Trouble on the Glee-rizon?

Quiet times here for a TV addicted Ficus. Hiatus breeds contempts. Ficus breeds baby Ficus. Whatever that means...

I thought I might as well discuss Glee. Never felt the emotion myself. Good show though. Sometimes....

Firstly, I love Glee. I don’t luv Glee like OMG! But I do love it...like omg.

I do consider myself a gleek, newly born into the land of gleekdom.

I’m a new convert to glee-stianity, a politically active member of the gleecrats.

I mean the gleeks shall inherit the earth, right? (This is my favourite pun)

See, I watched the pilot when it first aired and I liked it, but I got sidetracked and the show fell from my radar.

Well, a couple of weeks ago I spotted the first season on ebay, bought it and watched it in a week. I have now caught up to the current episode.

I love it’s heart and its humour.... But, man, when it is bad it is horrific. Like nigh unwatchable. Like literally I have fast-forwarded through a couple of episodes.

Where do the problems lie?

Here, there, everywhere really...

1. Which Glee?


First of all, I subscribe to the theory expounded over at AVClub about the ‘three Glees’. That is, the 3 Glee creators Murphy, Falchuk and Brennan all have competing visions for the show. Consequently, whoever writes an individual episode writes it in a certain way. Murphy’s the over-the-top crazy, big-budget, theme episode guy. Falchuk’s the message, smaltzy guy. Brennan writes the more sombre, melancholic, cathartic episodes. Being misanthropic I tend towards Brennan but I do like certain episodes by each of the creators. The problem is, this makes the show very erratic and unpredictable. Sure, it’s part of the charm but it’s also very frustrating to watch.  And let’s be honest. Season 2 has magnified these inconsistencies. One week the characters seem to be heading in a certain direction only to be thrust in a completely different one as a different creator takes the reins. How can there be realistic character development with 3 versions of each star randomly appearing each week? Will is a prime example of this. He has probably suffered the most from the chef's broth fiasco. One episode he's chicken and pea, the next he is minestrone. The next he is smoked salmon...huh? Imagine how the viewer feels! The result being a character which is devoid of any real identity. He's each creator's mouthpiece...and a fracking irritating one at that.

This is probably the main issue which hinders Glee from being a truly 'great' show. It lacks a cohesive vision and a coherent set of characters.

Tune in tomorrow for another reason why I'm a little 'meh' on Glee.

Keep watching your dvds

Until next time

Ficus.