Glee has become known for its tribute episodes.
Tonight marked the third in only two years that highlighted a particular artist.
First there was Madonna, then Lady Gaga, and now--Britney.
Of the three episodes, tonight's was, by far, the most puzzling.
The Madonna episode was a fitting tribute, and an actual plot was constructed around the Material Girl's songs. Likewise, the Gaga episode was an over-the-top extravaganza but still managed to make a point.
Then we come to tonight's Britney Spears-filled lovefest, which was...
...Kind of pointless.
For one thing, most of the Britney numbers were just remakes of all her old videos. Granted, Britney's songs don't always lend themselves to the sort of theatricality that Madonna and Gaga's do.
Still, the bigger problem seems to be that whereas Madonna and Gaga are champions for individuality and creativity, that was never exactly Britney Spears' message.
If anything, Britney was the head cheerleader--not the sort of artist beloved by Glee geeks.
Perhaps the problem is that whereas Madonna and Gaga are artists, Spears is simply a performer. She has no political relevance at all, and her fanbase has always been twelve-year-old girls and their gay best friends.
In other words, the exact demographic Glee has been playing to lately.
Never was it more obvious that this episode was unnecessary than when the quirky guidance counselor tried to relate to Will how his personal problems related to Spears. It was something along the lines of "Britney Spears makes better music when she's not being crazy."
Well...yes...and that's...wait, what?
And for all the hoopla about Britney being in the actual episode, either the former pop princess can no longer sing or dance the way she used to (likely) or she simply didn't have time to film an elaborate musical number, but either way, it seemed like a waste to have her on the show only to say a few lines in dream sequences.
After all, she did more than that in her guest spot on "How I Met Your Mother."
In other posts about Glee, I've suggested that the tribute episodes seem to be a way to get lots of buzz and kill time so that already-too-thin plotlines can be put aside for an episode while ratings and ITunes sales go up.
I'd say tonight's episode proved that theory.
The show already has episodes lined up dedicated to Rocky Horror, Billy Joel, and a second go-around of Madonna.
My question is, at what point do people realize this isn't a television show so much as it is glorified karaoke?
Tonight marked the third in only two years that highlighted a particular artist.
First there was Madonna, then Lady Gaga, and now--Britney.
Of the three episodes, tonight's was, by far, the most puzzling.
The Madonna episode was a fitting tribute, and an actual plot was constructed around the Material Girl's songs. Likewise, the Gaga episode was an over-the-top extravaganza but still managed to make a point.
Then we come to tonight's Britney Spears-filled lovefest, which was...
...Kind of pointless.
For one thing, most of the Britney numbers were just remakes of all her old videos. Granted, Britney's songs don't always lend themselves to the sort of theatricality that Madonna and Gaga's do.
Still, the bigger problem seems to be that whereas Madonna and Gaga are champions for individuality and creativity, that was never exactly Britney Spears' message.
If anything, Britney was the head cheerleader--not the sort of artist beloved by Glee geeks.
Perhaps the problem is that whereas Madonna and Gaga are artists, Spears is simply a performer. She has no political relevance at all, and her fanbase has always been twelve-year-old girls and their gay best friends.
In other words, the exact demographic Glee has been playing to lately.
Never was it more obvious that this episode was unnecessary than when the quirky guidance counselor tried to relate to Will how his personal problems related to Spears. It was something along the lines of "Britney Spears makes better music when she's not being crazy."
Well...yes...and that's...wait, what?
And for all the hoopla about Britney being in the actual episode, either the former pop princess can no longer sing or dance the way she used to (likely) or she simply didn't have time to film an elaborate musical number, but either way, it seemed like a waste to have her on the show only to say a few lines in dream sequences.
After all, she did more than that in her guest spot on "How I Met Your Mother."
In other posts about Glee, I've suggested that the tribute episodes seem to be a way to get lots of buzz and kill time so that already-too-thin plotlines can be put aside for an episode while ratings and ITunes sales go up.
I'd say tonight's episode proved that theory.
The show already has episodes lined up dedicated to Rocky Horror, Billy Joel, and a second go-around of Madonna.
My question is, at what point do people realize this isn't a television show so much as it is glorified karaoke?
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