Glee, Britney, + The Way We Were

Ok, the title may be misleading... Considering my idea of ‘classic cinema’ consists of The Goonies and Clueless and the fact that I have never even seen The Way We Were, this post is pretty much an open letter to the writers and producers of Glee. As one of their most avid fans, I’m sure they will take heed.

Britney Spears and Glee. They might be two of my favorite things in their respective forms of entertainment and genres. So the marriage of the two could only give birth to a bouncing and extremely gay baby I’d name Sethly. I was fully fed, in great company, and crowning with excitement. However, enjoying the Brittany/Britney episode was about as painful as actual childbirth. Luckily, after the hour was over, there wasn’t an annoyingly expensive child around.

All great shows do it at one point or another. Now, I’m not saying Glee has ‘jumped the shark’ as of yet, but there are definitely fins breaching the water. This is only the second episode of the second season, and it seems that Ryan Murphy is trying to pull the same hat trick he did with The Power Of Madonna. Now, that was an epic television event! Instead of interpreting/updating the covers of Britney classics, the producers merely regurgitated them less successfully. To add insult to injury, there were little to no, scratch that, absolutely no attempts to even TRY and write the songs into the show in a relevant way…

One of my favorite parts of Glee is clearly the music and Mr. Shue’s cute butt-chin. The most entertaining aspect of the music, and what makes me keep some of the songs on repeat on my iPod, is the emotional connection to that was tied to the musical selection. ‘Keep Holding On’ and ‘Take A Bow’ were tragic when sung by their original artists by tie on Quinn’s teen pregnancy and Rachel’s heartbreak, and these songs might just be some of my favorites. And, we all LOVE ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ because, well it’s freaking ‘Don’t Stop Believing.’ But also because the gleeks were trying to re-inspire their super hot teacher and it convinced him to stay. (Admittedly, I cried like a drunk baby during ALL three of those numbers).

Speaking of tired hat tricks, the Brittany one-liners are particularly amazing because they are few and far between and come out of nowhere. The writers and producers need to bring Glee back to the way they were. Make an attempt to actually write the songs INTO the very little and sporadic storyline efforts you spin out every week! And musical producers, get creative with the numbers. Reinterpret them and put a Glee twist on them, don’t just have the cast (not as successfully) do straight covers that don’t come close to even honoring the originals. )Yes, I’m talking to you ‘Telephone’ and ‘Empire State Of Mind’). G

Overall missteps: ‘Baby One More Time’ was keyed WAY too high for Lea Michele, Mercedes didn’t sing a lick, ‘Stronger’ was as bad as Mr, Shue’s ‘Toxic’ was painfully awkward, the lack of any recent Britney songs, NO mash-up, and John Stamos didn’t take his shirt off.

Minor highlights: John Stamos, Brittany’s body and R-I-DICULOUS dancing, John Stamos, Britney looking ferocious in her cameos, and John Stamos.