Giving thanks

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving (I know this is belated; traveling, turkey, what have you), I just wanted to mention one of my favorite Thanksgiving-themed hours of TV, the surprisingly poignant Will & Grace episode, "Homo for the Holidays." I know. I just said it was poignant and now you're laughing at the name...just bare with me. It's the episode when Jack's mom visits New York for Thanksgiving and he comes out to her. (How it wasn't blatantly obvious to her that he was gay for 30-something years, no one will ever know.) Any way, his mini-speech goes something like this: 

"I've kept this from you for a long time, and that's wrong, because it makes it seem like I'm ashamed of something I'm not ashamed of. I want you to know who I am because I'm proud of who I am."

A very sweet moment in a show that was successful because of its irreverence. Honorable mention to a more recent Thanksgiving episode -- Gossip Girl, Season 1 -- "Blair Waldorf Must Pie;" Blair's infamous, incredulous reaction to the Humphrey's Brooklyn loft: "You know what's really weird? There's a garage door in the middle of your room."

Moments of the week (so far):

Weeds: Oh, Weeds...what a long, strange trip it's been. Jenji Kohan's season finales always make me glad I stuck with this show after a few weak seasons, and Monday was no exception. Silas and Shane's goodbye -- expletives and all -- was inevitable after a season of Silas trying to separate from the family, but no less emotional in spite of the fair warning. And it was an acknowledgement on Silas' part that even though he and Shane have been through such crazy things, he still believes that they can turn out okay. This season has been a fantastic showcase of Hunter Parrish's considerable talent, and he just did me in with this: "Enough with this I don't care, I've seen it all, I'm dead inside; you're not," he tells Shane, "and you're gonna miss me. Choose not to be a dick." As for Andy, he finally leveled with Nancy instead of just acting as the comic relief. Nancy can't believe Andy let Silas stay in Dearborn, and Andy says -- finally allowing that he, like us, believes Silas is better off without her -- "I can't believe you can't understand why."

Glee: I never thought I'd say this, but Gwenyth Paltrow singing Cee-Lo's "Forget You" was hands-down one of the best Glee moments to date. Wow, wow, wow. Hollywood's go-to serious actress as a hip-but-ditzy sub teacher who can sing, and it worked? Glee, just when I thought I was out...

90210: Huge props to this show for keeping Teddy's storyline realistic -- they are not rushing his "coming out" in the slightest. On Monday, Teddy went to a gay bar, but left when a guy tried to hit on him. He's freaked out, and it's real. Another nice touch is the character of Ian, who is gay without the classic TV-friendly flamboyance, and plays understanding and frustrated all at once.

How I Met Your Mother: Nicole Scherzinger's perfect "Oh, didn't see you there!" smile as Robin Sparkles' partner-in-crime.

Modern Family: NO CONTEST -- Phil and the girls crying in the car.

Glee Review: "Never Been Kissed"

It's no secret that Glee has been disappointing this season; too aware of its own cleverness and all too unaware that its once-original and charming characters are becoming insufferable; caricatures of their former selves. But Tuesday's episode was a break from all of that. Look, the show still has a ways to go (and will probably never be the show we once knew), but watching on Tuesday was -- well -- finally Glee.

"Never Been Kissed" was less about kissing than it was about bullying, and obviously, there's never been a more appropriate time for a show about young people to address such an issue. Portraying bullying has always been a strength of Glee's -- the show looks at it with the right mix of bitterness, incredulousness, and humor -- the ever-present slushie-throwing a perfect example.

But "Never Been Kissed" showed bullying in a couple different and inadvertent ways this time around, in original ways, which is strangely new for Glee lately. So -- storyline time!  

First we had the boys expecting the girls to "put out." If you don't think this is a form of bullying...then you're probably a boy yourself. Any way, I'm happy this issue was addressed at all, but weren't the boys were supposed to have learned the "respect women" lesson last season, when they sang "What it Feels Like for a Girl" during the Madonna episode?  (Writers, remember that?) Either way, Finn and Sam ended up looking like complete dicks for expecting sex from their counterparts, and rightly so. A relevant and solid storyline.

Then we had the boys (and Tina) picturing Coach Beiste to help them, ahem, "cool off" during makeout sessions with their SOs. Of course they didn't think anyone would find out, and of course they didn't mean any harm. But what they were doing was wrong, and bullying is bullying, whether the bullied knows about it out or not. I'm not crazy about Beiste, so this story dragged a bit for me -- more Sue, please! -- but nonetheless, it's rare that a TV show about outcasts takes a look at how cruel its outcast protagonists themselves can be. How true to life is it that the good kids can just as easily be the bad ones (without even meaning to be)?

Then there's Kurt, whose storyline is (as usual) the most blatant example of bullying on the show. This time around, he's getting pushed into lockers and verbally harassed by one kid in particular. Said kid ends up kissing Kurt at the end of the episode. Surprise! The bully who picks on gay kids is secretly gay. Kurt is dumbfounded, but I found it a little predictable on my end. What worked was that there was no resolution for Kurt and his bully, which is good, because again, that's real life. The two other storylines were wrapped up neatly with bows.

I actually want to address the bullying that goes on in every episode that I will never understand. Why are the Glee Club kids still so mean to one another? All last season was about their coming together -- who could forget all of them crying together on Schue's couch when they found out the club was getting shut down? They stood by Quinn through her pregnancy, they spent a day in wheelchairs to experience life as Artie did, and Rachel even let Mercedes take her solo at Sectionals. So why does the show keep emphasizing their hate for one another? Is Santana making gay jokes towards Kurt really necessary still? And is Artie expecting Puck to push him down the stairs realistic in any way at all any more? Ryan Murphy: are you and your team really not that creative that you can't come up with some new antagonists?

As for the songs -- they FIT! Finally! And they were good! "One Love" was perfect for Artie and Puck's voices together, and what could be more classic Puck than busking in the school cafeteria? "Teenage Dream" was fantastic -- new kid Blaine is Kurt's teenage dream, and ours too -- an incredible singer, funny and sweet and smart.  It was cool to see the girls' do a "guy" mashup, especially because it worked with Lea Michele's voice, and the song fit with the episode -- hello, "Start Me Up..." The boys' song was okay, I'm not a big fan of "Free Your Mind," but here's hoping they were dedicating that "don't be so shallow" to themselves more than anyone else.

Other good things:

Just the right amount of Schue, who seems to be finding his moral center again (how about that?!), and Chris Colfer's perfect "Oh my god" expression all throughout "Teenage Dream." See below:



Needs more: 

Mostly Sue, like I mentioned, but also Santana singing, adorable Blaine, and subtle flashes of legitimate anger coming from Puck -- the "none of you care about me" moment was a real surprise, and gives his character depth he didn't have before.

Next week:

The return of Crazy Terri. Yes.

Snaps

for whoever created this.

Bad Romance

Just about everyone has covered this Gaga tune -- from Jared Leto to Joseph-Gordon Levitt and from Courtney Love to the cast of Glee -- but in my opinion, no one quite as well as the incomparable Hayley Williams. She always kills covers, but this slowed-down, shortened version of Bad Romance is her best; tough and delicate all at once (not unlike the singer herself).

The Drums on "Juliet Doesn't Live Here Anymore"

The one good thing about tonight's episode of Gossip Girl:

Best of the West Wing!

Criminal that "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen Part Two" and "Noel" are not on this list...but "17 People" at number two almost makes up for it.

C-Love

You must read this fantastic New York Times article on Courtney Love today. I am a huge fan of hers, so there's not much I can say about her that hasn't already been said by others like me -- she is as brilliant as she is troubled, and so it is that we as fans are cursed with always hoping for the best for her and at the same time expecting the worst from her. The article acknowledges this, and paints quite a poignant portrait of the artist herself, acknowledging that her life has been equal parts humor and tragedy -- both largely by her own making.

VOTE FOR VINCENT

John Noble is a revelation on Fringe. I watched the show in its first year, and I would be the first to tell you that. But Vincent Kartheiser's performance on Mad Men cannot not go unnoticed any longer! I love Hamm, Hendricks, Moss, and even Slattery just as much as the next Mad Men fanatic, but from the pilot to the incredible season four finale a few weeks ago, Kartheiser's portrayal of oft-jilted ad man Peter Campbell has been pitch perfect. Pete has gone from being a man-child to a blackmailing deviant to a danger to German babysitters everywhere, but as a viewer, I didn't really care which Pete I was watching. I just wanted to watch him. And it's because Kartheiser is so adept at displaying every single facet and subtlety of Pete's personality; he knows the character to his very core. Maybe Pete infuriates you -- but he's the very darkest (and sometimes the best!) parts of you, and that's why. Vincent for Prez (of this EW bracket game)! Vote now.