Glee - TV Fanatic

Glee Winter Finale Pics: It. Is. On.

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:11:15 EST

Are you ready for Regionals, Gleeks?

No? Well, that's okay. You still have another week.

Following tomorrow night's Valentine's Day-themed installment, Glee will bid farewell until April with "On My Way," an episode that takes us to Regionals and focuses on the competition between the Warblers and New Directions.

Yes, this means the return of Sebastian, along with an all-girls number and one in which Artie appears to take the lead. Browse through various photos from the episode now and get ready to cheer on the McKinley High chorus..

Glee to Rush Together a Whitney Houston Tribute Episode?

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:07:42 EST

On this Tuesday's episode of Glee, Amber Riley's Mercedes will sing a cover of "I Will Always Love You."

This is merely a coincidence, of course, following yesterday's tragic passing of music icon Whitney Houston - but sources now tell E! News the show is considering a last-minute, extended tribute to the latte artist.

Amber Riley - I Will Always Love You

"Yes, we are trying [to do a tribute]," a show insider tells E! News. "The episode had been locked but we are going back in."

Said Matthew Morrison - at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party last night - of his show airing a Whitney track a couple days after her death: "It's kind of eerie."

The Grammys, meanwhile, will pay tribute to Houston themselves tonight, with Jennifer Hudson reportedly taking center stage for a medley of the legend's hits.

Glee Music Spoilers: Song List from "Heart"

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:52:53 EST

Glee will get its Valentine's Day on this Tuesday.

On an episode aptly-titled "Heart," viewers will meet Rachel's dads; the New Directions will be tasked with singing romantic tracks; and Sugar will have to choose between the affections of Artie and Rory.

And what songs will the group be singing to honor the Hallmark holiday? We've collected the list below:

Kevin McHale - Let Me Love You
Amber Riley - I Will Always Love You
Dianna Agron, Chord Overstreet, Samuel Larsen and Amber Riley - Cherish / Cherish
Samuel Larsen, Chord Overstreet and Amber Riley - Stereo Hearts
Damien McGinty - Home
Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Ushkowitz - L-O-V-E

Glee Episode Trailer: Valentine's Day!

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:58:58 EST

Only two episodes remain of Glee before it takes a hiatus until the spring. Can it rediscover its magic before then?

Based on a majority of comments, I was not the only viewers disappointed by the ridiculousness randomness of "The Spanish Teacher."

On next Tuesday's installment, meanwhile, love will be in the hallways of William McKinley. What else would you expect from an outing that actually airs on Valentine's Day? Look for Will to challenge the group to come up with the most romantic songs possible; for Santana and Brittany to kiss; and to meet Rachel's two dads.

Watch the official Fox promo for "Heart" now:

Glee Promo: "Heart"

Glee Review: La Cuenta, Por Favor!!

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:36:12 EST

Hey, Emma, do you have a pamphlet titled So, Your Show is a Complete and Utter Mess?

Go ahead and call me a hater, Gleeks, but come on. Can we just take a long, honest look at "The Spanish Teacher" please?

Let's start with this: WILL HAS BEEN A SPANISH TEACHER WHO DOES NOT KNOW SPANISH. At all. One bit. As in, he doesn't know the Spanish word for "ears."

Why should we take anything seriously on a show that doesn't take itself seriously? It's been a running joke among critics for years now that Will is the world's worst Spanish teacher, but that was it. It was just a joke.

By acknowledging it here, the show is pretty much slapping its loyal fans in the face. It's admitting that it cares not at all about continuity or logic or living in any kind of real world. Which would maybe be fine... if it didn't then turn around and want to pass along societal messages about bullying or dreaming or, in the random case of Santana this week, respecting other cultures.

I mean, did she really go on a rant about Will stereotyping her Latino heritage? Did Glee - a series that features a gay student who talks about getting his period; a dumb football quarterback; a butch gym teacher; blonde cheerleaders; and jocks who throw nerds into lockers - really try to preach about stereotyping? No, right? I must have misheard Santana's speech.

From storylines that came out of nowhere (I can't even get started on Sue having a baby), we arrive at a romantic entanglement that, for Glee, I suppose has actually been a few weeks in the making. There are just a couple of problems with the Mercedes/Sam/Shane love triangle, most notably: ONE OF THE POINTS ISN'T EVEN ON THE SHOW.

Can anyone out there say they're invested in who Mercedes chooses? Or make any argument in favor of... either guy? As I've noted often in my reviews, we've seen her and Sam holding hands once and we've scarcely seen a second of her and Shane. Why is this even a difficult decision? Why would we think Mercedes has any attachment to Shane at all? Why would we not laugh out loud at Emma's suggestions that Mercedes and Sam not speak for a week... when they just spent MONTHS not speaking or being in each other's lives?

Far too often, Glee just expects its audience to feel something because a character gives a longing look or sings a sad song. There's no actual attempt to earn any emotion. It's just forced upon us.

The same can be said for Kurt chastising Finn for keeping his proposal a secret. We're supposed to be brothers, he tells his fellow New Direction, something he might as well have been saying to the writers. Yes, they are supposed to be brothers. Perhaps we could have seen them share a scene or two over the past dozen episodes in order to remind us of that and have us invested in their relationship.

Even when Glee does something right, it does something wrong. Emma's pamphlets have always served as a very funny background joke, they've always been reliable for a quick laugh. But even here the show couldn't resist upping the schmaltz to interminable levels, actually using a pamphlet to help Beiste teach her kids about cleaning their private parts, which in turn made Will realize just how lucky he is to have his fiancee.

Glee can't even do simple humor well anymore.

Can I find anything positive to say abut "The Spanish Teacher?" Ricky Martin does have a great smile. And the music, as always, was enjoyable. Nene Leakes is actually fitting in well to her role, too. You might even say she's the best thing about Glee these days.

But what does it say about Glee when that's the case?

What did everyone else think? Are you invested in Mercedes' love triangle? Do you mind that Will doesn't know Spanish? Should Sue have a baby? Am I way off base for complaining so often that there's no direction to any episode? Or do you agree that the writers truly seem to be making everything around the songs up about five minutes prior to shooting?

Ricky Martin on Glee: Sexy and He Knows It!

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:08:33 EST

Ricky Martin has a difficult challenge in front of him on Glee next week: he must follow in the iconic footsteps of last week's Michael Jackson tribute.

But the sexy crooner appears up for it in the following sneak peek from Tuesday's "The Spanish Teacher," doesn't he? Sit back now and watch Martin - who is recruited to teach the students a cultural lesson by Will - leads the New Directions in a cover of LMFAO's "I'm Sexy and I Know It."

Glee Performance Clip: "I'm Sexy and I Know It"

We've also published a series of photos from the installment. Check them out now and sound off: Are you excited for Martin's appearance?

Glee Round Table: "Michael"

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:40:40 EST

According to the ratings, Glee's tribute to Michael Jackson was a hit.

But what about according to our Round Table panel of Matt Richenthal, Miranda Wicker and Steve Marsi? Read on for their opinions on this performance-heavy hour and then respond with your take...

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What was your favorite scene from the episode.
Matt: Can I just go with one line? It was a throwaway and many viewers might not even have noticed, but I cracked up when Glee went meta for a second and Santana mentioned that, had Kurt taped a recorder to his penis, it would have been talked about for a week.

Miranda: This is a tough one because I thought most of the episode was great compared to the past two episodes. It's a toss-up for me between anything having to do with Santana and Kurt dragging his dad all over the school before he could open his letter from NYADA.

Steve: Call me a sap. But it was Rachel saying yes, hands down.

What was your favorite scene from the episode.
Matt: The cellos? The voices? The simplicity? The daggers shooting out of Santana's eyes? "Smooth Criminal" all the way.

Miranda: While I, too, loved "Smooth Criminal," I'm giving this one to Artie and Mike Chang's "Scream" based solely on the performance and not the scene in which it occurred. It's nice to be able to see Kevin McHale up and out of the wheelchair from time to time, so I like that the writers found a way to let him stretch his legs and show off his talents.

Steve: The final one, "Black or White." Especially the morphing of faces at the end, which took me back to my childhood and MJ's original video for that track.

Did the New Directions make the right move in withholding the slushee evidence from the police?
Matt: Yes. In the same way that Will made the right move two weeks ago in turning his proposal to Emma into a school assignment.

Miranda: Not even kind of. They most certainly should've turned the evidence over. That's what happens in the real world. However, Sebastian's dad is supposed to be a state's attorney, so he'd know a thing or two about having that tape ruled inadmissible and we'd be right back to a sing off. Maybe Glee just circumvented a dead-weight storyline and did us all a favor.

Steve: I agreed with both of you... until the final scene. When Santana made the point of Sebastian's fellow Warblers knowing exactly what sort of man they were dealing with, it made a bit more sense - then again, they'd also have realized this if the police had gotten involved. Okay. Yeah. It was ridiculous.

Biggest tear-jerker: Quinn getting into Yale; Rachel saying yes; Burt hugging Kurt; or Sam kissing Mercedes?
Matt: Burt FTW! He's easily my favorite character on the show, which, granted, might say as much about my growing distaste for many other characters as it does about Burt. But it killed me with his closing line to Kurt, post-hug: Today, you won.

Miranda: Since the other three were just sort of "meh" for me, Burt and Kurt win.

Steve: Quinn getting into Yale. But they were tears of joy because I hope it means we don't see any of this nut case on season four.

Do you want to see more tribute episodes?
Matt: No. They take far too much attention away from actual storylines and characters. Seriously, think about this episode for a moment: did it really make any sense at all for everyone to be wondering what Michael Jackson would do? Of course not. Ryan Murphy just wanted to sell more sons on iTunes.

Miranda: I'm down with more tribute episodes if they're done right. While some of the performances in this episode were forced to fit the episode (Sam and Mercedes, Finchel, and "Bad"), the rest of them were incorporated well and worked for me.

Steve: It really depends. This one was far better than the nonsense that was the hour-long dedication to Britney Spears, for example. Give me a Bruce Springstein tribute and I'm there!

Glee, Matt Bomer to Cover Duran Duran

matt@tvfanatic.com (TV Fanatic Staff) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:11:53 EST

We already know that White Collar star Matt Bomer is headed to Glee. And now we have an idea of what songs the actor will be covering.

According to TV Line, Duran Duran has agreed to let the show perform at least two of its tracks on the episode that will feature Bomer as Blaine's brother. Both are expected sang, mash-up style, by the Anderson siblings.

No air date has been announced yet for Bomer's appearance on Glee, but the show will welcome Ricky Martin next week and then go on hiatus after the February 21 episode.

Glee Sneak Preview: Welcome, Ricky Martin!

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:35:18 EST

Glee is about to get its Latino culture on.

Following a tribute to Michael Jackson, the students of William McKinley will pay close attention to another famous singer next Tuesday night, as Ricky Martin comes on board as a night school teacher Will enlists to help the group with its latest assignment.

Watch the official For preview for "The Spanish Teacher" now and also prepare for Rachel to tell more folks about Finn's proposal during the episode:

Glee Promo: "The Spanish Teacher"

Glee Music: Michael Jackson Tribute

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:02:38 EST

Glee nearly blinded Blaine, rewarded Quinn and officially dubbed Sebastian as a major villain this week... while also paying tribute to a certain King of Pop, of course.

The aptly-titled "Michael" randomly featured students asking What Would Michael Jackson Do when it came to various life situations, a question for which we don't have an answer. But at least we know what he'd do in the musical sense: record some seriously amazing songs.

We've collected all of the show's MJ covers in our Glee music section and listed a wide sampling below. Browse around now and purchase any through iTunes:

	Song	Artist
	Wanna Be Startin' Somethin	Glee Cast
	Bad	Glee Cast
	Never Can Say Goodbye	Glee Cast
	Ben	Glee Cast
	Black or White	Glee Cast
	Smooth Criminal	Glee Cast