Glee-The Purple Piano Project (PPP) & I Am Unicorn.(IAU)

Initially I was going to do these episodes separately, but then I kept on wanting to mention bits from both together so it's going to have to be a melange of the two of them.

So much change at Glee school, except not really. A little character shuffle around straight off the bat. I enjoyed the quick dispensing of Sam's character and the introduction of Mercedes boyfriend with little more than a 'how do you do'. Did anyone actually catch his name? Also I liked the blatant 'let's tell everyone what year people are in straight away to end the two year old debate'. After the housework was out the way, how did I like the season 3 openers? Generally I enjoyed them.

I really liked Kurt and Rachel being taken down a notch, not in a vindictive way but in an appreciation of some semblance of reality checking and realism. It highlights the ultimate tragedy of Glee- most of these kids will not end up on broadway or similar. Most will live quiet lives (that in itself is clearly not tragic). Also I liked them realising they are not the only talented kids in Ohio, this can only help their like-ability at this point (I'm looking at you Rachel). Also nice to see Lindsay playing herself. I'm joking...kind of. This was also developed in IAU with Kurt's realisation that he's going to be limited with the roles he can play and the chances he will be given because of certain manifestations of his personality. I'm impressed with the continuation of a character story line. Although it seems stupid that he would not understand that whilst delightful, his audition song was completely the wrong song to use when auditioning for Tony. Also on what planet,  when wanting to prove how rugged and manly you are, does anyone whip out Shakespearian dialogue. See later for further discussion of that. I am significantly annoyed with the ending of this conversation between Finn and Rachel (I'm massively paraphrasing)

F-What's wrong about staying here and working for Burt

R-Nothing if it would make you happy

Up to this point I'm on board

R-But I don't think it would because YOU ARE BETTER THAN THAT.

Er ex squeeze me? Not cool, although I fully believe in the importance of the arts and arts education,  is it really ok to say that a actor/singer is better than a car mechanic. No Glee! It's not for two reasons. One, its bullshit; no profession is better than another, all professions (with he exclusion of Nazi Doctor and Corporate lawyer, perhaps) are equally important and valuable in society. Secondly, it perpetuates the myth that it's not bullshit; we live in a society that significantly favours the arts in terms of the level of status it awards people. Everyone wants to be a star, no one wants to be a mechanic and this is tragic. Do we really need to perpetuate that this hierarchy is a justifiable way of seeing the world. No. Simple as that.

Quinn's story line (mainly in PPP) highlights an issue I've always had with Glee; surely 'the Skanks' are the underdogs of Mckinley more than the Glee kids. The Glee club members are all very conventionally attractive and talented. They all have (to a certain extent), a strong support system in terms of friends and Mr Shu. 'The Skanks' seem a lot more vulnerable and  closer to what I would call 'underdogs' in terms of eventual success and high-school hierarchy than any of our friends do. That said, the continuation of this story line (two for two Glee- well done!) bought up two things that I said I wanted from season 3 (and we're only two episodes in, again, well done Glee!).

A) We have a mention of the fact that Quinn had a baby and gave it up. More importantly, we have mention that this kind of shit has repercussions emotionally; on both her and Puck. I loved him drawing the Clown Pig, possibly my favourite moment for his character in the entire show so far.

B) Similarly, Quinn never seemed to thank Mercedes for letting her live in the Jones Family house after she was taken in by her family when she was homeless and pregnant. For an entire season we ignored this and now it's back. I doubt it's going to get bought up again, but just the fact that anyone dared to mention it made me stupidly happy. All that said, was it just me that thought Will's take down was just a little bit harsh, especially given that Quinn fundamentally is just the right side of troubled? She needed a wake up call, yes, but also needs support and understanding. I guess you could argue that she's always had that, but still, was it Will at his most professional?

This brings me on to a discussion of Will seemingly gaining a back bone ,which I appreciate and obviously I will love him forever for bringing up the Mercedes point. I still wanted to punch him in the face most of the time. But that's maybe just how it has to be between us. Also, although he was right about arts programs being beneficial for young people... glitter bomb- really, really?! Why not just take her down with statistics in a public debate forum? That would be the mature sensible thing to do. Oh sorry,  this is Will Schuester I'm talking about, forget I said anything, a glitter bomb is a great idea! Jesus Wept. Also, I love that he can't possibly direct the musical because he's too buys with his hectic schedule of writing words on a wipe board and showing off. So lets bring in the only other two teachers who seemed to exist (other than Sue). Although I hate to agree with Rachel they have feck all experience, but they do exist which is more than can be said for all the other teachers in that school. Also since when has Artie made short films? Were we meant to know that?

I knew Blaine was going to transfer which I'm fine with, but I would have rather had him transfer for reasons more to do with him wanting to face bullies again or a sudden, if not conveniently timed, descent into poverty. Transferring schools for a relationship at 17 is just stupid and no parent should have let it happen. Are we really meant to believe that his parents would let him do that especially if they are, as has been suggested. not super ok with his sexuality? Also, hasn't Blaine ever heard of trying to avoid new guy stigma? I hardly think the student body in general are going to warm to you if you keep disrupting their lunch with renditions of Tom Jones songs, charming as they may be. People like to eat in peace.

As for the conflict over the role of Tony; it is, at least, surely down to song choice- he chose a song that displayed, both song-wise and acting-wise, what was necessary for the role. Kurt chose a vocally challenging song, but it was challenging in all the wrong ways for that role. A lot of me doesn't really believe that Kurt wouldn't be able to see that. All that said, I like seeing more of these two. So much so, I'm willing to overlook the fact that in Season 2 Blaine referred to himself as a Junior member which means that he should now be a senior like Kurt, but apparently not. Oh well we'll just have to live with the fact Blaine is some Benjamin Button type. Side note- although I love his many multi coloured bow ties; could he not just buy fewer and get some mother funking socks.  

New Girl Pilot

Technically this show doesn't premiere until this evening but Fox released the pilot for download on i-tunes, so this is based on the rough cut pilot.

The New Girl is the kind of show they where making 15 odd years ago. Despite this, Fox is having another go at the whole "Gosh aren't Men and Women different" premise. And by "men" and "women", I mean straight men and women, because this show really isn't about to rock the boat in any dramatic way. I had many issues with it and at points it felt like a gender reverse version of the makeover episode of 'Beauty and the Geek'. The suggestion that, for a women to get a man, she would need to hide any Lord of The Rings references seems a sad and (hopefully) unrealistic indictment of 21^st century men. Also, I still find it dispiriting that we're putting glasses on hot girls to make them lame and nerdy. The only time when the men acknowledge that Zooey is ridiculously attractive is after she's taken off her glasses, an acknowledgement that quickly gets dispelled by her doing a silly dance. The message seems to be 'take note women, if you want to look hot take of those god-awful glasses but make sure you don't fuck it up by moving or in anyway expressing your self'. Not a message that seems very helpful.

Despite all this, I didn't hate it as much as perhaps I should have. No I didn't laugh out loud but I did kind of half chuckle at points. Part of the reason its so palatable is the fact that Zooey is a pretty likeable screen presence. Actually, "palatable" is perhaps the best word for the whole thing. Its a television show specifically designed to wash down as easily as a glass of milk and a cookie before bed.

I'm trying to work out which of the three house-mates she's going end up in romantic tension with. My first thought was it would be Nick, the one from 'No Strings Attached'. But it might be Schmitt in some vague "redemption of douche" story line. However, it's been announced that Justin Long has been cast as a love interest for Jessie. I guess this makes sense; if we drove straight into the house mate romance plot this show would have even less far to go. Which brings me to another issue- where the hell is all this going to go? We've supposedly got 22 odd episodes of these highjinks. The easy-to-swallow twee-ness seems like its going to outstay it's welcome rather quickly.

Things I enjoyed:

• The Douche Bag Jar!- love it and have a real desire to set one of these up in my house. Although I'm not sure how full it would ever get. 
• The whole bread bit good/health. It appealed to my deep love of bread.  

Archer- The Heart of Archness Part I

The day I found Archer was a very good day indeed. It was like finding the missing part of my television jigsaw puzzle. It's the perfect show for a very large part of my personality. It's so willingly unpleasant in many ways and across board hilarious and offensive. I realise that reads like I'm willingly unpleasant, hilarious and offensive. But for better or worse (mainly better) that's not true, I hope. And although I'm sad by the lack of a real new season of Archer until January, I'll take what I can get frankly. The subtitle of this post is I'm so happy it's back. The content is basically stuff I enjoyed about his episode.

I love the records Archer broke while underwater. Minutes breath held and number of sharks shot in the face. It's lines like that I love about this show. In any situation however "life and death" they might seem, Archer is still spectacularly Archer-like. By that I mean, of course, off the charts arrogant and selfish. That said, the very plot of this episode show that inch-by-inch Archer is perhaps becoming a better person. He is (in his own way) actively grieving Katya's death, showing a personal investment in another human that has been hitherto unseen in the show. But he still maintains what we love about him, i.e. when he admits his marriage to Katya was doomed. This was just the right level of self aware. Linked to this is another detail I liked which was the little half shot of the Seamus tattoo. Even though Archer is often seemingly a random selection of hilarious set ups, it is very good at harking back to other episodes and plot points, like the gunfire in the ear running joke.This is what lifts it above Family Guy in some ways, which is not as good at continuing/developing it's main characters. Peter Griffin for example is never anything other than an insensitive shit- even after 10 seasons.

That's enough vague attempt at thinking critically, now more fun stuff I liked. That's the thing about Archer, I'm so blinded by love that I find it very difficult to critique it because all the time I'm watching it, all I want to do is sing about how much I love it.
- I love Cheryl/Carol. Who would want to use psycho-telekinetic powers for good? Although I fear for the world if she did gain them.

- “Big beautiful no limit unicorn” Classic Pam

- David Cross David Cross. I love that man's voice second only to H.Jon Benjamin. Everything he says is about 8 times funnier because he said it. Can't wait for more of him.

- The sexual activities of Mallory are also a source of constant amusement to me.

- My only complaint was the lack of Isis can, especially Krieger. I love that man and his van.

- Pirate Fortress! Love it

- “If five year old me knew that he'd get a massive boner”. I have a feeling I'm going to end up saying that more often than my housemates like.

Long live Archer the Pirate King, Jack Sparrow eat your heart out.  

What I Want from Glee Season 3.

I love Glee, I do. Often against my better judgement. It has so much potential; it has a very talented cast and a core concept that allows for fun, depth and mass appeal. It has a ridiculous budget (I'm assuming) and no reason to be shit. And yet it so often is. Season two was confused.

Erratic in both its message and its seeming aims; characters were developed and then forgotten again, often seemingly at random. That's not to say there wasn't growth, but Kurt continues to be the only character with solid progression throughout the two seasons, with Santana getting a little towards the end. Part of the reason for this may well be the huge numbers of cast and characters it has. There are millions of them and given that episodes are only really 40 minutes long and a good chuck of those minutes have to be filled with song it's completely unrealistic to believe they can fill every episode with development for all. So maybe they shouldn't try- get a smaller group and focus on them. I know they try to convince us that the songs often count as plot and character development but that only really works in a couple of cases. Contrary to what Glee tells us not all life's problems can be addressed within the lyrics of popular music. Shocking I know.

So with season 3 starting this week I thought I'd work out what I wanted from the show. What I want from season 3

-Someone to mention Quinn and Puck's child again. Or perhaps more accurately Quinn to show any emotional response to having given up a child. Not to mention the whole "being chucked out of her family home and having to live with Mercedes" thing. Seriously, did they interact once in the entire run of season 2, I don't think so. You would think that Quinn would be eternally grateful to Mercedes and the entire Jones family. It seems unlikely to me that any 16 year old girl could go through what she did and not have some emotional issues to deal with. Issues that are bigger than not being made Prom Queen and cannot be solved by cutting one's hair.

-Karofsky to come out. Although I think the storyline has been well done and not rushed (as often can be the case) I'm now kind of tired of it. This is perhaps me being impatient because obviously the lengthy struggle is a more accurate depiction of what some young people go through when coming to terms with their sexuality. I still would rather he was out and happy.

This brings me (in a round about way) to my biggest issue with Glee; its inability to balance the serious and the whimsical. Obviously a show where everyone sings songs all the time can never be truly gritty but Glee does often try to deal with many social issues it's target audience have to deal with. I'm not saying it shouldn't do this, obviously it would be a terrible unrelatable show if it didn't. But It needs to do it better, with more subtlety or precision. It jumps to quickly from “Oh look how serious and deep and important this is” to “FUN FUN FUN everyone is singing!” It's a difficult transition to make and Glee so often doesn't quite make the jump well enough. A prime example of this seems to be episode 6 Never Been Kissed. The Kurt storyline meeting Blaine was subtle, emotional and a good balance. The other half of that episode was given up to the development of Beiste's character and the fact that members of New Directions where using her image to turn themselves off. This I thought was oddly handled. The script was saying how terrible these kids are for doing this, they shouldn't be laughing at her she has feelings too. But the direction played the scenes in which we saw her dressed in skimpy outfits where played for humour. It seemed to be setting the audience up to react in a certain way while simultaneously chastising the characters for behaving in that very same way.

Also from season 3 I want Kurt and Blaine to keep being awesome and adorable. They make me happy and sad in equal measure. Happy because they're so sweet, and sad because I am not that sweet. I do kind of want both of them to perhaps get called up on some of their bullshit more often but I don't really care. Although I'm concerned, as I always am when couples get together in TV world, that they will soon have to break up or go through major relationship trauma. Why do television people think we like to watch characters in emotional pain? I guess a more realistic, complete, un-punctuated, happy forever doesn't really ever happen but if I wanted to see that kind of stuff I'd watch real life. Just let people be happy, I don't find it dull watching that stuff! Part of the reason I don't watch Gossip Girl any more was they fucked too much with and then ended Chuck and Blair's relationship; I can't handle the emotional stress of watching them struggle. The other reason I stopped watching GG is, of course, because it's capitalist wet dream self indulgent bullshit.

Last but not least I want them to stop playing the “Finn loves his girlfriend but still has feelings for his Ex girlfriend, this causes trouble with his present girlfriend, he swaps women. Rinse and repeat”. Surely the two women in question should get tired of being treated like this. I mean I like Finn, but he's not that great. If it didn't work the first time, it probably won't work again. Neither of you have changed that much. Hint Hint Glee people- make them change/develop. Or stop them dating in this creepy alternating system.

Also is anyone else intrigued to see how The Glee Project winners are going to fare. I just can't see myself doing anything other than “Oh look INSERT NAME HERE. How cute, they're trying to act.” They're always going to be those people that won that competition not a real new character but a gimmick character. Perhaps I'll be proved wrong and be blown away. I doubt it.

So that is what I want, but am perfectly willing to accept less. Mainly because I'm just kind of assuming it'll let me down a bit. That's the strange thing about Glee- I should be so much more mad at it than I am.  

This is an attempt to make me to write more. Perhaps more importantly make me write stuff that I'm not academically required to write. It's also an attempt to start thinking more critically about television and films instead of just exclaiming "It's the best things ever!" or "It's utterly terrible it has no saving graces". Whether I'll stick to that I'm not sure, also I'm well aware that the suggestion in my title that it's going to be Snide bitching goes against that.
My plan is to mainly cover American shows that all start up again in the next couple of weeks. This is because it obviously makes more sense to start at the beginning of the season, also I find the US television system so strange and different to the British.
The fact that they start broadcasting episodes before they finish not only filming but writing the season, continually seems odd to me. In many ways I do understand it makes sense. This method means you can adjust the story lines to take into account audience feedback and you don't have to waste money working on episodes of a show if people aren't watching it. So this system works well for both the audience and the producers or at least it should. But I still feel odd about it. I guess this is because it seems such an obvious admission that this business is about making money and not about any higher artistic purpose. It's also so different from other forms of culture and 'the arts'. For people like authors, painters and, in fact, film makers they have to create something complete and finished then let it  out into the world. At this point they loose control over its reception and interpretation of the audience.  So although if you're trying to sell it you need to try and make it something people will like, you have very limited way of testing if this is true on a large scale. You also have no method to change it if it turns out you misjudged it. The film just doesn't do well, your book doesn't sell and everyone hates your painting. Does the fact television so easily bend to the will of the masses mean it looses something or gains something. I don't know really, both probably