This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Andrew: We've got a mission to find the best song that's ever been on Glee.

[0:09] Andrew: There's no rhyme or reason to it, so don't get mad at me.

[0:18] Andrew: Gleek it by Gleek it, we'll rank everyone to see which song will move closer to spot number one.

[0:26] Andrew: Gleek of the Week, Gleek, Gleek, Gleek of the Week.

[0:32] Andrew: It's Gleek, Gleek of the Week.

[0:57] Andrew: Oh my god, three gay guys talking about Glee, how iconic is that?

[1:02] Conor: Oh my god, I'm the- it's a Tesco com- do you- you don't have Tesco in the US, do you?

[1:07] Ian: No.

[1:07] Conor: It's kind of iconic. It's a big supermarket chain.

[1:13] Andrew: Oh my god.

[1:14] Conor: And it's so ironic, actually, because I don't- I don't know about you, Ian, but I don't have a voiceover agent.

[1:19] Ian: And I need to get on that shit. Not because I just have never tried, but yeah, I got that gig.

[1:25] Andrew: So.

[1:26] Ian: That's- that's incredible. Congratulations.

[1:28] Conor: Thank you so much. Everyone go shop at Tesco.

[1:30] Andrew: No, it's very exciting. I did watch the commercial and was like, I know that guy.

[1:36] Ian: I've heard that voice.

[1:37] Conor: Tesco.

[1:38] Andrew: I mean, listen, iconic. Iconic.

[1:42] Conor: Um, I'm gonna make an announcement.

[1:45] Andrew: Oh my gosh. If you want to interrupt, I guess.

[1:49] Conor: Sorry to interrupt this, but I have some housekeeping things to talk about.

[1:57] Andrew: Okay.

[1:58] Conor: I realized that I never revealed that there was a song vote back a few episodes ago, and I didn't say who won.

[2:06] Conor: It was Homeward Bound Home. You are back in the glacket for round four. Congratulations.

[2:12] Andrew: You're home again.

[2:14] Conor: You're homeward bound.

[2:16] Conor: There's one more vote back for the last ten losers of round three, at the- obviously at the finale of round three, which is happening very, very soon.

[2:28] Andrew: The next episode, after this one, is the five-year Pot-a-versary.

[2:34] Conor: Trying-

[2:35] Andrew: Oh my gosh.

[2:36] Andrew: I'm creating something maybe really, really special.

[2:40] Conor: And that-

[2:42] Ian: Do you want to give any hints?

[2:44] Andrew: Well, I can't-

[2:45] Ian: A little- a little tease, if you will?

[2:48] Andrew: Oh, I can give a tease. I can give a tease.

[2:50] Andrew: I was really, really excited, um, last week. I was having a bad day. One of those Andrew bad days.

[2:57] Andrew: And, um, I got a DM from someone that I really respect and admire, saying, hi, can I come on the podcast?

[3:05] Conor: Priya Glashel.

[3:07] Ian: It was Leah Glashel.

[3:09] Andrew: Oh my gosh.

[3:11] Andrew: She was like, can you send me money to this account? And then I'll come on.

[3:15] Andrew: She said, oh my gosh, I'm trapped. I need money to get on a flight. No one recognizes who I am.

[3:20] Andrew: If you DM me $10,000 once I'm back in America, I'll send it back to you.

[3:26] Conor: This is what it was, I'm thinking.

[3:28] Andrew: I got locked out of my real account.

[3:33] Andrew: And it's like Leah spelled L-E-A-H and Michelle with two L's.

[3:39] Andrew: Okay, and so the episode after the next episode, the five year Pot-a-versary, regular episode.

[3:46] Andrew: And then after that, round three finale. It's all happening.

[3:51] Conor: So next week on the Pot-a-versary is the special guest.

[3:56] Andrew: And the episode after is the Pot-a-versary.

[3:58] Andrew: I mean, is the finale part of me.

[4:00] Ian: No, no, no.

[4:02] Andrew: I'm glad that we're asking really important questions here. Yes.

[4:06] Andrew: Next episode, Pot-a-versary with special guests.

[4:09] Ian: Yes.

[4:10] Andrew: The episode following that, regular.

[4:12] Andrew: The episode following that, round three finale.

[4:15] Ian: Okay, okay, okay. So special, regular, special. I gotcha.

[4:18] Andrew: And of course this one is special.

[4:20] Andrew: And then two specials and then a regular and a special.

[4:22] Conor: We do actually have to round out the 100 songs in round four of the Glocket.

[4:27] Andrew: There does need to be one additional song added.

[4:32] Conor: And so I just posted to the Patreon a few days ago.

[4:36] Conor: I was like, hey, here's a list of every single damn song that's been eliminated ever on the Glocket.

[4:42] Conor: And I think, I'm figuring out the logistics of it all.

[4:46] Conor: But I want people to campaign for a specific song.

[4:50] Andrew: And then we'll have maybe a group vote among those songs.

[4:55] Andrew: And then one of those songs will obviously come back for round four.

[4:58] Conor: That's exciting.

[5:01] Andrew: Crushers, make your voices heard.

[5:03] Ian: Yeah, I was going to ask, what's everyone feeling?

[5:07] Ian: What are we campaigning for?

[5:09] Conor: I know it's a big question.

[5:11] Conor: I saw a few people say more than a feeling.

[5:13] Ian: I miss it bad.

[5:15] Conor: Oh, actually, that's a great pick.

[5:17] Ian: That's a great pick.

[5:19] Conor: Glitter in the air, perhaps?

[5:21] Ian: Perhaps.

[5:23] Conor: Perhaps not.

[5:25] Ian: Wait a second.

[5:27] Conor: Just let that one go to round five.

[5:30] Andrew: Wait, Ian, what would you?

[5:32] Ian: More than a feeling, actually.

[5:34] Ian: My gut instinct is Season 6 is Home.

[5:36] Ian: Because apparently I'm the only person in the world who that song means so much to.

[5:40] Ian: But more than a feeling also means so much to me.

[5:44] Andrew: So, either one of those.

[5:46] Andrew: I feel like this immediately segues right into any Glocket grievances either of you want to share at this very moment.

[5:53] Conor: Girl, and I got them.

[5:55] Ian: Oh, the list is up.

[5:57] Conor: Let's take a look.

[5:59] Conor: Call me Robert Ulrich because the list is up.

[6:01] Andrew: The Academy has spoken and here's its issues with the Glocket so far.

[6:06] Conor: Um.

[6:08] Conor: Okay.

[6:10] Conor: I would have picked ABC Overshake It Out.

[6:12] Conor: But, like, not by much.

[6:14] Conor: So, I'm actually not mad about that one.

[6:16] Andrew: And we're going to move on.

[6:18] Conor: Because there's some of these that I'm much more upset about.

[6:20] Andrew: Okay.

[6:22] Conor: I think I am.

[6:24] Conor: And in fact, I don't think I know I'm in the minority here.

[6:27] Conor: I understand that Gloria is, like, one of the best vocal performances on the entire show.

[6:35] Ian: Oh, here we go.

[6:37] Conor: It's so fun.

[6:39] Conor: It's so camp.

[6:41] Conor: It's amazing.

[6:43] Conor: I love that Starchild is just kind of there having a fun time unaware that two girls are actively fighting around him.

[6:45] Conor: Home in season six really does something for me.

[6:47] Conor: And in fact, that something is, it makes me cry almost every time I watch it.

[6:49] Conor: The shot of, and I know y'all talked mad about it.

[6:52] Conor: But it's one line.

[6:54] Conor: Laugh until we think we'll die.

[6:56] Conor: I feel like Glee fumbled the bag a bit in season four with the passing the torch.

[6:58] Conor: They really were like, the newbies are existing in a separate universe.

[7:00] Conor: And I think that's just a little bit of what's going on.

[7:02] Andrew: I don't know.

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[13:14] Conor Burke: I do want to say something. In the episode around the conversation of Summer Nights, I even clipped this moment, and I feel like I... Okay, maybe I'm completely misunderstanding what Summer Nights is about. Okay, Danny's character is... Sandy is telling the truth about what happened that summer.

[13:35] Ian Allred: Yes.

[13:36] Conor Burke: But Danny is, like, saying, like, yeah, we fucked hard on the beach.

[13:40] Ian Allred: Yes. Yes.

[13:43] Conor Burke: And so then, like, I made the clip of, like, Mercedes, like, is, like, not having sex on the beach because Mercedes doesn't like sand. Or Mercedes also doesn't have sex, first and foremost. She also famously is waiting, sings a whole song about it.

[13:55] Ian Allred: That part. Let's wait a while.

[14:02] Conor Burke: Okay, she got friendly down in the sand. She could have made out. And then someone commented and got a lot of likes on this comment, saying, like, kind of roasting me a little bit, was like, no, you're a complete moron. How are you to expect, like, Danny is, like, telling the truth. And I was like, oh, as someone that I don't think has ever actually watched Grease to completion, am I completely misunderstanding what the song is telling me?

[14:30] Ian Allred: The phrasing of watching Grease to completion was crazy to me.

[14:36] Conor Burke: But I... That was the takeaway. And that's the takeaway that I, that's what I'm taking away from that. But I have always read it as Sandy's telling the truth. Danny is, Danny is too embarrassed to be like, oh, I really liked this girl. It was really romantic. And so he's pretending that they just, like, banged and it was really hot.

[14:54] Ian Allred: But in the Glee version, do you think the same also applies that Sam is, is kind of bragging to the fellas?

[15:01] Conor Burke: Yeah. Okay, I think so.

[15:05] Ian Allred: Sure. Let's go with that.

[15:08] Conor Burke: Okay. Okay. Connor disagrees.

[15:10] Ian Allred: That would, no, no. I think that was literally the conversation in the writer's room. Sure. Let's go with that. I do agree with that.

[15:18] Conor Burke: Yeah, I don't care. I really just like, I really dislike Summer Nights Glee Cast version by Glee Cast, actually. Because although it's fun, although it's fun and, you know, they have character in the Rizzo line, I truly know nothing about singing.

[15:34] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[15:35] Conor Burke: But am I correct in saying that, like, Amber is singing some of Danny Zuko's lines and Corey just singing some of Olivia Newton-John's?

[15:46] Ian Allred: Maybe.

[15:47] Conor Burke: The vocals of it, I just, I really do not like it. I don't like listening to it. How about the end? Obviously, Amber is an amazing vocalist.

[15:55] Ian Allred: The big heads.

[15:55] Conor Burke: The floating heads, fucking iconic.

[15:57] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[15:57] Conor Burke: Fighter is my favourite bolo. As someone who is not a Blaine fan, Fighter is my favourite bolo.

[16:05] Ian Allred: I know it's not the best.

[16:06] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[16:07] Ian Allred: You've met Fighter before. You've seen, you've looked her in the eyes before.

[16:12] Conor Burke: Fighter is, stream Fighter and listen to those vocals. He is big brother flop. We all know that. We've had that conversation. Fighter is a lot of fun. And I have to agree with Ian. I would have, she would have got my vote.

[16:28] Conor Burke: So that's a shame. Well, take it back. Run it again. Put us in that episode. Sorry, Matt and Pat. Sorry, I uploaded that episode by mistake. Sorry, that was, the file got corrupted. That was a glitch. Sorry.

[16:41] Ian Allred: Oh my God. That actually was sad. Do you mean, Connor, do you remember that they, do you mean that Mercedes and Sam switched lyrics or that they switched harmonies?

[16:52] Conor Burke: I should, I'm probably talking shit, but I think it's both. I'm looking at the breakdown right now. At the very end, at the very end, Sam is singing Sandy. Mercedes is singing Danny.

[17:05] Ian Allred: Cause Sam said, it turned colder.

[17:07] Conor Burke: That's where it is. So I told him we'd still be friends, which doesn't make sense because colder, the reason that it's so I told her is to rhyme with colder.

[17:19] Ian Allred: And instead of Mercedes saying, so I told him and the rhyme's gone. The rhyme scheme.

[17:24] Conor Burke: I called him. I wonder, I wonder if they switched that because they realized that giving Sam only the Danny lines just made him sound like an asshole the whole time. So they were like, give him the bit at the end where he sings about making a true love vow so that we believe that he did like this girl.

[17:45] Ian Allred: Okay.

[17:46] Conor Burke: Yeah. Okay.

[17:46] Ian Allred: And it's not the only lyric. Everything else. According to me, I was in Greece, literally in 2010. It's been 16 years since I did this show.

[17:56] Conor Burke: But to my memory, everything else is correct. It's just at the end, that very last like stanza that they swapped up. I was in Greece as a teenager and I was, of course, Eugene.

[18:09] Ian Allred: So was I!

[18:11] Conor Burke: Okay. Obviously. Someone that has not watched to completion. Did you, did you have the same train of thought, Ian? Because as a 16 year old, I was like, well, of course, I'm going to fucking audition for Eugene because the T-Birds are just all the same.

[18:28] Ian Allred: I was like, I've been a character actor from the get go. I knew that it was a smaller role, but I knew I'd come on that stage. What's like Eugene's thing? And I'd steal the fucking show.

[18:35] Conor Burke: And did people, and did people eat it up?

[18:40] Ian Allred: People ate it up. We have a picture somewhere. I don't know about you, but I had a classic alfalfa hair.

[18:47] Conor Burke: Oh, so that I had my hair slicked down to my face.

[18:51] Ian Allred: Okay. Yeah. We should see if we can come out with our pictures. Because like, they all like kind of like have bits, right? He's, he's the nerd. He's like, he's like very, he's, he's glasses. He's the nerdy guy.

[19:05] Conor Burke: He's like funny Simcox male version in a way, but not really.

[19:09] Ian Allred: Who the hell is Patty Simcox? Who, do you remember who played him on the hip hop show?

[19:16] Conor Burke: He's not in the, he's not in the show.

[19:18] Ian Allred: Which is a shame. I was unavailable.

[19:20] Conor Burke: Because Eugene kind of is the star of the entire show. Eugene, I'm not kidding, has maybe 10 lines.

[19:26] Ian Allred: A hundred percent. Who would, who would play Eugene on the hip hop show? If you know how to make those 10 lines work, you'll walk away with the whole show.

[19:34] Conor Burke: You'll walk away with the whole show. Let me tell you, I remember the guy who played Knicky, the secondary male lead, telling me, you get the loudest applause during curtain call every night.

[19:43] Ian Allred: And I said, that's right, because I'm Eugene Fitzherbert.

[19:46] Conor Burke: Exactly. We're aligned. Did you watch the show?

[19:50] Ian Allred: Well, Tamar, did you watch the show?

[19:53] Conor Burke: God.

[19:54] Ian Allred: Oh my God. Such a random thought. ADHD brain.

[19:57] Conor Burke: Oh my God. I need to take my meds.

[20:01] Ian Allred: Got to take the meds. I'm not taking my pills. But last episode, you were talking about that. You share a Glee birthday with Ashley Fink.

[20:10] Conor Burke: So do I. I share my birthday with Queen and the icon, Becca Tobin.

[20:17] Ian Allred: I thought you were about to say with Ashley Fink. And I was like, so that means that we share a birthday, which is not true.

[20:24] Conor Burke: Let me connect the dot. Breaking news as well. It's my friend, Oscar's 30th birthday. And everyone chipped in to get a cameo from Matthew Morrison.

[20:33] Ian Allred: His girlfriend refuses to send it to any of us because they're like, if I send it to these bitches, they're going to post it on their Instagram stories immediately.

[20:41] Conor Burke: But once it comes through.

[20:43] Ian Allred: Oh, I can't wait. I'm going to send it on because I've heard the people who did see it are literally crying, laughing.

[20:50] Conor Burke: That's so funny. And I think it was like $300.

[20:54] Ian Allred: Good for her.

[20:55] Conor Burke: Hey. Are you going to go see him?

[20:58] Ian Allred: I would like to, but that is the priciest ticket in town.

[21:02] Conor Burke: Is it?

[21:04] Ian Allred: And you have just in time, just in time is not even on today ticks because they're like, we're charging full price. You can't get a like a deal on just in time.

[21:11] Conor Burke: What the fuck? That's kind of surprising to me.

[21:18] Ian Allred: That's crazy. Because I saw it. I saw it a year ago. I saw it on a whim.

[21:22] Conor Burke: Yeah, I was trying to get rush tickets for purpose. And then they were out. And so like at 10:30, I just walked to circle in the square just to see.

[21:31] Ian Allred: And they had tickets and there was no line.

[21:33] Conor Burke: No, I know. My mom got like Elias and I tickets a few months ago. And she was like, Hey, do you want to go to? I don't even know what the other option was.

[21:43] Ian Allred: She was like, Hey, like, do you want to go to this show or just in time? And I was like, I literally know like this is my only chance to see just in time because like I can't afford just in time.

[21:51] Conor Burke: That's my when I look at the tickets online, they're crazy. And also when you get into the theater, it's exclusively like people that are like 60 up.

[22:02] Ian Allred: They got the money, you know?

[22:05] Conor Burke: But hey, I would like to see Matthew Morrison in it. But I don't think that it's in the cards because it's also very limited run. It's like three weeks.

[22:13] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[22:14] Conor Burke: Yeah. So hey, Matty Fresh has got other stuff to do.

[22:18] Ian Allred: He's got bigger fish to fry.

[22:20] Conor Burke: Go to his concert instead.

[22:22] Ian Allred: Go to his concert instead. I feel like we do need to lock in a little bit.

[22:27] Conor Burke: Okay.

[22:28] Ian Allred: Sorry.

[22:29] Conor Burke: I've taken my meds.

[22:31] Ian Allred: Watch it, Ian.

[22:34] Conor Burke: Okay, I will just finish off my black grievances by saying, of course, that everyone's thinking, which is.

[22:42] Ian Allred: I can't even remember.

[22:43] Conor Burke: Shout. That's the name of the one that shouldn't have won over.

[22:46] Ian Allred: Can you hear me in the moment? I was like, I know that was you.

[22:49] Conor Burke: That was me. Of course. Yes, that was me. I even when shout aired the first time I was like, this is what we're doing for the 500th performance.

[23:00] Ian Allred: I've always thought it was a huge mess.

[23:06] Conor Burke: Haven't you stopped watching the show? The episode before that as well?

[23:14] Ian Allred: Isn't that true?

[23:16] Conor Burke: Yeah. And what of it?

[23:18] Ian Allred: I do.

[23:19] Conor Burke: And then you saw that news and you were like, I knew I made the right decision.

[23:22] Ian Allred: I said I was fucking right. Right before they hit 500. I was right. I sensed evil in the air.

[23:30] Conor Burke: But no, shout. What? I do stand by it. I think it's a fun 500th number. Like it's big production. They're running into different rooms.

[23:40] Ian Allred: You know.

[23:41] Conor Burke: Alex Newell's twirling. That's fun.

[23:44] Ian Allred: Alex Newell's twirling, of course.

[23:47] Conor Burke: Yeah. No, I remember when that was pulled. I don't remember what if it was round. I guess it would have been round two.

[23:56] Ian Allred: Yeah, I remember a breaker. Me, Andrew and Allison.

[24:01] Conor Burke: Exactly. And Allison was really pushing for how to be a heartbreaker, which I was devastated and go through.

[24:08] Ian Allred: And she expressed an opinion. If I and Allison, if this is not what you said, I'm sorry. This is just like what I remember you saying backstage.

[24:16] Conor Burke: But I remember her saying essentially like it is the most like milked down, whitewashed version of shout possible.

[24:23] Ian Allred: And that is truly how I feel about it. It is like any sort of spirit or soul has been sucked out of it.

[24:32] Conor Burke: It is the most like processed, put through a machine version of the song. I really do not enjoy it.

[24:39] Ian Allred: And I have said on tape that it's the one competition of my entire appearances on this podcast that I seriously regress.

[24:44] Conor Burke: I genuinely if it was Papa, can you hear me against how to be a heartbreaker? I think I'd be like, yeah, how to be a heartbreaker.

[24:55] Ian Allred: OK, wait, sell me on Papa.

[24:56] Conor Burke: Can you hear me? I just like it. It's less about me loving that song and more about me hating.

[25:03] Ian Allred: Hey, I hate the other party is stronger.

[25:08] Conor Burke: Yeah, I like I like Papa. Can you hear me? That's an Alfonso episode. And I think he's always doing really fun stuff with the camera work.

[25:14] Ian Allred: There's like the spinning in the hospital room.

[25:17] Conor Burke: There's like the overhead crane shot of them in the park. I think it's like cinematically really beautiful.

[25:22] Ian Allred: I think Leah sounds great on it.

[25:25] Conor Burke: She's a comedic. The thing about Leah is that sometimes people don't know that she's being comedic.

[25:31] Ian Allred: And that's such a testament to her comic talent.

[25:33] Conor Burke: Yes. Her like bringing a fucking boombox into the cemetery and being like, OK, I'm going to sing a prayer now. It's so fucking funny.

[25:43] Ian Allred: It's not one of my favorites, but I do really enjoy that.

[25:46] Conor Burke: I've turned a new leaf in the past few years, like I'll stream and enjoy. But I think that like Shout for me, I said what I said in the episode, of course, that I'm just like, I like it.

[25:56] Ian Allred: I feel like it belonged to straight people.

[25:58] Conor Burke: But this version is it's for the gays a little bit.

[26:01] Ian Allred: No, I really disagree.

[26:04] Conor Burke: But OK, I feel like this is the straighter version of Shout. It's even if it could get even straighter, if you can believe it.

[26:14] Ian Allred: Yeah, I say it's not culturally queer.

[26:20] Conor Burke: I'm exactly a not culturally queer or sexually queer on this podcast. Have a T-shirt that's a culturally queer or am I just.

[26:29] Andrew: This up?

[26:30] Conor Burke: No, that was a fever dream that you had.

[26:34] Ian Allred: Oh, it was?

[26:34] Conor Burke: That was a prophecy that you used.

[26:36] Ian Allred: Maybe it was not.

[26:38] Conor Burke: You were looking in...

[26:39] Ian Allred: That was the Darren Criss episode that will happen in two years.

[26:43] Andrew: That's next week's guest, whoever it may be, is showing up with a culturally queer t-shirt, and I can't wait to see it.

[26:51] Conor Burke: Andrew, your GLACA grievances, what are we saying?

[26:54] Conor Burke: I'm just saying, I would have voted for Fighter over Summer Nights.

[27:02] Conor Burke: I would have voted for How Will I Know over Like A Virgin, but I'm sad to see Like A Virgin go.

[27:07] Ian Allred: That's cute.

[27:07] Andrew: Ripped to Like A Virgin.

[27:08] Conor Burke: I feel similarly, I really love that song.

[27:10] Ian Allred: Yeah, the vocals on that, like Nia's really in her fucking bag.

[27:16] Conor Burke: I love it.

[27:16] Ian Allred: Leah's in her bag.

[27:17] Conor Burke: I love it.

[27:18] Ian Allred: Oh my god, Jay Groff, love you.

[27:21] Conor Burke: And then finally, Summer Nights is my big one.

[27:25] Andrew: Okay.

[27:26] Conor Burke: I would have voted for Fighter.

[27:29] Ian Allred: A lot of people really just like Fighter as well.

[27:33] Conor Burke: And I'm just like, is that just because it's the big brother of it all?

[27:36] Ian Allred: I think, okay, for me, the way I'm thinking about it is like, there are three songs in that episode of that plot, where you have Somebody That I Used to Know, the Duran Duran, and you have Fighter.

[27:46] Conor Burke: To me, Fighter is the weakest of the three.

[27:50] Ian Allred: Oh.

[27:53] Conor Burke: It's maybe the strongest of the three.

[27:54] Ian Allred: Really?

[27:55] Conor Burke: I like the Duran Duran, just because I really like both of those songs. Although I remember that it beat freaking, it beat Alanis in round two, which pissed me off. But I do like that mashup.

[28:08] Ian Allred: Andrew, I would love to see you in the Jagged Little Pill musical, by the way.

[28:11] Andrew: Thank you.

[28:11] Ian Allred: Andrew has seen me sing from Jagged Little Pill multiple times.

[28:15] Ian Allred: And every time I pretend it's new, so I can really be like, oh my god, we keep going to piano bars, and then I keep being three drinks deep and going, I'm gonna sing You Oughta Know.

[28:26] Conor Burke: Oh, no, the big bit is you turning to me and you're like, Andrew, what should I sing? And then I give you a really long list of songs that I truly would love to hear you sing.

[28:37] Ian Allred: But I'm not going to be forcing you to sing a song that you don't want to sing.

[28:42] Conor Burke: Nightmare fuel.

[28:44] Ian Allred: But then you ultimately always choose You Oughta Know, or maybe This Time.

[28:49] Andrew: Do you also sing?

[28:50] Ian Allred: No.

[28:52] Ian Allred: Because I was going to say, whenever any of my musical theatre friends ask me to go to karaoke, and I mean literal musical theatre West End performers, I essentially tell them to fuck off.

[29:04] Ian Allred: No, I will do.

[29:05] Ian Allred: Because they're like, oh, but it's going to be so fun. I'm like, it's not for me.

[29:11] Ian Allred: It's not going to be fun for me. It's going to be fun for you.

[29:14] Ian Allred: You're going to get up there really dainty real. Oh, and I'm going to get up there singing like a Spice Girls song.

[29:22] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[29:23] Ian Allred: No, I want to do low tempo. If, okay, Ian, you're holding me to this. If there will be like a three drinks or maybe even more, a few drinks deep that I will, I feel like I need to do like a funny kind of bit song. Like I can't do an earnest, like you're doing Ian, like an actual, like actually doing the song well.

[29:43] Ian Allred: Um, so I want to do funny bit songs. The three that are immediately coming to mind are singing Last Christmas at Christmas time, um, the Macarena, um, hell yeah. And also I think this is probably number one, the Name Game.

[30:00] Conor Burke: The Name Game is like, I did it at my birthday party. The Name Game is just like so fun. And like, it's fucking crazy that you have not dressed up as a Jessica Lange from the Name Game for Halloween.

[30:13] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[30:13] Conor Burke: That's very Gecky's specific costume.

[30:15] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[30:16] Conor Burke: Judy.

[30:16] Ian Allred: Judy.

[30:17] Conor Burke: Judy, the believer in the name of, Pepper.

[30:22] Ian Allred: Um, no, but I will do it eventually. I do think that, not to reveal the places that we go to, but I actually don't care. Um, I don't think that Townhouse would like the bit songs as much as Duplex.

[30:33] Ian Allred: I agree with that.

[30:34] Conor Burke: I agree with that.

[30:36] Ian Allred: I did think that, I did think that of those three townhouse would like, um, the Name Game the most.

[30:41] Conor Burke: I don't know. Because I think that like, because Townhouse is like a lot of like older gentlemen. Um, and like kind of like a lot of like kind of bitchy gay guys. Whereas like Duplex is like, you're there for a good time and it's not exclusively.

[30:54] Ian Allred: Last time we were at townhouse, a man came up to me and he said, hi, I'm Gary. Has anyone ever told you you look like Jesus Christ? I was like, I was like, actually, and this is true. I was like, actually, I have gotten that before. And he said, and you've carried his light in you. And I was like, oh, thank you, Gary.

[31:10] Andrew: Um, we're going to get into the songs. However, I do. I don't know if I've told you this before, Ian, but I probably have. Who is your celebrity look alike?

[31:21] Ian Allred: I always get, well, first, what do you think? We'll see if it matches what the people say.

[31:25] Conor Burke: It's Christian Bale.

[31:27] Ian Allred: That's what I always get.

[31:28] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[31:28] Ian Allred: Oh my god, that's so true.

[31:30] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[31:30] Ian Allred: And I'm just gonna be honest. I had not seen it. But the second that you said that, I was like, it's entirely.

[31:34] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[31:35] Ian Allred: What a compliment.

[31:36] Conor Burke: What a compliment.

[31:39] Ian Allred: I know. Honestly, anytime someone says that, I'm like, thank you. Say it again.

[31:41] Conor Burke: It's great.

[31:42] Ian Allred: Christian Bale and Jesus Christ.

[31:44] Conor Burke: Basically the same thing.

[31:46] Ian Allred: They're the same picture.

[31:47] Conor Burke: The two hotties.

[31:47] Andrew: Um, okay. What do we, what do we want?

[31:50] Ian Allred: House is Not a Home.

[31:53] Conor Burke: House is Not a Home.

[31:54] Ian Allred: House is Not a Home.

[31:56] Conor Burke: House is Not a Home.

[31:58] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[32:00] Conor Burke: Not much left.

[32:02] Ian Allred: How many are in there?

[32:04] Conor Burke: I see Yeah. I see Hung Up. I see Nutbush City Limits.

[32:09] Ian Allred: My eyes are seeing Oppenheimer.

[32:10] Conor Burke: I lowkey, I want Hung Up.

[32:12] Ian Allred: My eyes see Oppenheimer.

[32:15] Conor Burke: Okay. What is this?

[32:17] Ian Allred: Oh, remember the season three finale of this damn show?

[32:22] Conor Burke: Yep.

[32:23] Ian Allred: Well, it's one of the songs from that episode.

[32:25] Conor Burke: Oh my gosh. Really quick. I'm so sorry to keep talking about Gary, but Gary was the man, Andrew, that while we were there, he then came up to me later and said, can you sing something from Jesus Christ Superstar? And I was like, oh, I remember you telling me like, yeah, he wanted you to sing.

[32:37] Ian Allred: I don't know how to love him.

[32:39] Conor Burke: Yes. Which I also said to him, I said, that's Mary Magdalene. That's not Jesus.

[32:43] Ian Allred: And then I thank you.

[32:45] Conor Burke: I don't know why Alanis Morissette instead.

[32:47] Ian Allred: That is the big song from that musical.

[32:49] Conor Burke: No. Um, there's like a few big songs.

[32:55] Ian Allred: Like, I don't know how to love him. Obviously, Superstar.

[32:57] Conor Burke: What else?

[32:58] Ian Allred: Get Semeny.

[32:59] Conor Burke: Get Semeny.

[33:01] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[33:02] Conor Burke: That that first Judas song of like.

[33:07] Ian Allred: Have you ever seen a professional production of Jesus Christ Superstar?

[33:10] Conor Burke: Because we're going to see.

[33:12] Ian Allred: Not to completion.

[33:13] Conor Burke: Not to completion.

[33:13] Ian Allred: We're going to see. Do you know the Evita of it all?

[33:19] Conor Burke: The London Palladium production this year, Andrew, is Jesus Christ Superstar, which I think is going to be a lot of fun.

[33:24] Andrew: Oh, that is very exciting.

[33:26] Ian Allred: OK, so this is.

[33:27] Conor Burke: Wait, what's the Evita of it all?

[33:29] Ian Allred: You can't leave us with that.

[33:30] Conor Burke: What do you mean?

[33:30] Ian Allred: Oh, no. Sorry. I'm just saying like every year, every London Palladium have an iconic template. They did Evita last year.

[33:38] Conor Burke: Which I would have thought it was going to be on Broadway by this stage. But those rumors about Andrew Lloyd Webber feuding with Jamie Lloyd are definitely true.

[33:46] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[33:49] Conor Burke: What do you think this is?

[33:51] Ian Allred: I think it's season five.

[33:54] Conor Burke: I famously did say what episode it was from. And it's not season five. It's season three finale.

[34:00] Ian Allred: So is this is this I'll remember?

[34:13] Conor Burke: No, I think this is New Radicals.

[34:14] Ian Allred: It is New Radicals.

[34:15] Conor Burke: It's You Get What You Give.

[34:16] Ian Allred: Yes. I love this song.

[34:20] Conor Burke: Yeah, I could lowkey cry.

[34:20] Ian Allred: I love that.

[34:23] Conor Burke: Oh my God. Let me get emotional watching that.

[34:26] Ian Allred: What the fuck? So weird.

[34:29] Conor Burke: I really love that number a lot.

[34:32] Ian Allred: Yeah, so good.

[34:33] Conor Burke: One of Corey's best vocals. We're not talking about it enough.

[34:36] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[34:39] Conor Burke: Another vocal thing I love when Rachel and Mercedes sing together.

[34:43] Ian Allred: Amber and Lea's harmonies.

[34:44] Conor Burke: They're really good.

[34:46] Ian Allred: They sound really great.

[34:47] Conor Burke: Girlies.

[34:48] Ian Allred: And I also think the outfits in this performance.

[34:52] Conor Burke: They eat it up.

[34:52] Ian Allred: That's what I was going to say.

[34:53] Conor Burke: Really fun.

[34:55] Ian Allred: I like, I like Kurt's Fett.

[34:57] Conor Burke: I really like Quinn's fish.

[34:59] Ian Allred: Yeah, it's very summery.

[35:01] Conor Burke: It's very summery.

[35:03] Ian Allred: It's very Yale.

[35:04] Conor Burke: Rory has a cute fish.

[35:05] Ian Allred: Rory has a cute fish.

[35:06] Conor Burke: Very Yale famously.

[35:07] Ian Allred: Rory's got that little mock turtleneck.

[35:09] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[35:11] Ian Allred: Um, but like, speaking of summery, it's so strange to me always. Why the hell is Britney wearing a jacket?

[35:16] Conor Burke: Okay, because like, literally.

[35:20] Ian Allred: Why is she wearing a jacket?

[35:21] Conor Burke: Why is she wearing a jacket?

[35:23] Ian Allred: Because like, literally, girl, we saw you through multiple winters in this Glee Club. Never wearing a jacket.

[35:30] Conor Burke: But then the last week of school is when you decide layers.

[35:38] Ian Allred: She's sad. Her girlfriend is leaving and she's getting held back.

[35:42] Conor Burke: You ever been like, so depressed that you're like, I can't show my forearms?

[35:47] Ian Allred: I'm too sad.

[35:48] Conor Burke: I'm too sad.

[35:50] Ian Allred: Wait, we've seen Britney sad before. This is, this is the saddest she's ever been.

[35:55] Conor Burke: She's got held back and all of her friends are leaving.

[35:58] Ian Allred: Yeah, it's true.

[35:59] Conor Burke: And she didn't, it always fucks me up that like, she doesn't get to sing in, in my life. The song by like the, the underclassmen.

[36:09] Ian Allred: And she doesn't get to sing in the upperclassmen number either. And it's like, girl, you missed both votes.

[36:15] Conor Burke: That's why she's especially sad because she had rehearsed this number with them and then found out she failed. And they're like, here, we're giving your lines to Quinn then. And she's like, wait, no, please.

[36:26] Ian Allred: Please.

[36:27] Conor Burke: I have a theory about this song that it's probably, and I've got no data for this. Probably one of the most Googled.

[36:37] Ian Allred: What are the lyrics to the song?

[36:39] Conor Burke: Oh, because of the.

[36:41] Ian Allred: That part, like.

[36:41] Conor Burke: Health insurance, rip off Lyon.

[36:45] Ian Allred: Yeah, truly up until around two weeks ago, I had no fucking clue what was being said. And then I just come in at the end.

[36:50] Conor Burke: We'll kick you down.

[36:52] Ian Allred: Yeah, literally.

[36:53] Conor Burke: Down is, kick you down is in the hall of fame of the most egregious lyric changes that Glee has done up there with higher than any other in Starships.

[37:05] Ian Allred: Wait, what's the original lyric?

[37:07] Conor Burke: Come around, we'll kick your asses.

[37:10] Ian Allred: Oh, why can't they just keep that in?

[37:13] Conor Burke: I know. I'm like, they say ass on this show.

[37:15] Ian Allred: They literally have a song with the word ass in the title.

[37:18] Conor Burke: Big ass heart.

[37:20] Ian Allred: So yeah.

[37:21] Conor Burke: Huh? What's going on?

[37:22] Ian Allred: I don't. I don't understand why Fox was like, you can't say we'll kick your asses.

[37:27] Conor Burke: Because the, because kick your asses.

[37:31] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[37:31] Conor Burke: Is four syllables. And so to fit the meter, they can't do kick you down. That's only three. So they have to go.

[37:38] Ian Allred: Yeah, we'll kick you down.

[37:39] Conor Burke: Yeah. Maybe, maybe it's so dumb.

[37:42] Ian Allred: Okay, I don't think it's as egregious as higher than any other.

[37:46] Conor Burke: Maybe this bit is already over. But I do think maybe, could it be that Britney is sad because they censored it? She's like, you guys just say asses. We say asses all the time. We had a song called Big Ass Heart. All the other class, all the other underclassmen are all excited. And she's like, just wait until they get to the bridge. You're really going to be let down. I saw the rehearsals. The editing. I saw the rehearsals. It's really an embarrassment.

[38:12] Ian Allred: But is the editing not kind of few and far between? And like, the cuts are kind of like, it's like the cast, did any of the cast know the lyrics?

[38:21] Conor Burke: Probably not. Because those cuts are coming in fast and quick.

[38:26] Ian Allred: You know, I really love the shots of the POV. You're on a carousel with the New Directions. And it's like the spinny, like Lea Michele's looking into the camera.

[38:35] Conor Burke: I love those shots. And honestly, I was thinking about it. I want the raw footage of very specific things. I want the raw footage of that. Give me the raw footage of each cast member just with the camera.

[38:50] Ian Allred: Need it bad.

[38:51] Conor Burke: Oh yeah, same with More Than a Woman.

[38:53] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[38:54] Conor Burke: Absolutely. It's actually my dream as an actor. My very specific dream. To be cast in a gig where I get to hold the camera operator's hand.

[39:07] Ian Allred: That is so iconic.

[39:08] Conor Burke: That's a very niche thing that I want to achieve with my life. And I feel like it will happen.

[39:13] Ian Allred: I feel like it probably will too.

[39:15] Andrew: Yeah.

[39:45] Conor Burke: I think they were really, is this weird to say, they're really excited for their break. This is, they're probably all in a silly, goofy mood. This is their first break.

[39:54] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[39:55] Conor Burke: We don't have to do a tour. We've got two months off. And some of them are like, I'm moving on to other things.

[40:03] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[40:03] Conor Burke: Now I only come back when I want to. Diana's about to do a movie with Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro. She's ready.

[40:09] Ian Allred: Hey, she's ready.

[40:11] Conor Burke: She's ready. I'm going to Yale, y'all.

[40:16] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[40:16] Conor Burke: Just out of the back of that, what is your favourite Glee cast movie?

[40:20] Ian Allred: Oh my gosh.

[40:20] Conor Burke: Like, movie. Because mine is, unironically, New Year's Eve.

[40:25] Ian Allred: New Year's Eve, that's mine.

[40:25] Conor Burke: New Year's Eve is so good. I love New Year's Eve. They need to bring back those ensemble movies, like New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day.

[40:36] Ian Allred: We need like a stinker to mine off.

[40:37] Conor Burke: Do you remember around that time when those were really huge, SNL does a sketch I think about all the time, that was an ensemble movie of that vein, but it was for the apocalypse.

[40:46] Ian Allred: Everyone's super into the apocalypse.

[40:48] Conor Burke: I need it. And Alina Knatzer is going to roll her eyes when she hears this, because I quote this to her all the time. My favourite bit from that entire thing is, it's like, starring this celebrity, this celebrity, this celebrity, and an unscripted Kim Cattrall.

[41:02] Ian Allred: And then it's Kristen Wiig as Kim Cattrall.

[41:04] Conor Burke: And she goes, the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Let's just hope they have four huge horse dongs.

[41:17] Ian Allred: I've never seen that skit.

[41:19] Conor Burke: Have you watched? And if not, I highly recommend you watch.

[41:22] Ian Allred: Her scatting?

[41:22] Conor Burke: The Piers Morgan, the Piers Morgan life story.

[41:28] Ian Allred: Have you watched her scatting?

[41:31] Conor Burke: Andrew, have you?

[41:32] Andrew: Of course I've seen her scatting.

[41:34] Conor Burke: Wait, Connor, have you not?

[41:35] Ian Allred: No, I've not.

[41:36] Conor Burke: That's actually her kind of, like, peak Connor material. Like, I'm kind of shocked that you haven't seen it. I'm so excited you guys see this for the first time.

[41:45] Conor Burke: It is like an interviewer is doing a profile on Kim Cattrall, and she comes over to her apartment, and it's her and her boyfriend, maybe husband? I don't remember if they got married or not. And Kim is like, this is just like what we do on a regular night. And her husband plays the bass, and Kim is scatting. She's like,

[42:02] Conor Burke: And the best part is they broke up very shortly after that profile. And that was the final straw. It was like, I don't have to do this anymore. No more scatting, please.

[42:15] Ian Allred: No more scatting. Um, what else do we need to say? Oh, I need to say this every single time that we listen to the song. But, okay, so Puck sings, he's like one of the four vocalists on the song. However, in the, I'm sure that maybe you both know this, in the mp3, it's actually Chord Overstreet on the track instead of Puck, which is so strange.

[42:39] Conor Burke: Indistinguishable male voices.

[42:42] Ian Allred: Yeah, but I always love that Chord does get the lyric, smash a Mercedes Benz. And I'm like, ooh, ooh, ooh. He said, and you might?

[42:50] Conor Burke: And you might not, actually. But I love that so much.

[43:00] Andrew: Anything final we need? I really hope that this goes, I really hope that this goes far. I really love this song. What was the trajectory of its life in the Glock so far?

[43:08] Conor Burke: It was, did it have tough competitions? Because I, I like her. And I'm going to say she, her. I, I feel like most people would be he, him. So, Bob in Radicals, she, her. You give and you give in, oh, it had like a pretty easy life so far.

[43:26] Ian Allred: So, um, easy life alert. Uh, it won against I'm Still Here in round one. And then in round two, it won against You and I, You and I. Which I do like, but come on now.

[43:39] Conor Burke: You and I, You and I is kind of beautiful.

[43:42] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[43:44] Conor Burke: I would have gone with this, though.

[43:45] Ian Allred: Yeah, oh, of course. We get a little Quin Sadie's in this number, which is a relationship that is often ignored where they dance together in the background. They're doing a little shout out.

[43:53] Conor Burke: Yeah. Yes, that's so true. Puck does that weird, like, pulls his mohawk and looks back up move, which I don't really understand what that is.

[44:01] Ian Allred: Okay. Can I say something? As I was watching.

[44:03] Conor Burke: It's the fact that he pulls it up and then he goes.

[44:05] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[44:05] Conor Burke: And then he's like, what am I doing? So crazy.

[44:10] Ian Allred: I, I, as I was watching that, I feel like, I don't know about you, I was like very, feeling very sensory watching this.

[44:17] Conor Burke: Okay.

[44:18] Ian Allred: When, if you have a mohawk like that, I feel like it probably feels so good to do that. Pull it up a little bit. Just a little facelift. Shake that.

[44:25] Conor Burke: Yeah, a little facelift.

[44:32] Ian Allred: Shave and try. And then final thought. This is very much the vibe I was saying of home in season six of like, yes, hey, we had such a great time in this club and now we want you guys to take care of it and it will take care of you.

[44:47] Conor Burke: Yeah, I actually, this number makes me very emotional and like all of them coming up one on one and kind of like kiki-ing with either their love interest or their best friend. And there's a shot of Mike Chang coming up to Tina and Tina is like holding back tears. That really hits me.

[45:01] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[45:01] Conor Burke: And then them standing everyone up and then they sit down and the underclassmen are left standing. Great directing!

[45:10] Ian Allred: Up against, you get what you gave.

[45:13] Conor Burke: Oh, oh, it's a, it's a big mama.

[45:18] Ian Allred: It's a big mama.

[45:20] Conor Burke: Now.

[45:21] Ian Allred: Oh, God.

[45:24] Conor Burke: What did you say?

[45:25] Ian Allred: Dramp.

[45:26] Conor Burke: I said, I said, is it?

[45:28] Ian Allred: It's a drump.

[45:29] Conor Burke: It is indeed. Or is it Kim Cattrall scatting?

[45:31] Ian Allred: It's Kim Cattrall scatting.

[45:34] Conor Burke: Of course, we'll see which one wins.

[45:36] Ian Allred: Kim Cattrall scatting?

[45:38] Conor Burke: Um, no, you were right in the money. It is drump.

[45:40] Ian Allred: And Rachel.

[45:45] Conor Burke: Yes.

[45:46] Ian Allred: No way.

[45:49] Conor Burke: Um, I'm so sarcastic.

[45:53] Ian Allred: No way.

[45:57] Conor Burke: I was actually actively pulling up a video of Kim Cattrall scatting so I could show it to Connor.

[46:04] Ian Allred: Okay.

[46:09] Andrew: You know, I'm going to start off by saying I'm actually really nervous when this podcast comes to an end, and I'll tell you why. Now that, like, Iain and Lina have, you know, Glee, Glee era's over.

[46:24] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[46:24] Andrew: This podcast is going to be over. I do listen to Kevin and Janet's podcast, but it's moved on to musicals. I don't, my Glee life is this podcast. I don't watch the show. I don't, I don't stream old episodes. I don't, I don't dip in and out. Not because I don't love the show, obviously, I just don't do it.

[46:42] Conor Burke: And watching that number, isn't it fucking amazing that here I am as a 31 year old man, I have not seen that clip in probably like a year, maybe two years. And oh my God, the second that it starts, we're kind of giddy, whatever. 30 seconds in, I'm locked the fuck in. I'm so, like, moved by it. And I'm so like, oh my God, I literally have chills.

[47:05] Andrew: Like, I'm just so, why does it make me so emotional? I'm immediately back at that moment in my life, watching the show as a teenager, listening to that song on repeat on Glee, the music volume two. Like, oh my God, chills.

[47:20] Conor Burke: I think it's such a, Rachel Berry has always been one of my favourite characters, which I know many Gleeks always think, basic answer. There's something so tragic about her. And so I, a lot of people had a problem with the series finale when Mercedes' mother sits her down and talks to her about, like, Mr. Schuster is giving, she needs it more. And people always thought that was such a shit diss on the character of Mercedes.

[48:00] Andrew: And I remember watching it even when it was airing. I was like, oh my God, that really hits. Like, she's so, Rachel as a character is so pathetic. She really is. And one of the most, Rachel, my favourite Rachel episodes of all time is, of course, the yearbook episode. She is trying so badly to get something done.

[48:14] Conor Burke: Oh my God.

[48:15] Andrew: Just like the yearbook photo alone of, like, the, I can cry on demand. A hundred percent. Yes. Trying to rally everybody together. And she's just like, people are always crying out for complex female characters. And the second that we get them, she's like, she's a bitch and annoying. Talk about it.

[48:34] Conor Burke: I said what I fucking said.

[48:35] Andrew: She's imperfect. She's a lot of the time. She's deeply unlikable. She lets her, you know, she lets her desires get in. She's tunnel visioned. She's selfish, but she's also like, so she works hard. She cares deeply about the shit that she wants. She is a true friend, even if her ambition gets in the way of that sometimes, which is a big reason why I love Asian F, for example.

[49:04] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[49:05] Andrew: And the whole stuff in the ballot box storyline and stuff like that and running for president. I just love her. And then this is the culmination of all that, isn't it? For the first time in the entire series, like we're 13 episodes in. She's got there. You know, she pulls back the curtain. The spotlight is on her. She's running. You're just like, oh, she worked for this. Here she is.

[49:25] Conor Burke: The shot of Matthew Morrison on the phone. Getting some emote. Oh, I'm going to cry. I love it.

[49:30] Andrew: No, I was like, almost like watching it. I feel like we almost take this performance, at least me sometimes, for granted almost. I think that it's so specific the way that it's done.

[49:43] Conor Burke: Me too.

[49:43] Andrew: That there are obviously performances that mimic this kind of the bit of walking through the aisles and everything. But this was the first to do it. And I say it every single time, but the shot that always gets me is, and I think this is like so, I love that it's these two characters that are really focused. Brittany and Matt walking down the aisle. These are just like two, like, kind of like diametrically opposed from Rachel, as far away as you can get from that character. That it's like, we're all like North Star. Rachel, we're putting everything in her hands. I just, I think it's like really, really great. I love the camaraderie of it all.

[50:26] Ian Allred: 100%.

[50:29] Conor Burke: It's incredible. I think Ian, I think it was Ian that said on Recovering Gleek, like ages ago in like one random episode, you were talking about Rachel.

[50:38] Ian Allred: Was it you?

[50:39] Conor Burke: I don't know. You were like, Rachel is probably my favorite character because she is, and I deeply relate to this. Rachel is the, I was the most like Rachel in school. Now, minus the like, obviously, like nowhere near as like talented and stuff. But that tunnel, like I lived and like my entire life was theater. I couldn't, you know, when people were out partying and drinking and stuff like that, like me and my four friends were like literally stuck in a theater. We were like, I so deeply relate to that kind of pathetic aspect of her character.

[51:15] Ian Allred: And I say pathetic and it sounds like a negative and it sounds like a drag, but it's just like this deep kind of, she just always knew that she was meant for more and that she wanted to push and she could do things. I think it's very moving. Do you know what I mean?

[51:28] Conor Burke: I think also part of it is she's a girl who never, she's not socialized very well. She was raised by two, she's, she's speaking of spelling bee, she's Logan. Logan Schwartz and Grouponier is proto-Rachel a thousand percent. She is a girl who was written by two parents who it was really important to them that she was an overachiever. And so, you know, she's put in dance classes as a baby. She's put in singing lessons as soon as she could talk and essentially I think her dads truly do care for her and love her, but she has always kind of been raised in this mentality of like, your value is in your ability. And so she didn't really learn. She wasn't really playing with other kids. She wasn't like going to people's birthday parties and socializing and playing games.

She was always in classes. She was always training. And so now as a teenager, no one fucking likes her because she is annoying and she doesn't know how to relate to people and she doesn't know how to make friends. But the positive affirmation she gets is in her abilities and in her ability to sing and in her ability to perform. So part of it is like, I have this drive and this passion and I really want to achieve this. And another part of it is I am, my only value is my ability. So if I can win this award, if I can achieve this thing, I have tangible proof that I have worth as a person. And if I don't win it, then do I even have any worth? And that's why I think she is such a tragic character, because like really at the end of the day, all of her selfishness and all of her sabotaging of other people is her just death.

[54:29] Conor Burke: However, I almost want an additional episode after that, where it's like, yeah, I have the Tony now. And yeah, I want to go back to Lima, Ohio. I think we would. I think just over, like, the big over... what am I trying to say? The overwhelming arc here is that I think that the series finale would have been completely different had it not been for the death of Cory Monteith, which I know is like, oh, Conor, Captain Obvious. But it's just like, I do think that thematically, the series finale for a lot of the characters would have been a little bit sadder and a little bit bittersweet. And I think that that would have been gorgeous. It wouldn't have been... Rachel probably still would have won a Tony, but it would have been at the expense of something else.

And it would have been lovely, because that's what life is. And that's the original vision for the show, in many ways, is that people win. Sometimes people fucking don't. And you end up working in a retail job and you do community theatre for fun. And guess what? You might be sad about that, but there's actually nothing wrong with that. But you have friends! The entire show is about the community. And you have friends. That it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[55:38] Conor Burke: One, I've always felt that what Rachel says in the quarterback is the writers being like, this was the intended ending and now we can't do it. Which is that she always had this fantasy that Finn would be coaching City Club and she would walk in the doors and she'd say, I'm home. And I think that that was always the plan, is she would choose that relationship over stardom and come back to Lima.

[56:00] Ian Allred: Yeah, I also...

[56:02] Conor Burke: Whenever I see an Ian, sorry, whenever, every time you speak, I'm like, oh my god, yes, yes, yes. This is why I, whenever I see an interview with Ian Brennan or fucking Ryan Murphy or Brad Falchuk on any podcast or any platform on YouTube, you know, this bitch is clicking it straight away. Click, click, clickity, click, click, click, click, click, click. I still sometimes listen, re-listen to the Ryan Murphy and That's What You Really Missed 2 part. Oh, I guess I'm a new one every time. The best two podcast episodes of that podcast ever were the first two with Ryan Murphy.

[56:31] Andrew: Let's call this bait is bait. Absolutely amazing. We need to, we, oh, someone needs to sit them down. I want to, I want to talk to the writers of this show so badly. Imagine the three of us talking to them. Oh, the content, the content. Three of us versus the three of them. Tune in next week when Ian Brennan, Ryan Murphy, and Brad Falchuk are the guests for the five-year podversary.

[56:53] Conor Burke: I love the way I would scream. You need to take on Ian Brennan, obviously. Connor, who do you want, Brad or Ryan?

[57:05] Conor Burke: I'm going to go with Ryan. My first choice is actually Ian, but I'm going to go with Ryan.

[57:08] Ian Allred: Okay.

[57:09] Conor Burke: Because it's Ryan.

[57:09] Andrew: Oh, you know what? I love a Brad Falchuk episode. So hell yeah.

[57:13] Ian Allred: Yeah, yeah. I love Brad. Yeah.

[57:20] Conor Burke: Can I just quickly say, because Ian is so articulate about talking about like character moments, he triggered something in my brain. As a writer, I've went like as a playwright and stuff like that. I've went back and forth about this in my mind for years, ever since a particular episode of Glee Art. And I'd be interested to hear your guys' thoughts on it. I think Ian definitely talked about it, but it was so long ago. Season two, episode one, Rachel Berry's arc in Audition is, of course, the sunshine corazon of it all.

[57:50] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[57:52] Conor Burke: It's the act of crack house of it all. I have really had this debate in my mind for years that at the end of that episode, when she sings What I Did For Love, one of my personal favorite Rolos, is that where do we fall on this? Do we actually believe that she believed, that Rachel believed she was doing the right thing? Or do we actually just believe it was her being selfish? Or was it a mixture of both? And that's such a testament to the writing of that arc, because I feel like you can interpret it different ways. I feel like you can interpret it that she genuinely thought that she was doing the right thing by doing that crazy fucking action of sending her to the crack house. For the reasons she outlined.

Do you know what I'm trying to say? Now, I do think that it was mostly selfish, personally. But I do think you could look at that plot through a particular lens of, no, again, going back to tunnel vision, going back to, as Ian outlined, she feels like her only worth is being good at this thing and being the best at it. That's why Rachel is such a well-crafted character.

[59:17] Conor Burke: I fully agree with this. In my opinion, she is so brilliant. The character of Rachel Berry is so iconic.

[59:25] Ian Allred: Hey, I agree. I'd be interested in your thoughts on that, though.

[59:29] Conor Burke: I'll answer quickly. I've always felt like the last we saw of Rachel Berry, her most recent arc at the end of season one, is she finds her birth mother. She meets her birth mother. She tries to have a personal relationship with her birth mother. And then her birth mother is like, actually, this isn't doing it for me. I actually don't want to talk anymore. But you did do really good at regionals, and you should be very proud of yourself. And I feel like that we end season one with Rachel having all of her fears reaffirmed. We're like, oh, I'm unlikable. I'm unlovable. But I am very gifted, and that's what I have to give to this world. So she comes into season two with that mentality very strong.

And so then when she meets Sunshine, and Sunshine can outsing her, it's like, oh God, I can't get replaced. So I think it's literally like an act of survival for her. Where she's like, oh, I have now just had this horribly reinforced that if someone is better than me, I will disappear. And so I need to disappear this girl first.

[59:59] Ian Allred: And we are not talking... Rachel Berry is such an iconic television character, period. She is going to go down in the TV character hall of fame. We should be talking about Rachel Berry as a character the way non-gleeks talk about Sue Sylvester.

[1:00:26] Ian Allred: I hate to be like this. It's a deep dive.

[1:00:29] Conor Burke: No, but I do have...

[1:00:31] Ian Allred: Yeah, he's gotta go.

[1:00:31] Conor Burke: 38 minutes. We gotta go. And we gotta vote. And we gotta do another competition.

[1:00:36] Andrew: Okay, well, I'm gonna vote for Drump.

[1:00:38] Conor Burke: Yeah, it's the blueprint of literally, like you said, Andrew, we take this for granted. But literally, this is the blueprint of every competition episode moving forward. And so many of them are trying to emulate the lighting on the bottle that is the very first Drump.

[1:00:52] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[1:00:52] Conor Burke: It is Rachel's most iconic number for a reason. I love you, New Radicals. That number makes me very emotional. But I am voting, of course, for Drump.

[1:01:01] Andrew: New Directions.

[1:01:02] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:01:04] Ian Allred: The New Directions.

[1:01:05] Conor Burke: She said, you're not gonna catch me saying nude erections on TV.

[1:01:09] Andrew: Not on TV.

[1:01:11] Conor Burke: Not on TV.

[1:01:13] Andrew: Okay, second competition. Let's see.

[1:01:15] Conor Burke: What is it gonna be?

[1:01:17] Andrew: It's gonna be this one.

[1:01:19] Conor Burke: Oh, it's a fun one.

[1:01:22] Andrew: Okay.

[1:01:23] Conor Burke: Hell yeah. I wish it was a boring one.

[1:01:25] Andrew: Well, not today.

[1:01:29] Conor Burke: Let's see. Another season one. You're gonna know it. If you're late for your therapy session, you can just talk to us. We'll do therapy live on the podcast. I'll just invite, I'll send him the Riverside.

[1:01:39] Andrew: It's a sexual experiment.

[1:01:42] Conor Burke: Yeah, bring him in the chat. Please. You know what the heck this is.

[1:01:44] Andrew: Of course it's Bad Romance.

[1:01:46] Conor Burke: It's Bad Romance.

[1:01:46] Andrew: Of course it's Bad Romance.

[1:01:47] Conor Burke: Bad Romance. I love this number.

[1:01:50] Andrew: Oh my god.

[1:01:51] Conor Burke: Ba da ba da bum.

[1:01:52] Andrew: Okay. Bravo.

[1:01:54] Conor Burke: Oh my god. I need to start the discourse here because I have a big brain thought that I am very constipated with.

[1:02:01] Andrew: You go, girl.

[1:02:03] Conor Burke: Okay. Not the constipation, Andrew. Less of that, please.

[1:02:08] Andrew: Sorry.

[1:02:09] Conor Burke: It needs to come out. Okay, but all right. I was thinking while watching this. Did they kind of like, I love this performance. I need to start off with that. Did they kind of like shoot themselves in the foot by having this mic? Is this, check the tapes, is this like the first like expensive number like within universe that isn't like a dream sequence or anything that it's like clearly there's money here. You know what I mean? Where it's like this isn't like a very like a humble performance in the choir room or auditorium where it's like.

[1:02:46] Ian Allred: And they all are like in costumes that they're actually wearing in universe.

[1:02:49] Conor Burke: Yes.

[1:02:50] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[1:02:50] Conor Burke: Like Madonna.

[1:02:53] Ian Allred: But like Madonna.

[1:02:54] Conor Burke: What did they? What was the Madonna?

[1:02:57] Ian Allred: But like, like a prayer.

[1:02:59] Conor Burke: No, like the whole choir.

[1:03:00] Ian Allred: But that was like Mercedes church choir that she was like, can you just come please support.

[1:03:04] Conor Burke: That's true.

[1:03:04] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[1:03:04] Conor Burke: And then four minutes with cheerios.

[1:03:06] Ian Allred: This set just looks very expensive. And I think that like I do have a complicated.

[1:03:11] Conor Burke: Okay.

[1:03:12] Ian Allred: So like they couldn't have done like humble performances throughout the entire series where it's like realism.

[1:03:16] Conor Burke: Like I don't have too much of a problem with like, every once in a while, like the roar of it all. Like it's like, it's very elaborate, you know, and very expensive. But I don't know.

[1:03:30] Conor Burke: Literally no one.

[1:03:32] Ian Allred: This is the beginning of wait, what did you say?

[1:03:37] Conor Burke: I said for literally no one.

[1:03:39] Ian Allred: For literally no one.

[1:03:41] Conor Burke: What she says when she talks about that performing roar. I just feel like this is like, I feel like this is probably a hard sell in the in the writer's room to be like, hi, we are going to go all out and for an episode literally called theatricality, like, fine. But like, I think this was like going down a tricky path with the budget realism of it all.

[1:04:09] Ian Allred: This was famously sweeps week. If I am not incorrect, the reason that theatricality and funk were swapped in the release schedule because funk was supposed to be episode 20 and theatricality was actually one. They were filmed that way. There is a cut scene in theatricality where Jesse is with the with vocal adrenaline. And the reason they swapped them was because this was sweeps week and they wanted this was like the bigger episode that was like flashier and more exciting that they thought would catch people's attention more.

[1:04:40] Andrew: OK, but that being said, it wasn't written to be the sweeps week episode. That was a last minute decision. So actually, what I said doesn't make any sense. Retract it.

[1:04:51] Ian Allred: I do agree. I wonder, hey, I wonder if someone was like, hey, we should do this number big. And there was an argument about, like, are we breaking the realism of the world by having right because we had just a few episodes ago, the already busted it all. Do you think that was even a conversation, though?

[1:05:09] Conor Burke: I do think it was.

[1:05:10] Ian Allred: Yeah, I kind of feel like even I don't think it.

[1:05:14] Conor Burke: Why did they ever have a conversation?

[1:05:16] Ian Allred: I just don't think that like I think they've always known from the get go, maybe from maybe from the middle of season one, they were kind of just like, OK, let's throw in this banner. Like, even if we did want to keep it real when it comes to like the finances of these musical numbers, we can't know. Like the show is just so big. Like we're going to people are going to have to spend this. I just don't think they care.

[1:05:36] Conor Burke: They care it.

[1:05:37] Ian Allred: I do feel like when they came back in for the back nine after that winter hiatus, they came back with a new show.

[1:05:43] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:05:44] Ian Allred: They filmed the first 13 episodes and it was like, who knows that this will be a hit? Who knows that this is our season finale? Who knows that this is our series finale? And then surprise, surprise, it becomes a massive hit. They come back after like, I don't know, like a five month hiatus. I don't know how long it was between filming that last episode and beginning.

[1:06:03] Conor Burke: Hello.

[1:06:03] Ian Allred: And suddenly it's like, we'll give you all the money you want. Everyone has their eyes on the show. And now they got a brand new sandbox to play in realism be damned.

[1:06:13] Ian Allred: I always think this is going to sound so weird, but just walk with me for a moment. I always think, is Glee more unrealistic to, or does it seem more unrealistic to you guys as Americans, or to me as someone who's not an American? Because when I watch Glee and I'm like, oh that's kind of unrealistic, but then I'm like, does an American watch it and do they think, this is so unrealistic because you have the experience of an American high school, whereas I don't? Do you know what I'm trying to say?

[1:06:59] Conor Burke: I never felt like it was trying to be realistic, so it never bothered me.

[1:07:05] Ian Allred: Bothered me, yeah. Because I lack the critical thinking skills as well. Do you know those people that watch TV shows set in high school and they're so bothered by the fact that the actors are like 26? The way that it just doesn't faze me, I don't think about it.

[1:07:19] Conor Burke: Yeah, I don't care. Well, I do know the two big things I remember while being in high school watching the show that did frustrate me was the, I don't know, I ask for this and I'm like, actually do I even want this? The fact that they never talk about their schoolwork. And I was like, schoolwork is so fucking stressful to me that I'm like, can they please acknowledge that they're literally in a school and talking about how fucking hard classes can be? I need them to talk about that. And then also, this is a bigger thing, the parents. I think that I just wanted more, like you were saying with the Rachel conversation of it all, that it's like, yeah, I would have liked Rachel's dads to be not special guest stars and much more present, so we can see what is really influencing more of her actions.

[1:08:06] Ian Allred: Yeah, I do wonder if it's more, because this was my experience at least, since I know exactly what American high school is like, I wonder if I was more accepting of its unrealisticness because I got all the hints that we weren't taking ourselves too seriously. Whereas someone who didn't grow up in the US, I remember getting emails from international listeners asking, do cheerleaders in the US wear their cheerleading uniforms every day? And as someone who went to American high school, I knew that that was satirical, that they were always dressed like that. And so because I knew that that was satirical, it gave me more of a hint of the show is very tongue in cheek and is taking place in a fantasy world. They were sending me a coded in the episode with little Easter eggs for my eyes to say, Ian Allred, this is the tone we're going for.

[1:09:00] Conor Burke: At your high school, you did have cheerleaders, of course, yes?

[1:09:03] Ian Allred: I did, yes.

[1:09:04] Conor Burke: Yeah, I remember they did wear the uniforms on game days. Did your school do that?

[1:09:09] Ian Allred: Yeah, the football players would dress for some reason in business formal on game days, and then some cheerleaders would wear their cheerleading outfit to school.

[1:09:18] Conor Burke: But Glee is intentionally being ridiculous by having them wear it literally all the time, including when they're at home.

[1:09:26] Ian Allred: I remember like the last week of school, my sophomore year of high school, there was a cheerleader that did wear her uniform and then also weirdly a jacket over.

[1:09:38] Conor Burke: Well, she had just gotten held back, that's why.

[1:09:41] Ian Allred: She was mourning.

[1:09:43] Conor Burke: All right, OK.

[1:09:44] Ian Allred: OK, what do we need to say about Bad Romance?

[1:09:49] Conor Burke: I really like that conversation we just had. I need to say, one, this number is literally so good. Glee the music, volume three, banger.

[1:09:59] Ian Allred: One, two, three.

[1:10:01] Conor Burke: One, two, three.

[1:10:03] Conor Burke: And Amber Riley should be mad as hell with the costumers, because what the fuck is she wearing?

[1:10:09] Ian Allred: The purple hair.

[1:10:09] Conor Burke: It's not even a Madonna reference.

[1:10:11] Ian Allred: It's not, I'm not Madonna, pardon me. It's not even a Gaga reference.

[1:10:13] Conor Burke: There's no Gaga outfit that looks like that.

[1:10:16] Ian Allred: Well, the hair, right?

[1:10:19] Conor Burke: It's like pieces from like multiple different outfits that they just kind of like mishmashed into one.

[1:10:24] Ian Allred: But it's not good. It looks like she's in the jazz.

[1:10:28] Conor Burke: And I know, I think my favorite is Tina's. And I think the general consensus is Santana or Quinn. But I think Tina's eating it up.

[1:10:36] Ian Allred: Oh, I like Tina's. I've always wanted to make that dress before. I think that's so fun.

[1:10:42] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:10:43] Ian Allred: Lea's got the best reaction shot in it.

[1:10:46] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:10:47] Ian Allred: Love it. Which I think also connected to our Rachel conversation, everyone else is kind of serving, I don't like saying the C word, serving that.

[1:10:59] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:11:00] Ian Allred: And kind of being real about it. But Rachel's really, really trying. And Lea Michele is making very specific choices about just like—

[1:11:10] Conor Burke: Girl who doesn't know how to do it who's really trying to.

[1:11:12] Ian Allred: Yes. She's like, oh, this is how you guys do it.

[1:11:14] Conor Burke: Girl who doesn't know how to serve, but really wants to.

[1:11:16] Ian Allred: Yes.

[1:11:17] Conor Burke: And Ian, I'm so glad we're both here for this. Another Rachel conversation, because me and you were really at the forefront of really driving the dialogue and the discourse around Lea being a fucking comedic icon.

[1:11:28] Ian Allred: And we've converted people.

[1:11:30] Conor Burke: She's funny that girl.

[1:11:31] Ian Allred: We've converted one Andrew Maguire.

[1:11:33] Conor Burke: Oh yeah, I was a big time hater.

[1:11:36] Ian Allred: Yeah, hated her famously.

[1:11:37] Conor Burke: But I needed an arc.

[1:11:39] Ian Allred: And this is my arc.

[1:11:40] Conor Burke: You did. Um, what else do we need to say?

[1:11:43] Ian Allred: Oh, we also need to say, sorry, what do you need to say?

[1:11:46] Conor Burke: No, it's very quick. Just like, I forgot that they cut out the French part for Santana.

[1:11:52] Ian Allred: I know.

[1:11:53] Conor Burke: Yeah, that's annoying.

[1:11:54] Ian Allred: That takes away points for me.

[1:11:58] Conor Burke: Yeah, I want it. If I'm going to be super critical.

[1:12:00] Ian Allred: Yeah.

[1:12:01] Conor Burke: I also love and they do this. I don't know. They do it throughout the show, but it's not always as consistent. I love that they give every single girl besides Heather Morris, who at this time is not singing. And she was a Leo. They give every single girl a solo moment in this song. I think it's really fun. Everyone has a little moment to shine. And then, of course, Santana walks away with the whole thing.

[1:12:30] Ian Allred: Yeah, but like every New Directions girl has a moment in the spotlight in this number, which I was at Kurt Hummel.

[1:12:34] Conor Burke: Well, of course, yeah, Kurt Hummel as well. He kicked it off.

[1:12:38] Ian Allred: Um, anything final we need to say about Bad Romance?

[1:12:43] Conor Burke: I love when they're all banging on the ground in the last chorus, when they're on their knees pounding the ground. It's my favorite part of the wholesome number. I can't believe they made them do this on tour, like in the outfits. It's that first tour is kind of my Roman Empire in the sense that I went to the second tour and I was at the final ever Glee concert ever because it was in Dublin. Of course, the final night. For now, it's kind of it's to my major disappointment that I was not at the first one.

[1:13:15] Ian Allred: That's the special one.

[1:13:16] Conor Burke: I think that's the one.

[1:13:18] Ian Allred: But that's the one that I'm like.

[1:13:19] Conor Burke: Yeah, the John.

[1:13:20] Ian Allred: Oh, that's like that.

[1:13:23] Conor Burke: Like Lost Media. Like that is what was that like? Has there been anyone on this podcast who was at that first tour?

[1:13:31] Ian Allred: Well, I remember in round one we had on Monique Clark, who is the big bad of Vocal Adrenaline before Jonathan Groff shows up. And she was it's she has two numbers. She does.

[1:13:44] Conor Burke: Giselle.

[1:13:46] Ian Allred: Yeah. Is she right? Who is she?

[1:13:50] Conor Burke: Don't do it.

[1:13:51] Ian Allred: He's a monster.

[1:13:52] Conor Burke: No, not her. No, she's the one that sings the rehab.

[1:13:56] Ian Allred: She sings rehab. And then she's also like, oh, Barry, like after they throw eggs, she has a line.

[1:14:02] Conor Burke: Yeah, she's like all of those unborn.

[1:14:03] Ian Allred: All those chicken fetuses are on your conscience.

[1:14:06] Conor Burke: Yes, we're soulless automatons.

[1:14:08] Ian Allred: And then she says, because we're soulless automatons.

[1:14:09] Conor Burke: Yeah, absolutely iconic. But she was yeah, she was not that tour. She was in the tour.

[1:14:15] Ian Allred: You've had multiple people who were in that tour.

[1:14:24] Conor Burke: Well, I'm thinking specifically.

[1:14:27] Ian Allred: Yes.

[1:14:27] Conor Burke: OK, fine.

[1:14:29] Ian Allred: It's insane.

[1:14:33] Conor Burke: What was going on in your life? How come you didn't go?

[1:14:35] Ian Allred: So weird of you.

[1:14:37] Conor Burke: Yeah, I just thought that there was going to be another one. And I didn't have any friends to go with. And I think that's why I'm kind of like lashing out all these years later and talking.

[1:14:47] Ian Allred: Yeah, I think if I went to the tour, I don't think that I would have had a podcast about Glee. You know what I mean?

[1:14:54] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:14:55] Ian Allred: No, not really. But no, I think that it was like, I think I probably would have got it out of my system. And, you know, OK, yeah.

[1:15:04] Conor Burke: Anyway, yeah. Thank God.

[1:15:06] Ian Allred: Thank God I didn't go to that damn tour.

[1:15:11] Conor Burke: Any final notes? Bad romance?

[1:15:14] Ian Allred: I wish her all the best.

[1:15:16] Conor Burke: I do.

[1:15:17] Ian Allred: Frankly, this is like one of my top.

[1:15:21] Conor Burke: Is it like top 10?

[1:15:23] Ian Allred: It's fun. This cover really, there was a time in my life when I knew this cover far better than I knew the Lady Gaga version. I listened to this probably Glee music. Volume three. I listened to this track like every day.

[1:15:35] Conor Burke: I remember every day. My first boyfriend, my senior year of high school, he told me that like when he was like putting like ramen in the microwave, like he would play Bad Romance Gleecus version. And then like once it hits the Santana part, that's when he knows that the ramen is done.

[1:16:01] Ian Allred: The gayest thing ever said.

[1:16:04] Conor Burke: I hope he's doing well.

[1:16:05] Ian Allred: I hope he's doing well.

[1:16:06] Conor Burke: The bad ramen's, ramen's?

[1:16:12] Ian Allred: Segway.

[1:16:13] Conor Burke: Um, last song in the episode. This is actually I remember in the Bad Romance in this song. We're in the same episode in round two. And now they're linked up again against what I saw. This was actually a match up of the century. Both. They were both in the survivor episode of round two with Jake and Kelly. What up Kelly and Jake?

[1:16:35] Ian Allred: Yes.

[1:16:35] Conor Burke: Jake O'Kane and Kelly.

[1:16:37] Ian Allred: I don't remember your last name.

[1:16:38] Conor Burke: Nalbaldian?

[1:16:40] Ian Allred: Nalbaldian.

[1:16:41] Conor Burke: You know what this is?

[1:16:42] Ian Allred: Take me or leave me.

[1:16:44] Conor Burke: Yes.

[1:16:46] Ian Allred: Have y'all seen the video of the two girls singing this at a theater competition? And then they go, guess I'm leaving. I'm gone.

[1:17:00] Conor Burke: I wish Lea Michele paid tribute to that.

[1:17:03] Ian Allred: I do.

[1:17:04] Conor Burke: I wish she did. At least she didn't fall and break her talent.

[1:17:07] Ian Allred: God, I love that video.

[1:17:09] Conor Burke: It's incredible. This is one of my favorite episodes of Glee.

[1:17:13] Ian Allred: I agree.

[1:17:16] Conor Burke: I love this episode.

[1:17:17] Ian Allred: It's so funny.

[1:17:22] Conor Burke: Sometimes you just have to turn away, close your eyes and push and push.

[1:17:25] Ian Allred: Push your feelings away. They're so big.

[1:17:29] Conor Burke: I feel like Comeback.

[1:17:31] Ian Allred: Sorry, go ahead.

[1:17:32] Conor Burke: Oh, go ahead.

[1:17:33] Ian Allred: No, you go ahead.

[1:17:35] Conor Burke: Comeback to me.

[1:17:35] Ian Allred: I was like, yeah, I was having the same thought watching this. Comeback is like kind of like a very, it almost like feels like a spec script episode of Glee. Feels very contained. They're doing a lot with multiple characters. There's like, I don't, it just feels, I don't know, almost Glee porn, which I've said before, where it's like, it does feel like you're hitting all your bases, but in a really good way.

[1:17:59] Ian Allred: But complimentary.

[1:18:00] Conor Burke: Complimentary.

[1:18:01] Ian Allred: Yeah. No, I remember on Recovering Gleek, if you've ever heard of it. We covered Comeback. We talked about how this, this episode just feels like a week in the life at McKinley High. Especially in season two, all the episodes either feel like we're really driving the plot forward, or we're doing a big spectacle this week. And then Comeback is like, we're literally just hanging out. Like we're just hanging out with the New Directions this week. And it's so fun.

[1:18:27] Conor Burke: And Rachel paying Brittany to dress like her so that she becomes more popular. And then everyone being like, Rachel, what the fuck are you talking about? We are dressed nothing like you is one of the funniest plots in the entire show.

[1:18:41] Ian Allred: I'm obsessed with that plot.

[1:18:43] Conor Burke: So much. It's so incredible. Them being like, we're wearing carousel horses and you're wearing a reindeer. We are not the same. Like, it's so good.

[1:18:54] Ian Allred: Fuck off, Rachel.

[1:18:55] Conor Burke: I look hot and smart.

[1:18:57] Ian Allred: I feel like Michelle Obama.

[1:19:02] Conor Burke: I love that episode.

[1:19:03] Ian Allred: Oh my god, so many singers.

[1:19:05] Conor Burke: What is it Mercedes says?

[1:19:07] Ian Allred: I'm going home to stretch.

[1:19:08] Conor Burke: You know why? I'm going to be doing some runs.

[1:19:13] Ian Allred: Just really, really good.

[1:19:14] Conor Burke: What Mercedes said to Rachel, like, you better watch your back because Mercedes has got more runs than a Kenyan truck.

[1:19:25] Ian Allred: This is also, this is same episode as I Know What Boys Like.

[1:19:27] Conor Burke: It is.

[1:19:28] Ian Allred: So, I think we should talk about the outfits in "Bad Romance." Brittany's jacket is iconic, but I want to know what you guys think about the overall aesthetic of the performances.

[1:19:58] Ian Allred: I mean, the costumes really set the tone for the episode, right? They were bold and definitely made a statement.

[1:20:28] Ian Allred: And let's not forget about the choreography! It was so over-the-top, but in a good way. It really captured the essence of the song.

[1:20:48] Ian Allred: I think the realism in Glee is always a topic of debate. Sometimes it feels like they go all out with the fantasy elements, and other times they try to ground it in reality.

[1:20:58] Ian Allred: For instance, how do you guys feel about the way they handle serious topics versus the musical numbers? It can be jarring at times.

[1:21:08] Ian Allred: But then again, that's part of what makes Glee unique. It blends drama with musical performances in a way that few shows do.

[1:21:28] Ian Allred: Speaking of performances, I think we should rank the "Bad Romance" outfits. Who do you think nailed it, and who missed the mark?

[1:21:38] Ian Allred: Personally, I think Brittany's look was the best. It was fun and fierce, just like the song.

[1:21:48] Ian Allred: But then you have characters like Rachel, who tried to go for a more classic look. It just didn't fit the vibe of the performance.

[1:21:58] Ian Allred: And let's not forget about the boys! Their outfits were also a big part of the performance. I think they brought a lot of energy to the stage.

[1:22:08] Ian Allred: Overall, I think the costumes played a huge role in making that performance memorable. It’s all about the visual impact.

[1:22:18] Ian Allred: And I love how Glee always manages to incorporate fashion into their storytelling. It adds another layer to the characters.

[1:22:28] Ian Allred: What do you think, Conor? Did any outfits stand out to you?

[1:22:38] Ian Allred: I feel like every character brought something different to the table, which is what made it so exciting to watch.

[1:22:48] Ian Allred: Plus, the way they used lighting and stage design really enhanced the overall experience. It felt like a full production.

[1:23:08] Ian Allred: I think Glee does a great job of creating a spectacle, and "Bad Romance" was no exception.

[1:23:18] Ian Allred: It’s interesting to see how they balance the performances with the character arcs. Sometimes it feels like the songs overshadow the storylines.

[1:23:28] Ian Allred: But in this case, I think the performance really complemented the narrative. It was a perfect fit.

[1:23:38] Ian Allred: And the way they incorporated humor into the performance was just classic Glee. It kept things light-hearted.

[1:23:48] Ian Allred: I think that’s what makes Glee so special. They can tackle serious issues while still keeping it fun.

[1:23:58] Ian Allred: So, what’s your take on the balance between drama and comedy in this episode?

[1:24:08] Ian Allred: I feel like they nailed it in "Bad Romance." It was entertaining without losing sight of the characters' struggles.

[1:24:28] Ian Allred: And the way they handled the ensemble cast was impressive. Everyone had their moment to shine.

[1:24:38] Ian Allred: I think that’s a testament to the show's writing and direction. They really knew how to showcase each character's strengths.

[1:24:48] Ian Allred: Overall, I’d say "Bad Romance" is one of those episodes that really encapsulates what Glee is all about.

[1:25:08] Ian Allred: It’s a mix of drama, comedy, and unforgettable musical performances. What more could you ask for?

[1:25:18] Ian Allred: And I think that’s why it resonates with so many fans. It’s relatable and entertaining at the same time.

[1:25:28] Ian Allred: So, what do you think, Conor? Did this episode live up to your expectations?

[1:25:38] Ian Allred: I’d love to hear your thoughts on the overall execution of the performances.

[1:25:48] Ian Allred: And how do you think it compares to other episodes in the series?

[1:26:08] Ian Allred: I feel like "Bad Romance" stands out for its creativity and energy. It’s definitely one of the highlights of the season.

[1:26:18] Ian Allred: Plus, the way they incorporated pop culture references was spot on. It made the episode feel current and relevant.

[1:26:28] Ian Allred: I think that’s something Glee does really well. They always find a way to connect with the audience.

[1:26:38] Ian Allred: And the performances are just the cherry on top. They really elevate the storytelling.

[1:26:48] Ian Allred: So, what’s your favorite part of the episode, Ian?

[1:26:58] Ian Allred: I’d love to know what stood out to you the most.

[1:27:08] Ian Allred: For me, it was definitely the energy of the performances. They were just so captivating.

[1:27:18] Ian Allred: And the way the characters interacted during the songs added another layer of depth.

[1:27:28] Ian Allred: It’s moments like these that remind me why I love Glee so much. It’s all about the music and the characters.

[1:27:38] Ian Allred: And I think "Bad Romance" really encapsulated that spirit.

[1:27:48] Ian Allred: So, what do you think, Conor? Did this episode resonate with you in the same way?

[1:27:58] Ian Allred: I’d love to hear your perspective on the performances and the overall vibe.

[1:28:08] Ian Allred: It’s always interesting to see how different people interpret the same episode.

[1:28:18] Ian Allred: And I think that’s what makes discussing Glee so much fun. There’s always something new to discover.

[1:28:28] Ian Allred: So, let’s dive deeper into the performances. What did you think of the choreography?

[1:28:38] Ian Allred: I felt like it was on point and really matched the energy of the song.

[1:28:48] Ian Allred: And the way they incorporated the ensemble into the dance routines was fantastic. It felt like a true team effort.

[1:28:58] Ian Allred: I think that’s one of the strengths of Glee. They really know how to showcase the talents of the entire cast.

[1:29:08] Ian Allred: So, what’s your take on the choreography, Conor? Did it live up to your expectations?

[1:29:18] Ian Allred: I’d love to hear your thoughts on how it contributed to the overall performance.

[1:29:28] Ian Allred: And do you think it added to the storytelling in any way?

[1:29:38] Ian Allred: I think it definitely enhanced the emotional impact of the song.

[1:29:48] Ian Allred: And that’s what makes Glee so special. They find ways to connect the music with the characters' journeys.

[1:29:58] Ian Allred: So, let’s wrap up our discussion on "Bad Romance." What are your final thoughts, Conor?

[1:30:08] Ian Allred: I’d love to hear what you think about the episode as a whole.

[1:30:18] Ian Allred: And how do you think it fits into the larger narrative of the series?

[1:30:28] Ian Allred: I think it’s a perfect example of what Glee does best. It’s entertaining, heartfelt, and full of memorable moments.

[1:30:38] Ian Allred: So, let’s give it a rating! What do you think, Conor? How would you rate "Bad Romance"?

[1:30:48] Ian Allred: I’d love to hear your thoughts on the performances and the overall execution.

[1:30:58] Ian Allred: And I think it’s safe to say that this episode will go down as one of the classics in the Glee canon.

[1:31:08] Ian Allred: So, let’s celebrate it for all that it brought to the table.

[1:31:18] Ian Allred: I think we can all agree that "Bad Romance" was a standout episode in the series.

[1:31:28] Ian Allred: And I can’t wait to see how it ranks on the Glacket!

[1:31:38] Ian Allred: Thanks for joining us today, everyone. We hope you enjoyed our discussion!

[1:31:48] Ian Allred: Be sure to tune in next time for more Glee goodness!