About Last Night: Glee Goes "Bad"

Tuesday, May 4, 2010
9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Glee, "Bad Reputation"

I used up most of my sentence-forming ability on this and this earlier tonight, so I'm going to recap last night's Glee, "Bad Reputation," via a short list of hits and misses. (Spoiler alert, obviously.)

Hit: Rachel's "Run, Joey, Run" music video
I'm sure some of you will question my judgment after reading this next part, but I think Rachel's story-song music video actually topped Sue Sylvester's pitch-perfect "Vogue" redo. It was just so hilariously cheesy and over-the-top—much like Rachel herself. Finn, Puck, and le Groff were genius as well, and I died a little when Sandy made a cameo as Rachel's gun-wielding father. Plus, the video set the stage for one of the episode's most important emotional moments—a confrontation between exes Rachel and Finn. (Not to mention that squeal-inducing Puckleberry scene. Swoon.)

Hit: Artie and Co.'s impromptu library performance of "U Can't Touch This"

I happen to have a soft spot for this song—in part because it reminds me of my little brother (right)—but that's not why I'm counting it as a hit. Artie and Co.'s ridiculous choreography, coupled with those billowing Hammer pants, was seriously cramazing. It also featured some of the glee club's most underused stars, so...win.

Hit: Brittany being Brittany
I keep meaning to make a list of the five best Brittany-isms, but it's impossible. There's a new "best" every week. Last night's was: "I had a cold, and I took all my antibiotics at the same time, and now...I can't remember how to leave."

Miss: Rachel's rendition of Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart"
This one kills me, readers. I really, really wanted to love it. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is one of my all-time favorite "bad" songs (right up there with "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"), and Lea Michele nailed the vocals. I liked the back and forth between Finn and le Groff, too. But something about the staging of this number just didn't work for me. I think maybe I've just been ruined forever by the literal video version (below). It's basically the best thing ever created. (Teaser: There are ninjas. And football players. And Fonzie clones. And references to Harry Potter and Lord of the Flies.)


Miss: Sue getting "Physical" for Olivia Newton-John
Jane Lynch is one of Glee's best assets. But I think the show sometimes relies too heavily on her for comic relief and runs the risk of nullifying her appeal altogether. It also occasionally overdoes the big-name guest-star thing. Newton-John's appearance on last night's episode felt at once random and contrived, which is no slight against the actress—I thought she was perfectly entertaining. I just didn't really get why she was there. Sue Sylvester doesn't need gimmicks—she is a gimmick. And I mean that in the best way possible.

Draw: Mr. Schue channeling Vanilla Ice on "Ice Ice Baby"
Look, I love Matthew Morrison and fully support him getting more opportunities to showcase his vast vocal stylings, but, honestly, I'm kind of over his repeated detours into hip-hop. "Ice Ice Baby" would have been a miss, but it was saved by the glee-club kids' dancing (way to go, Other Asian!) and by Artie's "Word to your mother" at the end. Let's put a rap (ha!) on Mr. Schue's rapping and give someone else (my brother, for instance) a shot at the crown.

Get My Brother on Glee!

As I've mentioned before on this blog, I used to be in show choir. My high school experience was a real-life version of Glee, complete with cheesetastic dance routines, peppy pop songs, melodramatic showmances, and ruthless group politics. I was a far cry from Lea Michele's Rachel Berry, though—I didn't have her voice, drive, or confidence. (I did have an impossible crush on one of the cumberbund-clad boys in the group, but that's a post for another day. Like, the one that comes after never.) Brighter Side, for me, was just something to do that wasn't sports—a way to make friends and have fun, not a vehicle for stardom. I loved being in the group, but I'm much more comfortable in the audience than I ever was onstage. My little brother, on the other hand, is a born performer. So much so that even though he's four years younger than I am and we were never at the same school at the same time, I somehow spent much of my "theater career" in his shadow anyway. Everyone knew and loved Scott. At district-wide concerts, for example, revered upperclassmen fawned over him as if he were a celebrity, and in the days after, my own teachers approached me in class to tell me "what a joy it was to watch Scotty onstage." (To be fair, they usually made sure to throw a compliment my way, too, but in my angsty adolescent mind, it sounded like, "You were good, but your brother was great!")

At the time, I resented my brother for always stealing the spotlight. I didn't want it, but I did want to make some kind of a name for myself—and "Scott's sister" wasn't it. Only after I moved to New York and got my own life was I able to appreciate just how talented he really is. The first time I saw him in a starring role, as J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, I cried. I barely even recognized the boy onstage—he was nimble, funny, self-assured, and completely mesmerizing. You couldn't take your eyes off of him. I've never been a big believer in destiny, but watching him that night, I had the sense that he was exactly where he was meant to be, doing exactly what he was meant to do.

After that, I flew home as often as I could to see him perform. I've logged countless miles traveling between JFK and LAX (thanks, Dad!), sometimes arriving the day of a show and then leaving the very next morning. It's exhausting, but every production—from Beauty and the Beast and Damn Yankees to Hamlet and Waiting for Godot—has been more than worth the 12-hour round-trip and recurring jet lag. I know I'm biased, but I honestly think Scott gets better each time I see him. And I'm not his only fan (though I would argue that I'm his biggest). Complete strangers seek him out after every performance to offer well-deserved praise, and industry insiders have repeatedly encouraged him to pursue his dream. Just last month, he was signed by a commercial agent, and last week, he was accepted into SpringboardNYC, an audition-only boot camp for college students looking to break into the business. He's been lucky, sure, but it's not luck that got him this far. It's talent, passion, hard work, and perseverance. It's faith. Strength of character. Courage.

I've never told my brother this, but I really look up to him. He's not only one of the most gifted people I know—he's also one of the bravest. In life or onstage, he goes all in, all the time. To be honest, I'm still a little jealous of him for that. But mostly I'm proud. And today I consider it an honor to hold the title of "Scott's sister."

So, without further ado, I present to you his Glee audition videos from MySpace. For those of you who don't know, the producers of Glee are holding an open casting call on the site to fill some of the new roles they're developing for Season 2. Wannabe Gleeks can throw their hats in the ring by submitting a song, along with a monologue explaining why they want to be on the show. My brother's entries, unsurprisingly, are awesome. Watch them below, and then go to myspace.com/gleeauditions to give him a gold star (or 20, if you're feeling generous). His personalized link doesn't work, but if you search for "Takeda," he's the only Scott listed. Let's get this guy on Glee!

Glee monologue

Glee | MySpace Video

Glee song

Glee | MySpace Video

My Top 10 Favorite (Scripted) Shows Still in Production

It's ridiculous, but picking 10 shows to feature in this list was actually really difficult. Turns out I watch a lot of TV. And though I obviously like everything I watch to some degree, a few shows are dearer to my heart than others. (You may notice that my Guilty Pleasure of the Week, Cougar Town, is not mentioned here. I still stand by what I said about the show before; I just wouldn't necessarily put it on my Must List.) So, here they are—my official Top 10 Favorite (Scripted) Shows Still in Production.

1) Dexter. I never thought I could love a killer, but Dex proved me wrong. He's now among my favorite television characters of all time. And this past season had one of the most compelling story arcs I've seen from any series ever. The writers on this show continually raise the stakes beyond anything I can even imagine.

2-3) Mad Men/Friday Night Lights. Both are so brilliantly acted and superbly written that I can't pick one over the other. I cherish Don Draper and Coach Taylor equally (but for very different reasons).

4) Lost. Lost used to be my No. 1 with a bullet, but somewhere in the middle of Season 3, I started to feel as if I was just always going to be, well, lost. Thankfully, the show found its footing once Lindelof and Cuse negotiated an end date with ABC.

5) 30 Rock. I love Tina Fey. I want to be Tina Fey. And 30 Rock is one of the smartest, funniest half hours on network TV today.

6) Chuck. If you have to ask why, you haven't been reading my blog.

7) Glee. Fun fact of the day: I'm a former show-choir nerd. Back in high school, I was the proud, sequin-wearing, jazz-hands-waving president of the Temple City Brighter Side Singers. Ergo, Glee appeals to my sense of nostalgia. But it's also just kind of awesome. And Jane Lynch is seriously excellent as Sue Sylvester. She deserves a post all her own.

8) How I Met Your Mother. The show seems to have veered from its original premise a bit, but it's still one of the most consistently entertaining comedies on television. Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Segel are pitch-perfect as Barney and Marshall, respectively.

9) The Office. I laugh out loud approximately once every two minutes while watching this show. It's amazing to me that the writers keep finding new ways for Steve Carell's Michael to act hilariously awkward and inappropriate.

10) Bones. I've loved David Boreanaz ever since his Buffy days, when he lived around the corner from my then-pregnant aunt and occasionally made small talk with her about the baby and the weather. But if I hadn't been a fan before, I definitely would have become one after watching Bones. Boreanaz is great as Booth, and the chemistry between him and Emily Deschanel is, for lack of a better word, explosive. The murder cases are generally interesting, too, but they're not why I watch the show.


Five Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)
Greek
Ugly Betty
Gossip Girl
Californication
Modern Family