Image Credit: Adam Rose/Fox; Monty Brinton/CBS; Adam Larkey/ABC
Are you loving or loathing the Glee episodes dedicated to specific artists like Britney Spears and Madonna? What does the upcoming tribe switcheroo mean for the Survivor: Nicaragua contestants? And what’s up with all the spanking on Dancing with the Stars? These are just a few of the questions to be tackled in the second installment of EW.com’s TV Insiders podcast. Michael Slezak, Annie Barrett, Michael Ausiello, and Tim Stack join me to break down the week in television and present it to you in an easily digestible audio format. And that’s not all: Glee creator Ryan Murphy also shares his inspiration for this week’s religious-themed episode, “Grilled Cheesus.” Among the other topics to be discussed and debated: Should Glee‘s Chris Colfer win an Emmy for his moving performance this week as Kurt ? Which DWTS hoofer will go home next? And what Survivor contestant is playing the best game so far? Just click on the play button below to sit in on our round table discussion, or click here to download the mp3 and take us with you on the go. And if you have a question you’d like us to answer/discuss on next week’s episode, send it via Twitter to @EWDaltonRoss. So without further ado, enjoy the latest epsiode of the TV Insiders![AUDIO http://www.ew.com/ew/static/podcast/2010/10/EW_TV_Insiders_10_08_10.mp3]
Yes please. I’m sick of the themed eps, especially since the characters regress in them to work in the songs. Just put them down and focus on actually having coherent stories.
Can’t you do this on video? Podcasts are only good for music.
Agreed. I love the EW commentary but I’d like some video please!
Yeah totally agree, need a video
Add me to the list of wanting a video podcast please!!
yeeeeah video
Agree! I miss Doc’s “Lost” videos!
I think everyone agrees: we’re sick of those theme episodes. The Britney episode was kind of rushed and looked ridiculous. And the Britney obsession completely outstaged Uncle Jesse’s debut!
The only tributes I still look forward are Janet’s or Michael’s.
No offense to the Boss but why should Glee ‘kids’ do a tribute to him? Are 2010′s teens into his music? Or is it because of the Emmys opening number? Anyway, only Principal Figgins should sing on this one.
I don’t know about 2010 teens but in 2001 as a teen I couldn’t get enough Springsteen. Well that and Chelsea, The Buzzcocks, Iggy, and The Clash. But somehow I doubt I’ll get a 70s punk tribute episode on Glee.
I can’t speak for teens, but I know 2010 college students, at my university at least, are definitely into Springsteen. He’s kind of the man.
Locally one of the news people mentioned she watched Glee for the first time with the Britney Episode, and she didn’t like the SHOW. I emailed her that that was the worst and she needed to watch a good Season one Episode.
Themes can work Theaticality was one of the best, but we didn’t only use Gaga and she wasn’t in the title etc. Glee team needs to realize they can spike the ratings for one of these but they do little to retain the viewers. Glee has a theme every week, but it needs to be around the Characters not some artist with an ego. Especially one using the show as part of her 3rd comeback from the “trailer park”
I could care less about a Micheal or a Janet tribute but would really like to see a Springsteen tribute.
I hope it doesn’t end up this way, but I see Glee as a possible victim of Ugly Betty Syndrome. Remember how much Buzz Ugly Betty got the first year? It all kind of fell apart after that, got yanked around in the tv schedule, and was eventually cancelled early in season 4. I think Glee has more potential than Betty overall, but they could buzz-out kind of quick if they don’t get back to some storytelling.
They could totally do some Clash music! Should I Stay or Should I Go? Rock the Casbah? They would totally work! No more tribute episodes though! At least not for a while. The Madonna one was fun but the Britney one was not so good.
I hate the theme episodes but Springsteen would be more deserving than the freak child molester or his sister.
i actually fast forward through the singing and just watch the show for the dialog, the humor, and Britnay
Single artist tribute eps could be ok if they are written and executed well, but even though the Madonna/Gaga/Britney eps featured some impressive performances (even though the Britney ones were just video karaoke), I have been very disappointed as the writing and character development goes completely by the wayside and the episode content borders on overindulgent and it seems that Ryan Murphy spends alot of the episode kissing the bum of the artist, ie: “Madonna’s empowering”, Lady Gaga is so creative, Britney is sexy and inspiring” etc etc….. if they keep doing these episodes without content, the storylines suffer as they have to cram plots together abd they don’t always feel organic anymore. I also noticed this happens to a lesser degree when there is a guest star and the focus of the episode focuses mainly on them…. Meh!
Yea, it was the awful Madonna suck-up episode that made me realize that I had given “Glee” its last chance. Sue Sylvester is a great character with some great lines, but the rest of the show has just gotten lost.
I agree with pretty much all of that. The tribute episodes are in general terrible. And they’ve got at least 2 more coming up, and I may start skipping all the tribute episodes if the next one is as bad as the Britney one was. I get very annoyed that they compromise the characters in order to make the music fit the episode.
I agree. It’s like season one and Jesse. It’s as though the writers introduce that character just so that we could here the song “Jesse’s Girl”.
I have a bad feeling that The Rocky horror episode is going to be awful! Theres too much music and they HAVE to match the plot to the music which is really bad, themed episodes HAVE TO STOP!
The show’s pilot showed a lot of promise about a bunch of unpopular high school kids trying to make something out of an ignored glee club. The show has de-evolved into nothing more than an outlet to sell cover songs.
Then you did not see “grilled cheeses”. Not at All about cover songs! Yes, some of the eps Are shallow. But the core of this show is about social awareness.
I did see it, the show created an episode so they can expand their cover song sales into songs about religion market. The core of the show is itunes sales. I challenge Glee to prove me wrong, make an episode with no songs. If it is about anything other than music sales it should be an easy episode to make.
I could’ve sworn that I read an article where Ryan Murphy said that they were going to focus on the plot and character development in the second season and less on the music. Obviously I must have dreamed that and obviously he is mainly concerned with the ITunes sales. And that’s lame. I would also love to see them do an episode without any music..or maybe two songs max.
Yeah I don’t understand why they are doing like 7 songs an episode now. It used to be 4 songs, maybe 5 at the max. I guess it probably is because they want to make more money on Itunes, because in this weeks episode was it just me, or did they barely even sing “One of Us”. That clip felt like it was 30 seconds long to me.
@funnykirst: Two songs max done already- Vitamin D.
HATE the theme episodes because it totally makes the storylines seem phony and forced. Yes, it’s a series where people suddenly start dancing and singing in terms of reality, but if you start getting bored with the characters there’s no reason to turn in. There has to be some sort of rational storyline going on.
I wish the themed glee episodes would stop, its lame, boring and makes the storylines lag. One is more than enough for a season, give it a rest already and make me love glee again like I did the first half of the first season! I dislike the themed episodes so much I don’t even watch the show anymore. In doing the themed episodes they are becoming predictable and very cliche. Go back to switching it up- it keeps the show fresher.
I think they should do a night dedicated to indie bands! That would be such a fresh take on the theme episodes
The show hasn’t been good since the first half of season 1! Totally agree. I can’t watch anymore. I’m fast forwarding through all the lame parts which is now 80% of the show.
Dead on. Exactly the way I feel.
Incredibly I’m enjoying Hellcats more than glee these days, even 90210 has a better plotline! Glee is lacking the magic it had before, I think the writers should rewind and write stuff like when they were not worried about selling music and making money with something that could be very special. All they care is money not quality of the show itself.
I’m enjoying Hellcats more, too!
I thought the themed episodes have been awful. All of them. I like Madonna, Britney and Lady Gaga, but I think the episodes are awful.
I AGREE…. Love me some women in pop music, but the episodes are best with songs that sneak up on you and surprise you, fit in with the characters, relate to you as a human being, show you a new artist you hadn’t discovered. I remember during one of the early episodes they did Rihanna’s “Take a Bow” and I originally hated that song; Lea Michele killed it and it fit so well into the episode.
Same with some of the remarkable Broadway pieces they’ve showcased.
Sometimes it helps. When they did Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing, I’m sure that some loyal fan went berserk and pulled out all their old Journey albums, playing them again on the old record player or the CD player of the CD versions! Or it might even help boost that band’s catalog sales, people immediately going to get their ’70s and ’80s albums the next day after watching the show the night before. So this show does boost sales for longtime groups that needed it with how the casts sing the songs. Maybe make them do some live shows again instead of doing some weepy, emotional Behind the Music show for VH-1.
I think I’d like to borrow Tim Stack’s rose-colored glasses in which these episodes are actually good and no musical performance on the show deserves a grade lower than a B.
After longing to sing with her mother for 16 years, do you really think Rachel would pick “Poker Face?”. Theme nights have to go!
Excellent example of how forced the theme episodes get! That was absurd.
Exactly! That was a terrible choice for Rachel and her mother to sing.
I hate the themed episodes, because the “plot” is written around the music, instead of using the music to enhance the plot.
Agree.
Also agree
I’m gonna go all Debbie Downer [cue Rachel Dratch sad face] and say that this podcast stuff makes me miss Realite. I wish these podcasts were videos. They don’t even have to be edited all fancy-like, the way Realite was! It’s just more fun for me to watch people than listen, I guess. [Hey, one of the hallmarks of being a primate is an emphasis on vision over other senses!
]
Definitely miss Realite AND stuff like Totally Lost.
Podcasts are ok (they’re a lot easier for me to sneakily enjoy at work), but I miss the creativity and the terrific editing that went into the videos.
What’s next? No Idolatry?!
No Idolatry?! BITE YOUR TONGUE!
I’m not saying…I’m just sayin’
I prefer Glee when they follow the story line and put in music where it fits. The plot of the Britney episode was ridiculous and impersonating her was a waste of time and talent.
I agree. I like the theme episodes, but I like the episodes where they use a mixture of songs from different genres much more! I guess the episodes dedicated to one artist are good in moderation. I also agree with Sam that the plot of the Britney episode was real ridiculous. That was the first thing I thought while watching the episode. Let’s go back to the old Glee we all know and love
I have stopped watching the shows because of all the themed episodes. I think the show lost its touch basically…sold out.
AGREED. Glee has become all about the gimmicks instead of focusing on the talents of these kids (and therefore appreciating the talent in kids around you). Now it’s just telling you how to be politically correct according to Glee.
Themed shows should def be the exception and not the norm. What was cool about the show, as all of you said, was how the music was incorporated into the plot and story. Not the other way around.
I miss the old Glee where each episode didn’t have a lesson and there were no tribute episodes. My two favorite episodes are the pilot and “Sectionals”.
Nearly ALL of the Glee episodes have had a lesson, right back to the first 13
but it was so much more subtle. look at episodes like Vitamin D and Throwdown…even Ballad. Ballad is one of my favorite episodes because really it didn’t have a central lesson surrounding it necessarily. It was pure comedy and heart.
Yeah I gotta agree with sam, the lessons in the first 13 episodes were so much more subtle and flowed so much better then the ones in the back 9 and this new season.
I agree, they are shoving tolerance and whatever other lesson down our throats. I got blasted the other day for saying enough with the tolerance but I don’t mean IRL, just the preachy episodes. Soem messages, yeah, but more fun. Artists Ryan Murphy worships, ok but not whole episodes of them. Waiting for the Cher theme episode they’ve done every other gay icon.
Only tolerance of a certain sort. The last episode certainly didn’t demonstrate much tolerance of Kurt’s non-belief in God.
Hated the Britney episode but loved the religious one.
I totally agree. I liked Glee better before the themed episodes because now the plots are much more lame.
I actually quite like the theme episodes. I really did enjoy both the Madonna and Britney theme episodes. However, I think they would work better if they picked artists with a catelog that would fit naturally in the storylines instead of picking a well known artist and then trying to write the storylines around the songs.
One theme episode a season please. I can watch an artist music videos if I wanted to, I’d rather see Glee do variety and stick to the solid dramedy story lines they are so good at.
And while we’re at it, maybe EW could stop the Twilight-like obsession with this show. We don’t need 15 stories per week on this garbage.
AGREED! At least 4-5 online articles every day about Glee. That’s why I dropped my subscription to EW and just go online for free because they get on a kick and everything is that subject for months. They used to be cutting edge, but now they are so mainstream, almost like Tiger Beat!
I’m sick and tired of all the stuff on Glee period!!!! Everywhere!! Way too much exposure.
bg: Tiger Beat!! That rag has been around for over 40 years!!!
Well I LIKE the Glee articles. If you don’t like them, don’t read them. Glee is not garbage to a lot of us. Maybe you can’t relate to the characters, but I sure can. Hell I WAS them. As someone who is an artist and musician, I can relate to the struggles with keeping the arts in schools. I can relate to the struggles of being ridiculed day in and day out just for doing what you love. Glee is an important show to those of us that have been there. Yay for supporting arts in schools and yay for EW for all of their coverage.
But the danger to overexposure is the backlash it might suffer (wherein it becomes “cool” to hate on the show and NOT watch it).
It’s getting to Twilight obsession levels now, this time with the theme shows. I noticed how the Twilight cast were all over the TV shows for a few weeks leading to the premiere of last fall’s movie. It made me sick! So I hope that Glee’s people doesn’t suffer from overexposure.