Okay, I know I could check IMDB for this, and I probably will later, but is Will’s wife the same actress who played the drunk colonel’s wife on Battlestar Galactica? And now that I’m a few more episodes in and have seen more of her, the actress playing Coach Sue, aside from the fact that she’s almost a dead-ringer for the assistant manager at the Pizza Hut I worked at 25 years ago (well, except she’s taller) is really making me think I saw her in at least one episode of one of the 1990s Star Trek series (TNG, DS9, or Voyager, but I can’t recall which). For some reason I’m picturing her in a Starfleet admiral’s uniform.
Additionally, and I know this isn’t really a CS topic, but watching the scene where Quinn’s parent’s kicked her out of the house upon learning she’s pregnant very nearly had me in tears. The scene sort of gave me some insight into the SDMB’s general attitude toward the “fundamentalist Christian” mindset. That is, if this is how Christians are portrayed in the popular media (and aside from the media, I know there are real life “Christians” who really are like that), I can sort of see where y’all are coming from, even if I don’t agree with it. (Note: I don’t own a television. All of my “TV” viewing is via Netflix and the occasional series DVD my sister used to loan me before she moved ot California. So I don’t see much TV media.) Being a Christian myself (admittedly, not a “model” Christian), that scene just made me sick. I’ve attended the same church for the last 17+ years, and in the time I’ve been there I’ve seen a number of young women and teenage girls in my church end up pregnant and having babies out of wedlock. And while my religion and my pastor certainly don’t condone sex outside of marriage, my pastor and the congregation in general have been nothing short of loving and supportive toward these young women and their children. And that, to me, is the true Christian way of dealing with these situations. People who have “sinned” don’t need lectures, they need love, forgiveness, and acceptance.
I’ve also been really touched by the scenes between Kurt (or is it Curt?) and his father. The father, in one way, reminds me of my own dad: macho tough guy. And I find myself wishing my own dad had been as supportive of me. I’m not gay; I just wasn’t much like my dad, and I just never got interested in the things he loves, like shooting and hunting. Instead, I was a musician and generally artistic/creative type. He mentioned once or twice that he never pushed me to be like him, and for the longest time I thought that was really cool of him. But when I was older and looking back, I realized that he also never encouraged or supported me in being who I am. He introduced me to the things he loved, I wasn’t interested, so he just left me alone to do my own thing.
Nope–different actresses. Will’s wife was on the show Boston Public several years ago, and has been in other tv series. I’m not familiar with Colonel Tigh’s wife’s other work.
Jane Lynch. I don’t recall her being in Star Trek, but she has been in a lot of stuff. She had small roles in the movies The Fugitive and 40 Year Old Virgin.
There’s actually a story about his name: when he came to audition, Ryan Murphy (the show’s producer) said “I can tell you’ve been in a production of Sound of Music”. Chris Colfer, who was actually there to audition for the role of Artie, said “Yes, I played Kurt.” Murphy actually created the role of ‘Kurt’ for Colfer and gave him the surname ‘Hummel’ for the porcelain figurines.
(I think Murphy has the hots for Colfer, but that’s purely conjecture and off-topic.)
Quick semi-hijack for a question that isn’t worthy of its own thread.
I’m an episode behind on Glee, and I’d love to catch up but I really hate watching/listening to Christmas stuff when it’s not Christmas anymore. Can someone offer their (spoiler-free) opinion on if the this year’s Christmas episode is skippable? If something important or really awesome happens then I guess I’ll have to watch it, otherwise 'd just like to move on.
I didn’t need the media to tell me this sort of thing. My mother spent some time working at the local school for “at risk” teens back in the '90s. “At risk” can mean a lot of different things, but one role this school served was to provide a way to sort of sweep the district’s pregnant girls/teen mothers under the carpet. Anyway, according to my mother it was pretty common for pregnant white girls to be not just sent to the “at risk” school, but completely cast off by their families. She actually mentioned this to me just recently. She said she never heard of a pregnant black girl being abandoned by her entire family in this way (although some ended up moving in with an aunt/uncle or grandparents), but that a lot of pregnant white girls wound up with nowhere to go but their boyfriend’s houses. Attitudes about teen mothers have probably changed a bit in the past 15-20 years, but the storyline about Quinn’s semi-homelessness struck me as more realistic than a lot of things on Glee.
The 2012 Christmas episode is in a kind of anthology format, with several different stories told beginning to end sequentially rather than being subplots throughout the whole episode. So it would be even easier than usual to just watch part of the episode. Of the different stories, only the one about Kurt and the one about Puck seem likely to be of any importance later. The one about Puck wasn’t particularly good, so you could even skip that one and just read spoilers somewhere. I would recommend the Kurt one, though.
We always get a kick out of Brad, whose sole purpose in life seems to be to lurk around waiting to play the piano, with only a very few acknowledgments that he even exists. Plus a whole student orchestra that seems to be on call during school hours in later seasons.
The show is also making me wonder if there are really high schools where the cheerleaders wear their uniforms every damn day. At both of the high schools I attended, the cheerleaders only wore their uniforms to school on game days. Though in the case of the show, I guess I can attribute it to Coach Sue’s psychosis.
Also, having been a jazz band member from 8th through 12th grade, I’ve been constantly amused by the idea that the members of a high school jazz band can consistently and perfectly pull off any and every song the glee club singers ask for, regardless of genre or era, at the drop of a hat, with no advance rehearsal. Experienced, professional studio musicians? Sure. High school kids? Not a chance.
I doubt here is a real school where cheerleaders wear their uniforms every day, although as far as the show goes I guess that does explain why Sue needs so much money from the principal to cover dry cleaning. In-world the only explanation for a lot of things related to the cheerleading squad is that Coach Sue is both psycho AND a proven winner (her squad has won Nationals several years in a row by the time the show begins) so she can basically do what she wants.
In one episode a cheerleader does mention that she feels the uniform gives her power/protection because it’s a clear sign to others that she’s a member of the McKinley elite. So that’s presumably the reason why a bunch of teenage girls are willing to wear a uniform and pulled-back hair all the time instead of just not joining the cheerleading squad and dressing as they like.
There’s a little cartoon on YouTube about the jazz guitarist finally snapping and telling off the glee club.
I’ve been hoping for years that the show will due a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead type episode from the perspective of the jazz band. Maybe someday…
Season 2, episode 12, the Valentine’s Day episode:
Just about the best TV episode I’ve seen. That was a lot of fun. Especially Puckerman (possibly my favorite character so far) wooing the big heavy girl (whose name I haven’t picked up on yet). And Santana getting her ass kicked (despite the fact I think she’s the sexiest girl in the cast).
ETA: Also, I watched this episode while very drunk, so take that into account.
FWIW, if you’re watching in order there’s an episode coming up that’s totally skip-able: 2x17 “A Night of Neglect”. To the best of my recollection there’s nothing unusually offensive or horrible about it, it’s just really boring and bogs down an otherwise pretty solid run of episodes.
The musicians knowing the songs and always being just out of frame until the song starts is part of the conceit of “Glee” and many musical productions. You either go with musical conventions or you watch something non-musical.
I’ve noticed that the bearded guy who has always been seen accompanying the kids on piano (also the real producer of the music, I think) has been absent for the last few episodes.
