Glee

Since the end of LOST, I have been trying to find a t.v. show to follow to fill the empty space left behind by the genius of J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindeloff, and Carlton Cuse. Unfortunately, the college lifestyle doesn't allow for leisurely t.v. watching. However, there is one show that fits into my schedule.

Glee.

I watched the season premiere of Glee and just couldn't get into it, so I abandoned it in favor of greener, more mature pastures. But when LOST ended and I had nothing better to do, I gave GLEE another try. I watched the entire 1st season and although the music is annoyingly catchy, overall the show just made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. Yes, as a musical theatre freak, I wish that I could walk down a busy hallway singing a sad love song without anyone taking notice. But from Lea Michele's contorted faces while she's having a Lady Gaga showdown in the bathroom with a foreign exchange student to pregnant high school girls dancing a bit from the Pas de Quatre from the ballet Swan Lake holding eachother's pregnant bellies instead of hands, I find myself often minimizing the Fox Online viewing screen until the awkward moments pass. Which brings me to my next point.

Last night, the 2nd episode of the 2nd season, Brittany/Britney aired. I didn't get to watch it until this afternoon. And I was absolutely shocked.

Someone please tell me what Glee's target audience is. I was under the impression that it was a show they wanted to appeal to a wide range of ages, like from 12-24. But I'm obviously mistaken. Because if my child was a 12 year old Glee fan, I would have flipped my shit over last night's episode and my child would have to find a new show to watch on Tuesday nights. Because what Fox aired last night was incredibly inappropriate in my opinion. I know Glee is known for pushing the envelop when it comes to the topic of sex (see the youtube video below from Glee's famous Madonna episode). But if the makers of Glee still consider their product the kind of show that a parent can watch with their teen or tween, then a huge, flashing neon line was crossed last night.

The episode was the much anticipated Brittany Spears episode. And it seemed innocent enough at first. The school guidance counselor, Emma, get's her dentist boyfriend (played by John Stamos..the reason I was actually excited about this episode) to speak to the Glee club about dental hygiene. He discovers that a few of the members of the Glee club have teeth in serious need of work and the majority of the rest of the episode shows those members having Brittany Spears fantasies induced by general anesthesia. In the first fantasy, the character Britney is shown wearing a few very famous Brittany Spear's costumes, including the red jumpsuit, a giant boa constrictor, and the sparkly nude jumpsuit (in which she is dancing around and on a submissive John Stamos while he's lying on a dentist-esque chair). The next fantasy was all that with a dash of Santana rubbing a black cane between her legs (hmm...I wonder what that's a metaphor for). The next two fantasies were relatively tame. Lea Michele's character fantasized that she was in the music video for Baby One More Time and Artie did a rendition of Stronger.

The episode culminated in a performance of Toxic in front of the entire school. The choreography featured suggestive dance moves and a boy in the audience that was so turned on by the performance that he was jumping around and reaching orgasm right then and there. Even coach Sue Sylvester says, "It's a Brittany Spears sex riot."

I have no problem with a t.v show showing that sort of content. I am in no way a supporter of censorship or believe that television show producers need to follow guidelines or anything of that sort . I just think that Fox and the producers of Glee need to seriously consider what kind of show that want to air. They are marketing to adults as well as young tweens. The show airs at a slot often reserved for somewhat family friendly programming. But last night's episode was one that I feel was not appropriate for their younger audiences. They either need to change their marketing approach to avoid the tweens or give some serious thought to their programming. Because last night was a sex riot.


"Like a Virgin" from Glee's famous Madonna episode.


What do you think? Am I just being a prude?