# Season premiere of Glee **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493 "2015-01-10T18:51:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/1 "2015-01-10T18:51:26Z")
So, Glee started back up last night. I was surprised to see it back in Lima - I thought they were going with “Singing Friends” at NYADA. So I stopped watching before the end of last season. Can someone fill me in - what happened with Rachel’s Funny Girl? Why was Shue there with the baby, but no sign of Emma? And they named the baby Danny? I would’ve expected Finn. And I’m tired of the same plot being rehashed yet again. This is the final season, I would’ve liked to see some resolution and maybe a new Big Bad besides Sue. Speaking of - no mention of her baby. StG ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/2 "2015-01-10T19:11:43Z")
Does the Lima in _Glee_ still look nothing like the real Lima?: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JEc_Ya8C-t0/maxresdefault.jpg "Lima, OH Street Tour") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEc_Ya8C-t0) The actual quality of music in a Lima high school: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-naWgbAPak ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/3 "2015-01-10T19:17:04Z")
Wait…you mean there aren’t actually wandering backup studio ensembles haunting the high schools of the real Lima? The school district doesn’t actually have a multi-year contract with AutoTune? The district athletics departments don’t have an immunity deal with law enforcement? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/4 "2015-01-10T19:18:54Z")
Incidentally, Leah Michelle is never going to shake that Mini-Idina image if they keep giving her Idina songs. I have a mild suspicion it’s going to get worse for that image since seeing that they have a director and a projected 2016 release date for the Wicked movie, too. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/5 "2015-01-10T19:36:28Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > So I stopped watching before the end of last season. Can someone fill me in - what happened with Rachel’s Funny Girl? She was a great success on Broadway but quit after a month or so because she was offered a sitcom pilot. (Which, as we saw last night, failed miserably.) It was all pretty dumb, and you’re probably better off not having seen it. > [@](#): > > Why was Shue there with the baby, but no sign of Emma? There’s no in-universe reason why Emma shouldn’t be there, but actress Jayma Mays left _Glee_ for the short-lived sitcom _The Millers_ and is now in _Getting On_. Until we’re told otherwise I figure we can assume she’s around but off-camera. > [@](#): > > And I’m tired of the same plot being rehashed yet again. This is the final season, I would’ve liked to see some resolution and maybe a new Big Bad besides Sue. Season six does seem oddly like a re-do of season four, with Rachel taking over Finn’s role. Going from these two episodes it’s a better version of season four, if only because I wasn’t immediately bored with all the new kids, but I did already suffer through season four. Seeing it done somewhat better mostly just makes me wonder why they didn’t try harder the first time. > [@](#): > > Speaking of - no mention of her baby. Sue made a passing reference to Michael Bolton, who was the father of her baby (or at least so she claimed). As far as I could tell the episodes _didn’t_ explain what Santana is up to these days (the last we heard of her she was still rooming with Kurt in NYC, although that’s apparently no longer the case), how Mercedes’s album and tour went, or how Kurt could be alone and friendless in New York when Artie is still going to school there. > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Does the Lima in _Glee_ still look nothing like the real Lima? Considering all the other things about _Glee_ that are weird, unrealistic, or just plain don’t make sense, it seems odd to criticize it for not being shot on location. Although there were a few outdoor scenes in these two new episodes, most of the series takes place inside the high school. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/6 "2015-01-11T00:08:40Z")
To me the ridiculousness of how little the show looks like the real Lima is the most annoying thing. I was astonished when I first was told that finally a TV show is set only twenty-five miles where I grew up. Of course, everything about the show suggests that the writers have never been out of Southern California in their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/7 "2015-01-14T00:16:26Z")
Bumping this to say that while I personally wasn’t that excited about the songs in the first part of the premier, the second episode had some great numbers. [ul] [li]New kid Roderick’s audition, “[Mustang Sally](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwadbnLJWl8)”[/li][li]Quinn, Santana, Brittany, and Artie try to recruit some cheerleaders and football players by performing “[One Less Problem Without You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzcTPHI-B8w)” on the football field[/li][li]Most of the original New Directions and the New-New-New Directions sing “[Home](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=306JHaBBrLw)” at homecoming, also doubling as the audition of the creepy twins[/li][/ul] Nitpick: I did think it was a little odd that, after Sue claimed to have abolished not only the glee club but all arts programming at McKinley, we see that both the jazz band and the marching band are still active. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/8 "2015-01-14T00:28:29Z")
I saw the second hour but not the first - did they mention what happened to Marley and the rest of the new folks? I know Sue eliminated the Glee club but did all the members leave / graduate / move in with Chuck Cunningham? Brian ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/9 "2015-01-14T01:48:57Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > I saw the second hour but not the first - did they mention what happened to Marley and the rest of the new folks? I know Sue eliminated the Glee club but did all the members leave / graduate / move in with Chuck Cunningham? Sue briefly mentioned that she forced all remaining glee club members to transfer to other schools, although as we saw Quinn 2.0 is actually still there. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/10 "2015-01-14T17:45:10Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > She was a great success on Broadway but quit after a month or so because she was offered a sitcom pilot. (Which, as we saw last night, failed miserably.) It was all pretty dumb, and you’re probably better off not having seen it. TWICE. First she went to film a pilot that wasn’t picked up and she basically crawled back to her producer (Michael Lerner) on hands and knees and promised she would never do that again. And then she went AGAIN to film a show and it was a bomb. This shows that she can’t be trusted and SHOULDN’T ever be allowed to headline anything on Broadway again. It made me wonder if the show is just flat out improv now and only then when the actors are on some form of sedative. Though cudos for JM J Bullock and Carrot Top cameos and the kittens with cancer line. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/11 "2015-01-14T19:49:20Z")
Why would Rachel even want to do a TV show? After all, Barbra never had a sitcom. StG ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/12 "2015-01-14T23:08:39Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > TWICE. > First she went to film a pilot that wasn’t picked up and she basically crawled back to her producer (Michael Lerner) on hands and knees and promised she would never do that again. > > And then she went AGAIN to film a show and it was a bomb. It’s tempting to see this as a metaphor for _Glee_ itself, which enjoyed great success early on, only to shoot itself in the foot with a series of inexplicably stupid choices. That’s probably giving too much credit to the writers though, as this is far from the first time we’ve been asked to put up with a storyline that slowly goes nowhere and is then abandoned entirely. I thought it was a bad idea from the beginning to have Rachel get the lead in _Funny Girl_, I never bought that she wanted to be on TV, and if she was just going to end up back in Lima anyway then it’s easy to think of ways this could have been handled without requiring Rachel to suddenly abandon her lifelong dream of being a Broadway star and specifically starring in a revival of _Funny Girl_. 1. Rachel is fired after skipping out on _Funny Girl_ the first time. 2. Rachel does her best, but _Funny Girl_ flops. 3. Rachel is cast as the _understudy_ in _Funny Girl_, maybe having a chance to play Fanny when the lead is out, but quits or is fired because she wants to pursue some other opportunity (a TV show, a different play, Kurt’s singing group) that she thinks will make her famous faster. 4. Rachel is never cast in _Funny Girl_ at all, becomes depressed, and is no longer able to hack it at NYADA. 5. Finn’s death causes Rachel to re-evaluate her priorities, and she decides that being a Broadway star requires too many personal sacrifices. And that’s just off the top of my head. > [@](#): > > This shows that she can’t be trusted and SHOULDN’T ever be allowed to headline anything on Broadway again. When she told Will she wanted to return to Broadway, I wanted him to smack her. > [@](#): > > It made me wonder if the show is just flat out improv now and only then when the actors are on some form of sedative. I suspect that if the actors were allowed to just improvise then they’d at least do a better job of remaining faithful to the characters. While Lea Michele did in real life leave a successful career on Broadway to work on television, she presumably wouldn’t be eager to have her character make this transition in such an unprofessional and dumbassed manner. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/13 "2015-01-15T00:26:41Z")
What’s the over/under on how many episodes into the season we’ll hear **Shake it Off** by Taylor Swift? “Haters gonna hate hate hate”? It’s like it was custom written for Glee. Unless they can’t afford the rights to it. I agree that Rachel leaving Funny Girl was one of the more clumsily handled plot threads ever… and for Glee, that’s saying a lot. It’s best not to think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/14 "2015-01-15T02:25:06Z")
Maybe we’ll at least get a couple of nice Brian Stokes Mitchell numbers in the last few episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/15 "2015-01-15T02:42:33Z")
The notion that a girl from Lima who develops into such a great singer that she gets a lead role on Broadway and a lead role in a TV show pilot would be so devastated by losing these roles that she would return to Lima, figuring that her life beyond where she grew up was now over, is as stupid as the notion that someone like me, from a farm twenty-five miles from Lima, having made it through to a Ph.D. in math might be so devastated by not getting an offer to teach at the top math department in the world that I would decide that my life outside where I grew up was now over, so I would return to the farm where I grew up and tell my father that I would now take over the farm as a part-time job while working full-time in the factory in Lima, just like my father did, since anything but that top math department would be too shameful. Surely Rachel has more opportunities outside Lima. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/16 "2015-01-16T00:16:03Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Surely Rachel has more opportunities outside Lima. When she was leaving the studio I was thinking that, since there’s famously no such thing as bad publicity in Hollywood, the star of television’s biggest flop would probably have plenty of offers to do talk shows, game shows, commercials, etc. – especially since Rachel actually can sing and act well enough to have been cast in the lead role of a major Broadway show. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/17 "2015-01-16T17:37:36Z")
The same silliness and over the top characters who made the show quirky and charming in its first season sank it later. I think a more realistic series about drama queens in a middle America high school could be really good. Though I think it would be better if it was set in the 1980s or 1990s pre Internet ala _Perks of Being a Wallflower_ and capture a nostalgia demographic. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/18 "2015-01-16T19:32:07Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > When she was leaving the studio I was thinking that, since there’s famously no such thing as bad publicity in Hollywood, the star of television’s biggest flop would probably have plenty of offers to do talk shows, game shows, commercials, etc. – especially since Rachel actually can sing and act well enough to have been cast in the lead role of a major Broadway show. And she’d probably have to keep working because the producers of _Funny Girl_ are going to sue her ass to Jeddah and back. While she doesn’t have much now, she has high earning potential and they’re going to attach that, and she probably doesn’t have a leg to stand on in a breach of contract case. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/19 "2015-01-17T01:25:06Z")
Did they ever actually say how Finn died? ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493/20 "2015-01-17T02:44:29Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Did they ever actually say how Finn died? No, unless it was on tonight’s episode. Reportedly, it was going to be a drug overdose, but they decided against it. Much as I don’t like the use of “cause of death: does it matter?” on TV, it beats yet another “cause of death: hit by a drunk driver”. I wouldn’t be surprised if the only reason it wasn’t “hit by someone texting while driving” is, they had used texting while driving to explain Quinn’s injury in a previous season. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/season-premiere-of-glee/709493.md?page=2)