Glee

As Glee sings and jokes its way to its first season halfway point, viewers are in for a lot more than heartfelt ballads and catchy group music.

On the December 9 mid-season finale, look for the show's baby drama to finally be resolved: Will will discover Terri's fake pregnancy, while Puck will be exposed as the father of Quinn's unborn child.

What will this mean for various relationships? We can't say. That's why it's called a cliff-hanger, people.

But Lea Michele can say a lot about what's to come for her character.

She told Entertainment Weekly that tension will soon arise between Rachel and Mercedes.

“They have been setting up a competitive thing between those two, and we deal with it. Rachel can’t always get the best part.”

Nor can she get Puck. Michele said there's no future plans for Rachel and the show's Jewish crooner to hook up again, much to her chagrin.

"I pushed and fought for a Puck-Rachel storyline because I love Mark so much and I wanted to work with him more. I thought Rachel should get some action. She has needs. She can’t be waiting all season for Finn. I thought it could be really different and not a pairing that people would expect... I don’t know of it coming up in the near future, but fingers crossed.”

We'll give Rachel some action! Oops. Did we just write that out loud?

Glee hit all the right notes this week.

Hilarious and emotional, "Ballad" paired Will up with Rachel and Kurt up with Finn. The resulting storylines featured unrequited love, dangerous emotions and some great facial expressions. Check out our full recap of the episode now.

The Will and Rachel pairing allowed the show to combine music with humor.

Two of the funniest scenes in series history took place when Will first sung to Rachel and noticed a developing crush in her eyes; and when Will tried to tamper down Rachel's love via song... only to come across as cuter and more desirable than ever to both her and Emma. We could watch Jayma Mays, as Emma, smile and clap all day. She's adorable. See below:

Like Emma and Rachel, get lost in Glee music from this episode right now. Swoon...

The episode also proved that Terri could actually be a funny character, if the show hadn't saddled her with such a ridiculous storyline. Are we really supposed to believe that Will hasn't seen his wife's stomach in months? That's a stretch.

Not a stretch, however, was the reaction of Quinn's parents to their daughter's pregnancy. Sadly, there are plenty of real-life families that would react the same way.

For those wondering, Mrs. Fabary was played by one of our favorites: former NYPD Blue star Charlotte Ross.

Overall, despite a lack of substantial storylines and even a lack of Sue Sylvester, the episode showcased great songs and the ideal combination of humor and sentimentality. We're not surprised, of course. That's how Glee rolls.

The Glee cast, meanwhile, spat out the following quotes throughout the hour:

Will: You're making her clean our bathroom?
Terri: I've been dealing with these school girl crushes for years. Why shouldn't I get something out of it? | permalink

Kurt: He's cheating off a girl who thinks she square root of four is rainbows. | permalink

Kurt: How do you explain her constant irritation with you? It's because SHE'S A GIRL. | permalink

Emma: If we were to rank crushable teachers in this school, you'd be number-one with a bullet. | permalink

He may not have a six-pack or Robert Pattinson-like hair, but let's face it: Will Schuester is a stud!

Despite their occasional clashes, Rachel comes to this same realization on Wednesday's new episode, "Ballads."

Paired with her teacher, singing a duet on a classic love song, Rachel stares longingly into Will's eyes (while Finn thinks about her butt). Check out the clip below:

Viewers also learn that Rachel isn't the first student to crush on Mr. Schuester.

Sarah Drew guest stars on the episode. She says of her role:

"I play a character named Suzy Pepper who has an insane, absurd, psychotic crush on Mr. Schuester. I don't want to give too much away because it's just hilarious, but she's kind of stalkerish and creepy."

See for yourself after the jump.

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On the next episode of Glee, team members are divided into pairs and asked to sing ballads.

Hence the name of the installment: Ballads.

Who gets paired up with whom? There's Finn and Kurt; as well as Rachel and Will, who combined for a rendition of "Endless Love." But enough with the spoilers.

Check out the official Fox promo below, followed by a series of photos from the episode...

Promo for Ballads

Glee is one of the highest-rated new shows on TV. It's a critical favorite and has garnered talk of Emmy nominations.

Still, in an interview this week with The Los Angeles Times, creator Ryan Murphy hinted that major changes might be on the way.

Referencing "Wheels" - the most recent episode that took on a serious tone and dealt with issues such as handicap access and Down Syndrome - Murphy said:

"After this, it remains a comedy, and it’s fun. But writing this made me feel the responsibility of showing the truth of the pain that outcasts go through. It’s not all razzle-dazzle show business. It’s tough, and it’s painful, and it was for me growing up, and it is for most people. I think this made me realize that amid the fun and the glamour, it’s really great now and again to show the underbelly of what people who are different feel.”

We just hope Glee doesn't take on the judgmental, preaching tone of an after-school special.

There's room for heart and humor, as the Kurt-centric episode "Preggers" proved.

Fortunately, it sounds like Murphy recognizes this. He concluded the newspaper article by saying:

“This is a comedy first and foremost. But we see the obligation to go deeper. This isn’t just a genre show to me. It’s about the desperate need for a place in the world and how we all fit in and how hard it is for some people to get by."

We know, we know: Rachel won the diva-off on last night's episode of Glee.

But that's only because Kurt purposely blew his high F at the end of "Defying Gravity" in order to save his dad from further ridicule.

Until that point, though, we wanna know: who should have been awarded the lead vocals on the song? Which student had put on the more impressive performance?

In honor of the show's affection for mash-ups, we've actually combined both versions of "Defying Gravity" into one video. Check it out NOW!

This wasn't our favorite episode of Glee.

For starters, it simply wasn't that funny. The subject matter was more serious than usual, we understand. But throw us a ridiculous Sue Sylvester quote or two! We watch this show to laugh more than anything.

We've recapped "Wheels" in full and will now explain our main issues with the episode...

A Wicked Mistake: For characters that claimed to be Wicked experts, Kurt and Rachel overlooked a key component of "Defying Gravity," the song over which they argued and competed: it's a duet! Yes, one part takes on the lead role, but there's plenty of room for two singers. We couldn't get this thought out of our heads as the pair clashed over who would represent the club at sectionals on the single.

Sue Us... for saying this, but did we really need to be hit over the head so hard by Sue's soft side? This is a character we've loved to hate and laugh at/with. We would have been happy never seeing another side to her, but we understand the need to showcase one.

Still, the show could have handled it in a more subtle way. Jane Lynch was great in the scene with Sue's mentally challenged sister, but it felt heavy-handed. If Sylvester isn't back to cracking wise and making inappropriate judgments next week, we'll be very unhappy.

Pregnancy Problem: Both pregnancy storylines on the show are annoying enough (safe to say, we didn't miss Terri at all last night), but now we're really steamed: Can anyone explain why Quinn is staying with Finn? To save his friendship with Puck? As evidenced last night, Puck actually makes a more responsible father; and he and Quinn have better chemistry than she and Finn.

Puck had it right when he said Finn would eventually get over his friend's betrayal. But even if he doesn't, shouldn't the baby's future take priority here?

Overall, of course, even a subpar Glee episode beats most other shows on TV. It still had great music and it still featured the following great quotes:

Puck: $1,200. That's enough for the short bus and two cases of Natty Light for the ride home. | permalink

Sue: You think this was hard? Try auditioning for Baywatch and being told they're going in another direction. That was hard. | permalink

Artie: I wanna be very clear: I still have the use of my penis. | permalink

Rachel: Maybe one of these days you'll find a way to create teachable moments without ruining my life. | permalink

Following a two-week hiatus, Glee returns with a new episode tonight.

It will include a diva-off between Kurt and Rachel over who gets to take the lead on "Defying Gravity," which should be enough to guarantee record ratings on its own.

But E! News recently spoke to show sources that confirmed other exciting storylines and numbers to come on the comedy.

Here's a look at a few likely spoilers:

A New Relationship: "[This week's] ep kind of sparks it," Kevin McHale (Artie) said of a burgeoning romance. "I think Tina and Artie will be together. I think they will be a couple for a long time."

Parents On the Way: Said a source: "Next week we'll meet Quinn's mom and dad - and so will Finn. The glee club has a new assignment to use songs to express feelings they can't otherwise get out, and needless to say, the Fabrays don't appreciate Finn's interpretation of said assignment.  We also get to spend a little more time with Finn's mom."

As always, we'll recap and review tonight's installment, adding all new singles to our Glee music section. Enjoy the return of the most entertaining show on TV!

As Tina on Glee, Jenna Ushkowitz doesn't get the most songs or lines.

That has a lot to do with the fact that the character stutters more often than that.

But the actress tells the latest issue of Seventeen that viewers will soon learn more about this troublesome trait of Tina's. Tomorrow night, in fact. Ushkowitz said:

"I don't want to give away too much, but it comes out from her shyness, her being so introverted and not wanting to talk at all. But, when they cast it, they wanted somebody with a stutter and Tourette's [syndrome].

"So when I auditioned, I had full-on Tourette's. The audition tapes are starting to come out now, and I'm kind of scared. It was hard because you don't want to make fun of that, that's not a joke. So the stutter, it got better [over time], and now I find myself actually stuttering sometimes in real life."

The actress also played a fun question and answer game with the magazine. She dished on a few cast superlatives:

Q: Who's the most talented?
A: Amber Riley is the best singer.

Q: Who's the hottest?
A: Kevin McHale.

Q: Who's the funniest?
A: Chris Colfer.

Q: Who's the most likely to flub a line?
A: I have to give it to Lea Michele. She never flubs lines, but she has probably the longest paragraphs in the whole world.

Q: Who's the most serious?
A: Can I do the opposite? Cory Monteith, he's a dufus, I love it.

Finally!

Certain members of the TV Fanatic staff are major New York Yankees fans, but even we would have preferred to have watched Will Schuester insted of Derek Jeter on Wednesday nights over the last two weeks.

But the World Series is over and Glee returns with a new episode this week.

During the installment, Will hands the group lyrics to its next song. As the clip below depicts, Kurt and Rachel couldn't be happier about the selection:

Meanwhile, Artie gets his first solo. Watch the wheelchair-bound singer dance with himself after the jump.

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