Sure. I remember the movie Saturday Night Fever. But saying that, I’ve got to admit to only seeing it once. Terrible film. However, the soundtrack? Was like a Bible for me in seventh grade. So when the producers of Glee decided to devote an entire episode to this album, I was excited to see what they’d make of it.
And I’m not really going hog wild about the results, to tell you the truth. Since I’m thinking a lot about seventh grade tonight, I’m going to use an oft quoted term. I’m looking the writers in the eye meaningfully and stating, “It’s not you, it’s me.”
See … as a twelve year old girl, I adored The Bee Gees.
(By the way? All the best to Robin Gibb who’s currently seriously ill. By talking about you in this post, I swear I’m not trying to put the CliqueClack curse on you!)
Barry Gibb and his falsetto could make me swoon. However, at this point in time? Songs done primarily in male falsetto make me want to take hostages. I don’t know what it is. Maybe I’m just old and cranky. I found the songs a bit easier to bear when the girls were covering them. But mostly I was experiencing the nails on the chalkboard feeling. (The exception being Darren Criss’ “You Should be Dancing.” And that’s only because the guy can do no wrong for me as a result of last week.)
Quinn was nowhere to be seen, and we could have used her. Artie and especially Kurt were underutilized. We saw glimpses, but either one of them could have taken on these tunes in their sleep. I understand that the story was revolving around Finn, Santana and Mercedes. But that’s only three songs. I could have done without Rachel’s rendition of “How Deep is Your Love.” The writers could have found an excuse for one of the others mentioned above to tackle it. I guess sometimes? We’re just forced to see another Lea Michele performance. I for one, am over it.
Glee often takes on the theme of “dreams” in their episodes, and the ways to keep chasing them no matter what. I find this optimism very … optimistic. I dig that idea, and it’s an important one to put out to the kids watching this show.
When you think about it? Santana, Finn and Mercedes each had people close to them come right out and say that they were “believed in.” Who doesn’t need to hear that? The three of them having no real plans after graduation was an elephant in the room that had to be dealt with. (Although I’m not sure that wanting to be an actor or “famous” are technically smart choices.)
Let’s just say that Sue was right in advising Santana to get a business degree and have a back up plan. I’m hoping Finn and Mercedes will too. Hell. Everyone that age wants to be famous, but the chances are slimmer than a matchstick.
One more thing that bothered me … (can you intuit that this was not my favorite episode?) was the glossing over by Sue of Brittany putting the sex tape out of her and Santana on the internet. When Sue called them into her office, she said something along the lines of them being “a dime a dozen” and “everyone” putting sex tapes out there. She didn’t even reprimand them for it, or touch on the many ways that teens putting sex tapes on the internet could possibly wreck their future. Or even why they were too young to make them in the first place!
I’m not a prude. But seriously? That was rather unconscionable. (By the by? Sue said all this while calling Santana “Boobs Magoo” and “Lady Ta Tas.”) Geez! Sometimes Glee confuses me. Last week, the writers were beating us over the head about texting and driving. Or they rail against bullying. And then, we get a gloss over concerning teens and sex on the internet.
What?
In some ways? This episode was a nice walk down memory lane. To a simpler time, when there was no internet or sex tapes, and I had a disco party in my basement. A boy named Pat came to it wearing a replica of the white suit from Saturday Night Fever. Seriously. And all of us girls were crushing on him mightily.
Sigh. Maybe I should give falsetto one more try?
And if you want to get down tonight, click on the links below to download this week’s disco tunes.
Clacked by Tara Shrodes
on Apr 18, 2012 @ 03:21 EST5EDT
Well, I haven’t watched the episode yet, however it sounds from your description to have the same problem almost all of the themed episodes have had … try to cram a plot in around the music instead of integrating the music into the plot. And they really didn’t use Kurt?!?! For a disco episode?!?!? Sigh.
“Forced to see another Lea Michelle performance”
I’m totally OK with the idea with Rachel being a tired, played out character at this point, and there are other vocalists on the show I’d love to see featured more (You can talk about Kurt being marginalized but he’s one character who has seen his share of the spotlight himself) especially the likes of, I don’t know, say Tina.
But “being forced?” She’s far and away the best vocalist on the show!
https://vimeo.com/24152100
. . . . .
“Best vocalist” … ?!??!?
I could be best vocalist on the show!
Hello! Lip-syncing … !!!
Fine.
But she still recorded the vocals.
Girl’s got pipes.
. . . . .
And again: I could be best vocalist on the show with an auto-tune, countless retakes in a sound studio, a year’s worth of coaching lessons and a pair of three-sizes-too-small underwear …
Could you also originate the lead role in a broadway musical that won a Tony for Best Musical?
I’m sorry but by far Lea Michelle is the best singer on the show. If you’ve ever heard any of her stuff from Spring Awakening you’d agree. And if you’d notice, hardly any of her stuff gets autotuned, that’s just her voice.
. . . . .
I didn’t say her stuff needed auto-tuning, Jon.
But mine does. It’s the only way I could compete with her. And even under the best of circumstances, I’d still lose.
My legs are better than hers, however: No tattoos.
*POST AUTHOR*
That may be true Ivey. But I’m just tired of the whole scrunch your face up Streisandy nonsense.
I started out loving her. But I’m over saturated.
Sue me.
I will not sue you.
Or Sue you, for that matter.
I retain my simple point that Mr. Noble seemed to ignore to talk about his ability to perform:
Girl’s got pipes.
they’ve stop some in the group from putting out a sex tape but when they were “underage”, santana and brittney are 18? i think so now it’s like totally ok now¿
I liked the music. Criss was the best. I can always do without Finn and Rachel. Sooooo over that mess. Yuck.
Like you, I find Sue’s insults to be an adult bullying students and it is criminal. Teachers ought not be using abusive language. They did gloss over the atrocity of a sex tape being on the internet of TEENAGERS! Bah.
My son was calling for Stayin’ Alive from the beginning of the show. I wish it had been better,but the boy liked it.
. . . . .
“Could you also originate the lead role in a broadway musical that won a Tony for Best Musical?”
Possibly. With the right doctor and lots of luck. No guarantees.
*POST AUTHOR*
So let me get this straight, Michael. You’d need …
Autotoning
Retakes
A doctor
Tiny underwear
Vocal coaching
and luck?
You are so high maintenance. In fact? You sound like a Diva already!
Hmmm….Perhaps I’m the only one…and that’s o.k…I would rank this as one of me top 5 favorite episodes…Really. I shall defend now. I was sitting on the sofa next to my daughter (also a Gleek)quietly (for the most part) singing along…ignoring my 11 year old repeatadly saying “Mom your weird” I have watched SNF a number of times. The story line hoaky yes, the acting sub-par, which I sometimes feels makes a movie a bit more memorabe- because it was bad but in good way…but there will NEVER be another movie like it again with a soundtrack that became larger than life. For “Glee” to take it on I give them three snaps and a turn. True a few “main” characters were in the background but you simply can’t feature everyone equally in each episode. So I was cool with that. Now the “sex tape” thang- yes, it could have turned into a “teaching moment” but that moment should come from parents, always from parents, weather it’s about texting, drinking, or highly inappropriate activities posted on the “inner web” for all to see. I feel they did SNF justice and paid fine homage to The Bee Gees (yes, I too am thinking of Robin Gibb so sad). I feel Glee will continue to push the boundaries in all ways including dialogue & social situations, while continuing to be relevant and just plain FUN to watch. I feel they’re ready to take on a little “Dirty Dancing”….
Ooooo … “Dirty Dancing” … Sorry, drooling is kind of a programmed reaction to the mention of that movie.
Tara, I’m the same way about male falsetto – loved it then, hate it now. You don’t think it has anything to do with the fact that voices hadn’t changed yet in the males around us in junior high, do you? I also thought thin, lithe male bodies with no hair on their chests could look hot in a swimsuit in those days. My tastes have definitely changed.
Lea Michele is the most trained singer on Glee, but ‘Kurt’ and Riley are equally talented. Admittedly, no one on cast has Michele’s control or ‘vocal adrenaline.’ They have the ability, they just don’t push themselves as much.
Amber Riley, like her character, rarely pushes herself, keeping to the lower soft pop registers, unless the song _really_ demands more control like ‘Respect.’ I liked her disco rendition because it actually displayed her capabilities. In an interview, she stated Murphy requested she do more challenging songs like Houston’s canon, but she typically avoided it.
It’s a shame Mercedes graduates this year. Mercedes, Mike and Tina have not experienced development/growth at the level of Finn/Quinn/Puck/etc. And, seriously, does Mike even speak anymore? He’s like a dancing mute. Instead of introducing new characters like Sugar, hipster Jesus and Leprechaun, I wish Murphy spent more time developing existing ones (particularly ones about to graduate), outside the usual suspects.
I have to nitpick at the college issue. It’s APRIL and characters magically receive full scholarships to schools they DIDN’T apply to and assume they will receive acceptance to schools they HAVEN’T applied to yet? REALLY? These kids can totally go to LA and seek out stardom, but why aren’t they seeking out schools with theatre/music programs in LA where they can ALSO get an education to provide them with contactstraining? Did future-Mrs. Shue only suggest alternative performance schools to Finn?
Final note, I like the Mercedes-Sam relationship, but it feels cobbled together to give her something to do – as opposed to actual dynamic growth. By contrast, I understand Finn and Rachel’s relationship because I saw their mutual attraction and struggle to be with each other. With mercedes-sam we’re told they had an awesome summer where they fell in love. But, since it didn’t happen on screen and neither details WHY they’re interested in the other, I find it more difficult to buy into the relationship.
Hmmmm. My dear friend Tara, I have to say that now that I’ve watched the episode, I thought it was one of the more successful theme shows. I thought the use of song to relate to the characters and where they are in life and where they want to go was pretty darned good. I’m glad Mercedes got a big solo too. And Kurt may not have been a part of the A-story, but I liked the B-story with him and Mercedes and Wade, who is also going to be in the next episode. I liked the whole “know who you are, have a plan and follow your dreams” aspect of the show (it’s actually given me a kick in the pants to pursue some things I’ve been putting on the back burner). Yes, some of it was a little far-fetched (the college scholarship appearing out of nowhere … but maybe Sue had some pull), and the whole sex tape thing was just a WTF were they thinking thing (although we don’t know anything about the tape except the cat doing housework), but for a theme episode, it turned out much better than I really thought it would.