UnGLEEful — Page 5

I liked the first two episodes. Give them some time to get things established in the show.

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Jesus, people, it's not a documentary. It's supposed to be a very heightened reality. I think it has a tone somewhat similar to the film, Clueless, in that regard. Then you add to that a dash of the Chicago film with the fantasy sequences... It's not supposed to be "realistic," but that doesn't mean you can't still empathize with the characters.

I don't care if people don't like the show, but its lack of "realism" is a really stupid reason. Fans of Broadway should know how to buy into a fantasy world.

I had great hope for this show since Ryan Murphy's other show, "Nip-Tuck", although equally as quirky and over the top reality-wise, is for the most part well written and superbly acted. "Glee" could also provide mainstream exposure for the musical talents of current and future Musical Theater performers. But the show suffers from terrible scripts and to make matters worse, almost everyone in the cast seems to have zero charisma and zero musical talent. Matthew Morrison, whose facial expressions make him look like Jack Nicholson as The Joker in "Batman", is a terrible singer who, as Lt. Cable, was the weakest link in the otherwise excellent 2008 Broadway revival of "South Pacific".

Lea Michelle has an annoying whiny singing voice that is similar to the equally untalented Alexa Vega in "Ruby and the Rockits" and Vanessa Hudgens in the "High School Musical" movies. Amber Riley as Beyonce wannabe Mercedes has a pleasant though undistinguished singing voice but is a lousy actress. The others in the cast are not even worth mentioning except for the waste of the only truly talented cast member, Jane Lynch, who had better hope that her former gig on "Two and a Half Men" is still available. And what kind of sick joke was it to have Victor Garber, a brilliant actor who is a better singer than Morrison or anyone else in the cast, play Morrison's father in a non-singing role? And don't get me started on the obvious computerized music...

On the other hand, "Glee" is on Fox, the network whose highest rated show is that salute to musical mediocrity, "American Idol". Compared to that, "Glee" is high art.

Updated On: 9/19/09 at 04:59 PM

Whether you take it seriously or not, in my opinion they are comparable because they both have the whiny high pitched sound I was referring to, which bad singers have been masquerading as a belt since the mid 1990's. But as you say in your earlier post you are a child of the 90's and this sound may be what you have become accustomed to and there's nothing wrong with that if you like it. I am a child of the late 70's & 80's and my idea of a real singer is Stephanie Block, Debbie Gravitte or Kristen Chenoweth, who I see is going to be a guest star on the show. Chenoweth's presence might add just enough musical spice to jump start "Glee" down a more successful musical road. I do want the show to succeed, despite my reservations of the current cast and I kinda like the musical fable pseudo reality style of the show. I would just like to see better writing and acting and especially better singing on the show.

Updated On: 9/19/09 at 05:30 PM

Craww: Thanks for clarifying that. I mistakenly thought that you were a fan of Hudgens and I had offended you by criticizing her. I agree she is beyond terrible. As for Morrison, he was a boy band singer in the 1990's and I don't think he is much better now but even so "terrible" might be too strong to describe his singing, which I really feel is passable but not strong enough for Broadway or his role on "Glee".

Lea does *not* have bad singing technique at all. She very clearly sounds well-trained. Vanessa Hudgens does not. At all. Honestly, if you can listen to Lea sing "On My Own," and you think Hudgens could even attempt that song, you're delusional.

Ability and technique can be judged objectively. To a certain extent. "Annoying" or "ugly sounding voice" are always going to be subjective. (Shakira is one of my favorite female pop vocalists, so this is something I know very well.)

Lea Michele is a whiny, albeit lucky, jewess.

Who says "jewess," even in jest?

It's supposed to be a very heightened reality

And that's the problem. It's supposed to be a heightened reality, but it's not quite pulling it off.

And everything that sweetsiren said.

I'm a glee fan. #1 I live in the South and only get to NYC occasionally. Therefore, my exposure to Broadway caliber singing is limited, and I LOVE seeing Morrison and Michelle on a regular basis. I did see Lea Michelle in Spring Awakening and loved her and it, and I saw South Pacific but Morrison was out - doing what? - filming pilot for Glee. However, I love his Younger than Springtime on the OBCR, and I generally have always detested that song.

I understand that people have different tastes in performers. For example I'm not a huge Streisand fan because I think she's nasally. But Morrison has been cast by Broadway casting agents on numerous occasions. He has won stellar reviews for both SP and Light in the Piazza - Tony award nominations - I just don't see writing him off as a boyband singer. He's been a major talent on Broadway for sometime. Michelle also won accolades for her performance in Spring Awakening, and her "On My Own" during the LA Concert of Les Mis is spectacular to me.

As for story line - though Kurt's character is written to hit every damn stereotype - there is truth in the stereotype, and no matter what someone thinks they know about someone, that pain with self realization and admission is true. I loved the tear on Kurt's cheek. That inside turmoil is real.

As for sassy black fat girl's line, I was a sassy fat white girl in high school and loneliness is real. You may be the life of the party, every boy's best friend, and girlfriends' confidant but at the end of the night, you go home alone. Reaching for a connection with anyone is a priority.

I agree that Sandy needs to go. Too creepy! Sue is creepy too but in such a funny way. I have already used the "delicious" line with a co-worker. I don't think I delivered it as well as Lynch,though.

I enjoy the show, and I say -Long Sing Glee!!!!!

broadwaytourist, your observations about Kurt and the black girl are very valid. My problem is that the storyline seemed to be shoehorned in. It was like the writers chose the "broken window" song and then wrote the storyline around it.

It also seems like they moved that storyline too quickly. I think it would have served the characters better if they had let the storyline develop over a few episodes. The way it was presented was the black girl does a 5 second look around the school and realizes she is lonely. It would have been better illustrated if we saw a scenario where every girl was asked to a football game except her. We weren't able to witness her loneliness. The audience was taken from "lonely black girl" to "jealousy - retaliation" in about 5 minutes of screen time. We've only just met these characters and haven't had enough time with her character to realize she's not bashing in a car window because she's a psycho.

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