Glee comes back on the air Tuesday, September 21, and our jazz hands are shaking with anticipation for Season 2. We’ve already been treated to a few morsels of info regarding the sophomore year of the Fox hit—Britney Spears! More Gaga! Probably some Beatles songs!—but there are plenty more song numbers, guest cameos and plot points we’re craving this time around. Jump below for our list of the Top 10 Things We Want To See On Glee Season 2—we hope you’re listening, Ryan Murphy!
10. Neil Patrick Harris must come back.
He won a damn Emmy! If we don’t get another Bryan Ryan episode at least once a season, we’re going to feel jilted.
9. Brad the Pianist gets a song.
First of all, we want to know how he learns how to play so many pop songs from different decades at a moment’s notice with no sheet music. Secondly, let the man sing! He’s in the room all the time, listening to everybody else belt one out, we can imagine he’s just waiting for his chance to join in on the fun. It’s just too bad “Piano Man” was already performed on the show.
8. Add another gay character who isn’t so flamboyant.
We love Kurt, and we think his character has been given a lot of depth as more episodes have aired. (So much so that the role helped Chris Colfer get nominated for an Emmy.) But Kurt still fits in the restrictive mold of what we expect gay men to be, at least on our TVs—sassy divas that are feminine, dainty, and focused on style. We hear that Kurt will be dating the star quarterback this season, which is an indication that he won’t be as obsessed with Madonna or makeovers or learning the “Single Ladies” step by step as Kurt, and we’ll see more of a range of gay characters on the show.
7. Lets see Rachel Berry’s dads already!
We get to meet the mother Rachel never knew, but we don’t get to see the two men who raised her? It’s about time we meet Mr. and Mr. Berry. May we suggest casting Stephen Schwartz and Stephen Sondheim, the granddaddy’s of musical theater, as Rachel’s pair of pops? And if both men are too old, how about casting some more original Rent cast members (like her birth mom Shelby, played by Idina Menzel) and have Taye Diggs and Anthony Rapp be her adoptive parents?
6. Give the other two dudes some screen time already.
Quick, what’s the Asian dude and the black dude’s name in New Directions? You don’t know, do you? That’s because they’ve been there-but-not-really-there throughout Glee‘s first season. Let both fellows—Mike Chang (Harry Shum, Jr.) and Matt Rutherford (Dijon Talton) finally have a solo in a song, or god willing, a plot line. Ryan Murphy, don’t wait too long to involve them in stories so that they become the Nikki and Paulo of Glee and get killed off the show.
5. John Stamos better sing some Beach Boys tunes.
Stamos plays Emma’s new dentist boyfriend in Season 2, and in honor of his time spent being the Brian Wilson-adoring Uncle Jesse on Full House, we demand he give us some “Kokomo” or “Barbara Ann.” Or at least cover Jesse & The Rippers’ “Forever” (or the genie rap remix). Have mercy!
4. We need a new “slushie.”
We loved the term “being slushied” being brought into the vernacular, and the image of Lea Michele being coated in purple slime in the pilot still gives us giggles. But we’re bored by the bullies of William McKinley High throwing slushies in the glee club members’ faces to show how much they hate them. They need a new tactic to get their point across. We recommend talking shit about one another on Facebook like every other high school student does.
3. Michael Jackson episode.
There are rumors that an episode featuring the King of Pop’s songbook will happen, with So You Think You Can Dance? judge and choreographer Adam Shankman directing it. We want these rumors to become an officially confirmed reality.
2. A Sue Sylvester flashback.
Don’t tell us you wouldn’t love seeing the nasty Cheerios coach back in the day. Did she always have that haircut and track suit fetish? And how did she get to be so ruthless and vile? Was it passed down to her from her mom? We want to know.
1. A less interrupted plot.
Seriously, Ryan Murphy, cut back on the amount of musical numbers per episode. “The Power Of Madonna” episode had eight—eight!—songs featured, as well as a “Vogue” homage the same length as the original music video! We know that’s the bread-and-butter of the show (and the endless amount of soundtracks flowing out on the Glee assembly line), but believe it or not, we are invested in your characters and this is only an hour-long show. Let their story arcs breathe by cutting a song or two out so you can give the non-singing scenes more screen time. And that way we won’t have to fast-forward through filler numbers like “The Thong Song” on our DVRs.
What do you want to happen in Season 2? Should Quinn get knocked up again so we can keep referring to her as the Pregnant Cheerleader? Should Lea Michele gain back the pounds she dropped to look so red-carpet-ready the past year? Or do you just want more of the Josh Groban-obsessed Sandy Ryerson, played by Stephen Tobolowsky? Leave your gleeful desires in the comments!
I can live without #s 10-2. But for God’s sake, go back to telling a story. Give me conflict that isn’t solved with a flimsy deus ex machina in the last 5 minutes (I nearly threw something at the TV at the end of the season 1 finale).
Go back to the first person narration from the first half of season 1 where I get glimpses into the head’s of the glee members.
And take more risks with the song choices. Toss up something I might not recognize, or at least mess with the arrangements. If I wanted to hear other people do overproduced versions of songs I know, I’ll buy a friggin’ Kids Bop CD!
Puck N Finn, get drunk…. and make out Woooooooo!
Agreed that more gay representation is desirable, but must we be subjected to only the extremes? The star quarterback, really? Oh yes, I forgot that gays must either be brutally hot or flamboyantly effeminate.
Need more of Brittany and Santana.
We saw a little of Santana’s chops last season but what about our fave blonde Cheerio?
I bet we don’t see more of Matt.
No song for Brad he must stay in the background and never talk, never.
No stunt casting for Rachel’s dads if we waited this long to see them they better be great character actor that can come back and be in more that one episode.
And Lea looks fine people are making to big of a deal of a few pound. She is healthy and that is all that matters. And she didn’t lose the weight to be red carpet ready, she lost it trying to get healthier so she can maintain the work load. She is actually more at the weight she was while on Broadway.
LESBIAN! We have our little gay Kurt and I love him to pieces, but why not throw in a lesbian plot-line? Get Quinn or Rachel to be persuaded by the mysterious charm of some cute little tomboy lesbian. It has the potential to be both cute and interesting, and possibly VERY funny.
Glee is perfect the way it is although i am excited for Kurt :)
YOu are kind of late in a lot of your points. YOu haven’t been reading spoilers a lot, have you?
Anyway, Kurt (chris Colfer) is the reason I watch Glee, anything as long as they show him is fine with me.
Oh, and if you do your research you’ll find that estatisticaly there have been more masculine positive gay characters than feminine gay. Most feminine gays have been portrayed as a joke, a sidekick, until Kurt came along. Thank you Glee for Kurt Hummel.
What research do you have on positive masculine gay characters on TV shows? Please share – I’m honestly interested as I can’t think of many. And I would argue to say that Kurt is still portrayed as a sidekick and a joke in many ‘Glee’ episodes (not all, though).
Good lord, Ryan Murphy himself says in episode 6, that Kurt will start dating a guy named Blaire, head of Vocal Adrenaline. And put a lesbian in there. Plus, I can’t wait to see Britney Spears!
Rachel and Quinn? WTF. But yes, There is a lesbian plot, and the winner are, …. Britanny and Santana. Ryan Murphy said that Britanna will have a fantastic kiss and they will do that much.
Glee absolutely positively must pay tribute to Jonathan Larson’s Rent, or at the very least do seasons of love. They’ve already had Idina on the show. It’s really only a matter of time.