hard fan, I clearly hope it's not the case, but even I have to admit something seems to be missing, or seems to have been lost somewhere along the line.  I've still enjoyed the first 2 episodes thus far but haven't had as many "moments" where something makes me tear up or laugh out loud or just feel a moment of, for lack of a better word, glee.  I like that they've brought Kurt back and had more focus on him and Rachel, as well as to the main characters (aside from Finn, who seems to have been thrown into the back).  The addition of Blaine I guess offsets the loss of Sam, who was unceremoniously fired over the summer.  Santana is awesome, but it seems like they just don't know what they want to do with her.

My guess is they are showing their age, and somewhat like Buffy in Season 3, are showing the effects of having their producers work on too many things at the same time, as well as having their actors starting to look way too old for high school.

Personally I'm hoping the addition of the Glee Project winner (Damian McGinty) is going to be a little spark plug for the cast.  He is flat out irresistable, mainly because of his Irish accent, and at 19, actually looks like he's in high school.  Plus he's a good singer and just very likable.  He's coming in as a foreign exchange student living with Britney, and she's going to think he's a leprechaun.  I can't wait (unfortunately he's not stating til November I believe).

[CeeKay]

...so the hype and novelty seem to have worn off, ratings are falling and their movie concert did poorly.  Will this be the last season of Glee?  Anyone still watching?

Liked the first season, but couldn't catch the second season due to a couple of other shows being on at the same time so I mean to catch up with the season DVD set, and then promptly forgot about the show altogether.

[hepcat]

I was going to watch it on netflix but then I noticed that they had a documentary on blank tv screens so I watched that instead.

[CeeKay]

I was going to watch it on netflix but then I noticed that they had a documentary on blank tv screens so I watched that instead.

you're just mad we made fun of your silly skirt last time you showed up.

[papasmurff]

haven't cared for season three... the have yet to sing one good song (IMO)

[Bullwinkle]

My wife declared that she's done.  I was mostly watching for her, so looks like I'm out, too.

[Freezer-TPF-]

I had the last 5 eps of S2 saved on my DVR when it died a few months ago.  I was going to grab them from Amazon to get caught up before S3, but I never got around to it.  I may catch up eventually, but at this point I have plenty of other stuff to watch.  For me, Glee definitely has gotten repetitive and the freshness has worn off.   

[hepcat]

I was going to watch it on netflix but then I noticed that they had a documentary on blank tv screens so I watched that instead.

you're just mad we made fun of your silly skirt last time you showed up.

sigh..and you STILL don't know the difference between Kulats and Skirts.   

[Teggy]

Or the difference between "Kulats" and culottes?

[hepcat]

Or the difference between "Kulats" and culottes?

There is none.  Do a search for "kulats".  It's a common spelling...whether or not it's right or a brand name, I care not.  I'm just fascinated that out of the many things i DO write on this forum, the only thing you've really taken exception to is how I spell an article of women's clothing.   

[Teggy]

Or the difference between "Kulats" and culottes?

There is none.  Do a search for "kulats".  It's a common spelling...whether or not it's right or a brand name, I care not.  I'm just fascinated that out of the many things i DO write on this forum, the only thing you've really taken exception to is how I spell an article of women's clothing.   

Culottes is a word that originated in French. Historically, "culottes" referred to the knee-breeches commonly worn by gentlemen of the European upper-classes from the late Middle Ages or Renaissance through the early nineteenth century.

Ahem.

[CeeKay]

you two just need to coolouts

[hepcat]

Or the difference between "Kulats" and culottes?

There is none.  Do a search for "kulats".  It's a common spelling...whether or not it's right or a brand name, I care not.  I'm just fascinated that out of the many things i DO write on this forum, the only thing you've really taken exception to is how I spell an article of women's clothing.  

Culottes is a word that originated in French. Historically, "culottes" referred to the knee-breeches commonly worn by gentlemen of the European upper-classes from the late Middle Ages or Renaissance through the early nineteenth century.

Ahem.

So the takeaway here is that the french were already cross dressing hundreds of years ago.

No wonder the Germans took over the entire country before brunch.

[rittchard]

Last night's ep was the last before November I believe (baseball playoffs I'm assuming takes over in October?).  It definitely had its moments but still felt lacking, and aside from the end number (Fix You), most of the songs were kind of boring or unfamiliar to me.

I liked that Mike Chang got some serious screen time, nice to see an Asian male in a role like this (singing and dancing and NOT gay).  Also best line of the night:  "He got an A- on his chemistry exam.  That's an Asian F."  So true, lol.  Great scene with him and Tamlyn Tomita dancing as well.  Another great touching moment at the end with Will and his OCD girl.

Britney fans should have enjoyed her "Girls rule the world" routine - her dancing is fantastic and gives Beyonce/Britney a run for their money.  In some ways her dancing is even more electric, as her body is thinner/younger and seems to move faster.

Unfortunately the rest of the cast and plotline were just kind of annoying and bland.  Mercedes and Rachel competing and whining, I'm really over it.  And the thing with Rachel suddenly running for class president was stupid and irritating.   Finn was again just a piece of plaster on the wall, what a waste of a cutie.  I guess the Dreamgirls number was fairly well done as an ensemble, but the song was really not catchy.

Hoping they get their act together when they come back.  The baby storyline has promise, and the new characters could inject some needed life into the show.  Also looking forward to the return of hunky Karofsky, I hope they get him a hot boyfriend lol.

[EddieA]

You people are crazy - this season has been great, with each episode better than the last.  The show has found a new maturity, with age-appropriate storylines that make sense and aren't forgotten once the next episode comes.  It's refreshing to see high-school characters acting like teenagers rather than thirty-year-olds.  A renewed focus on the adult characters also helps, as you need adult storylines in a show like this to balance out the teen angst.  The musical selections, while not as catchy (other than "Anything Goes" which I still can't stop listening to) have been uniformly excellent.  They've fixed every problem season 2 had, and if they can keep up this level of quality, this season will blow the first season out of the water.

[Jimmy the Fish]

I thought the episode this week was one of the best, if not the best, in Glee's entire run so far.

[rittchard]

....and we're back!

I've been waiting for Damian McGinty's premiere for months now, and I was not disappointed.  I had a crappy day yesterday (bad interview) so some of the glee was sucked out of the episode for me, but Damian's charm and smile still made me happy at least for a little bit.  I cannot get enough of his Irish accent, even though half the time I can barely understand him.  His first number was just OK but the closing one was fantastic, such a wonderful wonderful voice.  It was funny on the Glee Project they kept saying he wasn't the best singer, but whatever - his style is different from the others (more crooner-esque) but that doesn't mean he wasn't good in his own genre.  I simply can't get enough of him.

The other plotlines were only mildly interesting to me, the worst one being Quinn's bizarre plan to backstab Shelby.  The cougar-Puck romance was kind of telegraphed but I do like that.  Kurt's dad running against Sue could be OK, not sure.  The splitting of the groups is kind of annoying but will hopefully give the girls some more showcase moments.

[rittchard]

...and we're back on track!  Santana fans rejoice, she's taking over the show.  I never would have imagined during season 1 that Santana would be the breakout actress in this show, but she's quickly shown she can do it all: sing, dance, and most importantly, act.  Sure they've given her juicy material to work with, but you have to be able to sell it, and she's done a great job this year.

My hopes were getting higher after seeing the Rumor Has It/Someone Like You mash-up video; possibly/probably the best mash-up they've done on the show IMHO.  As the show likes to tell you, the best mash-ups are where you put the two songs together and they not only bring out something special  from the other, but also combine to make a new, unique whole that flows together seamlessly (in contrast to some games I won't talk about here  ).  Even though the songs were from the same artist, the combo really felt like something special.  I can't get the more uptempo Someone Like You out of my head now.  The choreography and overall performance were just flawless.  The problem?  It overshadowed the regular New Directions performance by quite a bit.  Their Hall and Oates mash-up was actually quite good, but it just paled in comparison.

Moving on to this week, I finally felt like the musical direction found its groove for the first time this season.  Previous eps I felt like there were a couple good numbers mixed with some mediocre ones.  Every song last night was a winner, my sole disappointment was the lack of Damian solos.  That said, I absolutely love the Greg Laswell version of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and Cory Monteith sings it perfectly; his best performance on the show in 3 years I believe.  I bought it this morning and listened to it again, and it sounds awesome even without the video.  His scenes with Santana are excellent as well, the sheer sweetness and sincerity just breaks your heart.  "Perfect" from the gay duo was also pitch perfect, they sound great together, and I like that Kurt had more of the lead for once.  I Kissed a Girl was a ton of fun, Puck was a little off pitchwise on his song, but his delivery was excellent, ditto on Coach Bieste.  Santana's Constant Craving was fantastic.

Story-wise, it's nice to settle the annoying election(s), I'm ready to move on.  Still not thrilled with the split but I suppose they feel like they have to have some sort of internal conflict.

[Asharak]

Yeah, Glee's definitely been on an upswing in the past couple weeks. I'm still not convinced the show can maintain any kind of momentum, though, as they have a habit of throwing out plot-lines-of-the-week that are far too often mediocre (and with those elections over, there's a fair chance they'll be struggling with new storylines again next week) but I've nonetheless really enjoyed the last couple episodes. They've even had Rachel being slightly less of a selfish bitch.

- Ash

[GuidoTKP]

After a somewhat shaky start, I'm pretty much enjoying the season. The last few episodes have been strong. I don't like the split, but it gives Mercedes more to do, so that's a good thing, since she was criminally underused in the first two seasons. My biggest gripe with this season is that Quinn out of nowhere has become plain psycho. I could handle her going back to being a bitch, but this season she's just completely unhinged. That's kind of dumb and feels like it came out of nowhere.

Looking forward to the return of Trouty-Mouth next week. 

[EddieA]

It looks like the Troubletones aren't done with the awesome mashups yet.

[Razgon]

...and we're back on track!  Santana fans rejoice, she's taking over the show.  I never would have imagined during season 1 that Santana would be the breakout actress in this show, but she's quickly shown she can do it all: sing, dance, and most importantly, act.  Sure they've given her juicy material to work with, but you have to be able to sell it, and she's done a great job this year.

My hopes were getting higher after seeing the Rumor Has It/Someone Like You mash-up video; possibly/probably the best mash-up they've done on the show IMHO.  As the show likes to tell you, the best mash-ups are where you put the two songs together and they not only bring out something special  from the other, but also combine to make a new, unique whole that flows together seamlessly (in contrast to some games I won't talk about here  ).  Even though the songs were from the same artist, the combo really felt like something special.  I can't get the more uptempo Someone Like You out of my head now.  The choreography and overall performance were just flawless.  The problem?  It overshadowed the regular New Directions performance by quite a bit.  Their Hall and Oates mash-up was actually quite good, but it just paled in comparison.

Moving on to this week, I finally felt like the musical direction found its groove for the first time this season.  Previous eps I felt like there were a couple good numbers mixed with some mediocre ones.  Every song last night was a winner, my sole disappointment was the lack of Damian solos.  That said, I absolutely love the Greg Laswell version of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and Cory Monteith sings it perfectly; his best performance on the show in 3 years I believe.  I bought it this morning and listened to it again, and it sounds awesome even without the video.  His scenes with Santana are excellent as well, the sheer sweetness and sincerity just breaks your heart.  "Perfect" from the gay duo was also pitch perfect, they sound great together, and I like that Kurt had more of the lead for once.  I Kissed a Girl was a ton of fun, Puck was a little off pitchwise on his song, but his delivery was excellent, ditto on Coach Bieste.  Santana's Constant Craving was fantastic.

Story-wise, it's nice to settle the annoying election(s), I'm ready to move on.  Still not thrilled with the split but I suppose they feel like they have to have some sort of internal conflict.

Just saw this episode and the Mash-up - WoW! Even my Girlfriend said she's a little bit in love with Santana - Holy moses what a performance both in the show, but especially in that Mash-up...she's so ANGRY its perfect!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb7zjKkLCoQ

[rittchard]

Last night's ep really brought things home, hopefully closing some doors on horrible plot elements Crazy Quinn and Finn v. Blaine.  Also nice to see some resolution in the Asian dad plot, though it really wasn't the most realistic resolution.  Finally putting the groups back together was a welcome relief as well, as we all knew it was just a matter of when.  I'm sure various new conflicts will be introduced, but hopefully they will stay more or less focused to try to win the nationals this year.  I did really like that they were able to pull off a great show without any of their big divas, and I was really happy to see Sam again.  I don't know if it's the haircut or what, but he liked damn good all episode long.  Bring on the white chocolate!!!  It was really great to get the feel good vibe back in the show, I guess this was more or less the payoff episode for a lot of stuff.  I like that it really feels like a collection of "All-Stars" now instead of 1 or 2 good singers and their supporting cast.  Almost every character has a legitimate place for a solo/lead vocal now, just a really strong bunch.

Only minor nit was again nothing for Damian to do, I think his 7 episodes have already expired and he's essentially just been an extra except in his first episodes.  I'm hoping he gets some footage during the Xmas episode as he has 2 songs on the album.

[GuidoTKP]

As someone who didn't watch the Glee Project, I'm happy that Damian isn't getting a lot of screen time. Honestly, I don't really know what his merits are beyond the fact that he has a pretty decent voice, but in a very crowded bullpen of regulars, I'm glad that we've been treated to story lines that feature Santana, Mercedes, Tina, Mike, Puck, and Quinn (praise be to the heavens that they've turned off her psycho switch), and Finn and Rachel stories that don't turn on whether they'll stay together or not. If anything, Mr. Shue needs more to do these days. There's only so many minutes an episode available, so my preference is that new guy just stand in the background, look happy, and snap his fingers (particularly since Brittany no longer thinks he's a leprechaun).

[Razgon]

I love Brittany :-D

[rittchard]

....and ALSO BACK!!!

Very fine form with some absolutely fantastic song choices and performances all around.  I was a little miffed when the Grease thing turned out to be kind of a "fake out" but the rest of the episode made up for it.  The 4 lead girls doing "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was perfect, actually brought a tear to my eye and a smile to my face, for no apparent reason.  Fun ending too, plus eye candy for me.  It's all good!

And in 2 weeks, the Michael Jackson tribute episode looks like it's going to be awesome.

[GuidoTKP]

Last night's episode was really exceptional. It was nice to have Sue fit in a little bit better (and her dig on Artie's wardrobe was maybe the greatest Sue line of all time, with the possible exception of "Other Asian", which may be un-toppable), and the show really had a nice balance of plot and musical numbers. They squeezed a lot into that episode and basically everything worked. While I didn't particularly love the song Emma sang for her solo, I thought the montage was cute. I could have done without the surprise ending, though. I'd really love to go the rest of the season without a major Finchel relationship plot element to work through, but I guess that is impossible. Really looking forward to the MJ tribute episode and to having the Warblers become a factor in the show's story lines again. A Sebastian vs. Santana Smooth Criminal sing-off seems kind of inspired.

[rittchard]

On a side note, Santana continues to amaze and impress me, both with acting and singing.  I think her single verse on "First Time' just stood out so much, both vocally and during the performance.  I hope they continue to give her more to do, and less of the one dimensional "uber-bitch" lines.  I mean they are funny, but at this point almost beneath her talent.

[Lordnine]

I was surprised to enjoy the first season but completely hated the second with the exception maybe 3 episodes.  Is season 3 more like the first or second season?

[rittchard]

I was surprised to enjoy the first season but completely hated the second with the exception maybe 3 episodes.  Is season 3 more like the first or second season?

They've certainly tried to get back to the overall feel of the first season with a greater focus on the core characters, but it's pretty difficult since the characters have changed and evolved so much.  Certainly they've had much less of the "one shot" super episodes (Britney, Madonna, etc) and random guest stars.  Even the big MJ episode is supposed to be very plot oriented; we'll see.

[rittchard]

Last night's Michael Jackson themed episode was really excellent, pretty much a perfect example of what makes Glee shine.  A few over the top non-sensical sequences, but for the most part everything clicked story-wise, musically/vocally and acting.  The different renditions of MJ songs blended into the plotline really well.  I have to give props to my boy Finn, because it really looks like he's stretching his vocal skills to the limit.  He's certainly come a long way since episode 1, his raw talent finally seems to be taking to hard work and vocal training.  I love the tone of his voice, particularly when it's in tandem with Rachel.  They just sound really wonderful together. 

The Scream and Black and White effects were a bit out there, but definitely added a lot to the homage feel.  I love Santana, but I'm not sure Smooth Criminal had the powerful bang that was intended.  Still another good sequence.

Kudos all around, would still like to see more of the Asian chick and Rory, they are quickly fading really far into the background.

[rittchard]

Another stellar episode, leading up to... another "finale" (they called it the winter finale)?  WTF how many finales can one show have lol?!!?

All sorts of highlights from the Valentine's "love" oriented episode, including the reveal of Rachel's parents, a couple of sexy lesbian kisses, the return of Karofsky (in a really odd manner), a Rory dream solo ("Home" which he performed as a part of Celtic Thunder), the second Glee Project winner debuting with a really fun rendition of Stereo Hearts, great "Finchel" reference from the principal, a lot more of the Sam/Mercedes relationship, the return of Blaine romping thru Love Shack, and an incredibly stirring (and timely) rendition of "I Will Always Love You" by Mercedes.

Fun episode all around, kudos!

[EddieA]

Another stellar episode, leading up to... another "finale" (they called it the winter finale)?  WTF how many finales can one show have lol?!!?

Next week's show will be the last until April 10

[Purge]

I don't follow this show (though I sometimes get sucked into it waiting for my son to fall asleep in the next room so I can watch something more adult like House, BSG, Mentalist, and the like).

I did catch the Valentine episode, and I thought Jeff Goldblum did a fantastic job. GCH's Stereo Hearts was well done.

I didn't like the "I Will Always Love You" song ... its not that the actress can't sing it, or that it didn't fit. I think I'm tired of hearing tributes to her using the same song. I don't know if this was originally slated and it was simply "timely" or if it was forced. It felt like the scene was inserted and out of contrast from the rest of the show.

I would have rather seen them sing "The Greatest Love" with the gay guy getting through to his bully/secret admirer in the monkey suit.

[rittchard]

I didn't like the "I Will Always Love You" song ... its not that the actress can't sing it, or that it didn't fit. I think I'm tired of hearing tributes to her using the same song. I don't know if this was originally slated and it was simply "timely" or if it was forced. It felt like the scene was inserted and out of contrast from the rest of the show.

I would have rather seen them sing "The Greatest Love" with the gay guy getting through to his bully/secret admirer in the monkey suit.

Definitely like that last idea!

As for the above, I'm pretty sure it was just a coincidence - plot-wise it worked for where it was in the middle of the ep.  I think their episodes are all filmed in advance, and on top of that I think they have more prep involved because they go into the studio to record the iTunes versions, etc.  Not that it wouldn't be possible to do all of that in a couple days, but I think if they were intending a full-on tribute, they would have ended the episode with the song and then the dedication.



Edit:  yeah I was right:

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1679324/glee-whitney-houston-heart.jhtml